TAKE FIVE!

December 15, 2020

Amanda Langseder:
Hi, I’m Amanda Langseder and welcome to Sullivan 180 Presents Take Five!. Our guest today is Juanita Sarmiento coordinator of YEG, the Youth Economic Group at Rural and Migrant Ministries. Welcome Juanita, and thank you so very much for being here.

Juanita Sarmiento:
Thank you. Thank you so much. Absolutely

Amanda Langseder:
Can you share a little bit more about yourself and what it means to be the YEG coordinator for anyone who doesn’t know?

Juanita Sarmiento:
I was raised here in Sullivan County. I was actually born in Colombia, moved around a few times, but once I was four years old, we were here and I’ve been here ever since. I’m working with this amazing organization called Rural and Migrant Ministry. They do so much work for rural people, whether they’re women, farm workers, food chain, workers, children, and youth. So I started volunteering with them. I wanted to see what YEG was all about. I wanted to help out people that grew up in the same community that I did and be able to provide them with opportunities that I wasn’t offered when I was a child, or a young person. I volunteered for a little while and applied for the job and I got it and it was really exciting. I’m very happy to be here. This economic group is an inspiring group of people and they’ve been around for about 10 years now.

Amanda Langseder:
What has changed about YEG since the pandemic?

Juanita Sarmiento:
Everyone has to stay home, so a lot of our programming for the most emergent parts, had to be through zoom once March hit and the school shut down, we had to completely transition and try to figure out how to do our programming through this new way. Right. But we can’t give up, we didn’t give up and we’re still here. The program is still running. Even though things are different, it’s still running. Sometimes the youth program, they own a business called Bags For Justice, which you guys can find at bagsforjustice.com. So that is a little slower, right? Our orders are a little slower than usual. We have to take more precaution and who’s going into the office when we’re printing and stuff. Before we used to have five people at a time in the office, now we have to really minimize that and make sure that we have one coordinator or one advisor or fellow, there can’t be that many young people there either, but at the same time we still have to follow child safety protocols

Amanda Langseder:
Learning through that experience, through the bags for justice program. What is the intent of then going through this process?

Juanita Sarmiento:
When this program started about 10 years ago, they told the people that came to visit from Rural Migrant Ministry, that there were no jobs for young people in Sullivan County. The jobs here in Sullivan County are minimal and the people that get them are the adults, right? So young people, teenagers that are in high school that need work, that needed money, they needed something. So they created their own job. And that’s what we’re here to educate them on.

Amanda Langseder:
What do you think some of the biggest challenges facing our youth are in Sullivan County right now,

Juanita Sarmiento:
Sullivan County young people have come to me and they’ve said, school is really hard right now, but then I’ve talked to young people everywhere else, and whether they’re in college, they’re in high school, middle school, everyone said the same thing. So coursework is overwhelming. The due dates are very stressful. And then you have kids that have to make sure that their younger siblings are getting their work done while they’re on one computer. They have to make sure that their sibling is muting when they’re supposed to be muting and talking when they’re supposed to be talking. So it’s, it’s really overwhelming. I commend teachers for the work that they’re doing. I think they’re doing an amazing job and it’s a difficult job, but it was set in the beginning and I’ll say it again, please be patient with the young kids. Don’t fail them just because they can’t get this work done or don’t fail them because they did a math problem different than how you asked them to do it because right now they’re coping. And if they do something one way, but they still get the right answer. I feel that they deserve just as much credit

Amanda Langseder:
If somebody, either an adult or youth wanted to get involved with YEG as a volunteer or as a participant, how would they do it?

Juanita Sarmiento:
Oh, there’s many ways to contact me. We have our website bagsforjustice.com. All of our contact information is there. You can write us, call us or email us. Our email is coop@bagsforjustice.com. My personal email for work and my phone number are all listed on the Rural and Migrant Ministry website, which is ruralmigrantministry.org.

Amanda Langseder:
Anything else that you want to share about YEG, things that are upcoming things that might be happening after the pandemic? Anything?

Juanita Sarmiento:
So the youth economic group is planning to host a virtual talent show. We normally have one in person, and that’s one of our biggest fundraising events here in Sullivan County. So now that we’re going virtual, hopefully we’re able to expand our audience and be able to get more money that way. All of these programs that are here for youth nonprofit organizations, the only way they run is by support from our community people and support from anyone, people like you. Nobody likes asking for money. Unfortunately we have to do it. So if you can that’s the best way to support a nonprofit organization, especially one like the youth economic group.

Amanda Langseder:
Can we donate on your website? What’s the best way to donate?

Juanita Sarmiento:
You could donate at ruralmigrantministry.org and if you want it to go specifically to the Sullivan County programming office, or just specifically the youth economic group, you know, like make sure you put a note there.

Amanda Langseder:
Thank you so much for joining us today, Juanita. I really think it’s important information to share with the community we here at Sullivan 180 very much look forward to continuing to support and partner with YEG whenever we can, now and into the future.

Juanita Sarmiento:
Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. And I wish everybody the happiest of holidays and a happy new year.