This comic was part of a project called "El viaje mas caro/The Most Costly Journey", which records the stories of Vermont's Migrant Farmworkers through comics.
"Promoting the well being of migrant farm workers through participatory cartooning.
As of 2015, approximately 1200-1500 migrant workers from Latin America help to sustain Vermont’s dairy industry. Many of these workers, the majority of whom leave behind families in Mexico and Guatemala, suffer in silence due to the mental health impacts of separation from home, personal and cultural isolation, work related stresses, and other challenges of living in rural Vermont. Having the opportunity to tell one’s story, and hearing stories that reflect one’s own experience, can be an important form of therapy and healing.
This project represents a cooperative outreach effort by the Open Door Clinic of Addison County (http://www.opendoormidd.org/), UVM Extension (http://www.uvm.edu/extension/), UVM Department of Anthropology (http://www.uvm.edu/~anthro/), the Vermont Folklife Center (http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/), and Marek Bennett’s Comics Workshop (http://marekbennett.com/comicsworkshop) to provide to Spanish-speaking migrant dairy workers a set of resources they can use to find help. Using the medium of cartooning—a form with a long history in Latin America—we partner with individual dairy workers and share their stories of the experiences of moving to and working in Vermont, as drawn by cartoonists with connections to the region. The final printed products—each highlighting different aspects of the migrant experience—will be made available in Spanish to migrant workers free of charge, and will be packaged with other additional information about relevant the services available in the state, including healthcare resources, legal aid, and labor rights organizations."
Below is a preview of my 8 page comic in English and Spanish. The anthology is expected to release Winter 2017.
You can now read the full comic here!
