MIGRANT WORKERS: SOME SEARCH FOR A WAY OUT

KENNETT -- Mari-Cruz Salinas, 19, and Veronica Sustaita, 20, wanted a job that would get them out of the fields and give them work experience.

As children of migrant workers, the women were looking for a way to break the migrant traditions of their families. For several years their families have migrated from southern Texas to Southeast Missouri to harvest farm crops.

But neither wanted to spend the summer at back-breaking labor amid row crops under a blistering sun. So they searched for a job that fit all their needs and wants.

The two women, who lived in the same Texas community as children, now work 40 hours each week at the Migrant Health Center. They are paid through a grant funded by the Bootheel Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission in Malden.

Under the JTPA program, Salinas and Sustaita work as secretarial staff for the Migrant Health Center. Their duties include filing, translating and answering questions for migrant workers applying for services.

Finding a job that offered experience was important to Sustaita. She had been attending college courses in her hometown of Edcouch, Texas. "I wanted to get some practice and experience," she said. "Later I can get a job because I have the experience."

Finding any job in southern Texas demands some work experience, she explained. "Here it's not so hard, but in Texas you have to have experience."

Salinas didn't want to work in the hot sun another summer. "Every year it gets hotter and hotter," she said. "Sometimes there's no choice but to go to the fields."

When the girls aren't working at the clinic, they help their families with household chores and work in the fields during weekends.