Exchange program sends employers to Mexico to connect with workers’ families
By Britt Johnsen | Winona Daily News

It’s all about cultural understanding.

That’s the main message behind Puentes/Bridges, a program that promotes cultural understanding between employers, employees and community members in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The program largely deals with the area’s growing Hispanic population and the dairy industry.
But today, a Buffalo County public health employee will travel to Mexico with more than a dozen others from the area. The trip, sponsored by Puentes/Bridges, is a 10-day training session that includes five days of intense Spanish language classes, and immersion in culture and language that includes a five-day stay with a Mexican family. The trip also includes visits to farms and historical sites, as well as lectures from experts on Mexican culture, history and immigration issues.

“I hope to come back with a better knowledge, or overview, of their culture,” said Jennifer Rombalski, health officer and public health supervisor for Buffalo County Health and Human Services.

This is the sixth consecutive year the program has sent people to Mexico, said Shaun Judge Duvall, director of the program, who is also an interpreter and former Alma, Wis., teacher.

The point is to have employers and employees learn about their Hispanic workers’ or coworkers’ culture and history, Duvall said. Although it’s largely for dairy producers, other employers and employees are welcome.

Rombalski is hoping to build better relationships with the Hispanic community. As a supervisor, she will come back and give training presentations to other employees, she said.

Mark Johnson of Johnson’s Rolling Acres dairy farm in Peterson, Minn., said he’s sending an employee to Mexico for the trip this week. About half of his employees are Hispanic.

Ultimately, what bridges the two cultures is a better understanding of where they come from. Duvall said when the employers get to meet their employees’ families, the meeting and understanding that comes from it creates a special bond.

“That says a lot about those employers,” she said.

Britt Johnsen can be reached at bjohnsen@winonadaily news.com or (507) 453-3519.

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