Nestled in the rolling hills surrounding route 51, 10 miles south of Carbondale, 36 freshly painted apartments house approximately 225 migrant workers who move to this area for six months of the year during the Harvest season.

Since the workers and their families come from southern Texas, and Mexico, approximately 60 percent of them speak little or no English.

So a group of 10 SIUC students and faculty, led by Joanna Sullivan, are volunteering their time to teach those willing to learn, how to speak English.

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Three days a week, for two hour sessions, the group travels to the camp to teach.

Usually by the two or individually, the students teach to groups of no more than four people at a time.

But it is not only the workers who take the lessons. Families of the workers, including young children, take lessons to try and learn the language.

Sullivan, who started the program three years ago, said last year’s program, which she was not a part of, was in a classroom setting and that caused some problems with attendance.

They found that the people wouldn’t come to a designated place, she said. So we just started going to them.

On the first night of this year’s program the group approached individuals or groups of people without and simply asked if they wanted to take English lessons.

Barbara Kaye, assistant professor in Radio-Television and volunteer in the program, said at

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see MIGRANTS, page 5