ORESTES — Matilde Oballe first learned that she could earn money canning tomatoes for a couple months when she was 18.
A resident of Progreso, Texas, Oballe learned about the job through family friends and soon signed up, traveling north to a little town she’d never heard of — Orestes, Ind.
For the past 10 years, the 28-year-old has returned each summer, spending 10 weeks in the Red Gold cannery before heading back to Texas with her earnings.
She is one of more than 300 seasonal migrant workers who descend on the plant each summer during the pack, the 10-week period when Red Gold rushes to get tomatoes picked from the fields and canned at the Orestes plant or turned into ketchup in the Elwood facility.
All the while, the company is racing against Mother Nature, hoping to get all the work done before the first frost falls over Madison County.
When she’s in town for the pack, Oballe lives in a small dormitory-style room with other workers, many of whom are her family members.
Last week, Oballe’s dorm was crowded as all of the inhabitants were home at the same time. With her cousin frying dinner at the stove and her brother enjoying a bite at the table, Oballe rummaged through an overstuffed freezer for a bag of pre-made corn husk-wrapped tamales.
Though she can leave the camp whenever she chooses to sample the local fare, Oballe prefers to keep traditional Mexican food nearby.
For years, Oballe came to Orestes with a few family members, but arrived as a single, working woman.
That changed recently.
Oballe now travels back and forth between Texas and Indiana with her 2-year-old son Pedro in tow. Pedro is too young for school, but when he’s ready, the local community will be able to accommodate him.
Migrants in school
In both Alexandria and Elwood, the local school systems have devised programs to address the needs of migrant children each fall.
The students are only in town for a little over two months, but in that time, school officials offer one-on-one assistance in their studies, emphasizing language development.
Jan Kay coordinates Elwood’s migrant student programs and said the school district is known for its migrant summer school program, serving Orestes, Tipton, Gaston, Alexandria and all other neighboring communities with a migrant population.
This summer, the camp saw 130 migrant students enroll, and about 80 students showed up every day, she said.
The programs are made possible by a federal grant through the U.S. Department of Education, Kay said.
The department gave Elwood $326,000 to run the migrant program this summer, but the program had some money left over, she said.
During the normal school year, Kay said, Elwood receives $250,000 from the Department of Education. The grant is contingent on Elwood maintaining an enrollment of at least five full-time students who are classified as migrants.
Suzy Dobbs is a migrant teacher for Elwood. She said the skill level of the students varies. “Some of them have not been here as long. Some were born in the U.S. and know English fluently. Some struggle more than others.”
Most of the students at both Elwood and Alexandria live in Texas, and the schools must coordinate with the Texas Department of Education to ensure that the curriculum needs of students are being met during their time in Indiana.
Jenny Pruett is the migrant coordinator for the Alexandria-Monroe Community School Corporation and said the program has seen more students than normal this year.
With 106 migrant students, Alexandria is exceeding its norm of 85 to 90 students.
Pruett said the Alexandria program serves two primary populations of migrant workers. The first is Red Gold, but the second is G&E Farms along County Road 1400 North, where migrant workers spend their days in the jalapeño fields, picking peppers that will later be used in some of Red Gold’s products.
Motivated to work
Timothy Ingle, director of human resources for Red Gold, explained that each year, the company places advertisements in newspapers, asking for applications for the seasonal work ahead. Since the job lasts just 10 weeks, the plant has little luck finding enough local workers, Ingle said.
Wages ranges from $7.95 to $9.10 per hour.
Pedro Cardoza manages the migrant community at Red Gold and said 75 percent of the workers return every single year, providing Red Gold with a reliable work force during its busiest season.
The migrants are motivated to work, he said. Many work up to 70 hours a week to secure overtime pay, he said.
The plant runs at all times throughout the year and workers are split into three shifts.
Cardoza said the company attracts many migrant workers because it offers good housing, decent pay and the familiarity of seeing friends return season after season.
Residents in the migrant camp pay $15 per week to live in the housing.
For parents like Daniela Garza, 25, a big perk of working at Red Gold is the attention her children receive in the local school system.
Her daughter, 8-year-old Jazmine, looks forward to returning to Orestes each year because she is reunited with the Alexandria friends she’s made.
While the migrant children are placed in regular classes, Pruett said, they are pulled out in separate periods to receive extra assistance from teachers and aides.
Although the students attend public schools in Texas, many aren’t exposed to the English language consistently until third grade, she explained.
“One thing I did find out is a lot of kids say that in Brownsville, Texas, up through third grade, they are taught in Spanish as well as English. They have a lot of Spanish. Then from third grade on, there’s no Spanish,” Pruett said.
This week, Elwood teachers hosted a pizza party for the departing migrant students. As the pack season comes to a close, the students will follow their parents back to Texas, returning only when the tomatoes begin to ripen next summer.