Summer 1996
| Focus is produced quarterly by the Ellen Varley, editor |
| Questions, comments or suggestions may be directed to: Ellen Varley, ev1@umail.umd.edu phone: (301) 405-4581 |  Return to the Focus Index home page. |
The
Cooperative Extension Service was established in 1914 and charged by Congress
"to aid in diffusing among the people of the United States useful and practical
information on subjects relating to agriculture and home economics, and to encourage
application of the same." In 1919-20 community 4-H clubs were organized
with the object of developing "head, heart, hands, and health" of
America's youth.
In its broadest sense, Extension's mission has changed very little in 82 years. Extension faculty are still providing people with useful and practical information on subjects relating to agriculture, home economics, and youth development. What has changed, however, is the scope and needs of the audience we serve. In order to meet the educational needs of Maryland's increasingly diverse population, we have had to adapt, modify, and expand many of our outreach efforts while cutting back or eliminating others.
This issue of Focus highlights Extension efforts to educate and assist several diverse Maryland audiences, including Amish and Mennonite farmers, Korean-American senior citizens, youth with physical disabilities, and food workers with a limited ability to speak and read English. In each case, Extension faculty have recognized a need and have adapted existing programs, modified instructional techniques, or developed new programs that match their clients' educational, physical, religious, or cultural requirements. I think you will agree that their efforts have been successful.
Thomas A. Fretz
Dean, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Director, Cooperative Extension Service
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Thanks to media coverage
of outbreaks of foodborne
illness caused by E.coli in
hamburger, Lysteria in ice
cream, and Salmonella in
chicken, a growing number of
Americans are concerned
about food safety. Contrary to
what many people think,
however, the Centers for
Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) estimates
that only about 3 percent of
all foodborne illness
outbreaks are caused by
problems in food processing
plants.
One of the main reasons for this low figure is the existence of industry and government programs that stress personal hygiene, sanitation, and proper product handling. Still, given the potential for large-scale outbreaks of foodborne illness, new federal food safety regulations will require processing plants to reduce the public's risk of foodborne disease even further. Employee training forms a key component of these food safety measures.
Such training poses a challenge for the Delmarva poultry and seafood industries. Many seafood processing plants hire seasonal workers from Mexico, many of whom speak little English. And according to Bill Satterfield, executive director of Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc., the number of poultry processing workers with only a limited ability to speak English or read and write in any language has increased dramatically on the Delmarva Peninsula from essentially zero just a few years ago to more than 2,500 today.
Dr. Charles Wabeck, Extension poultry products specialist at the Princess Anne Facility of the University of Maryland, College Park's Lower Eastern Shore Research and Education Center, and Thomas Rippen, Extension seafood technology specialist at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, are collaborating with their colleagues at the University of Delaware on a project designed to address the special training needs of the Delmarva poultry and seafood industries. The centerpiece of this project is the development of a 10- to 15-minute video in English and Spanish that can be used to teach low-literacy, entry-level food processing workers about critical safety procedures and practices that reduce the risk of foodborne illness.
"Because a processing facility may rely on one or two people to interpret for all non-English-speaking workers, there is always a risk that misinformation will be disseminated or important details left out," says Wabeck. "Using videotapes in both English and Spanish ensures that all employees receive exactly the same information."
The videotape will emphasize good sanitation and food handling procedures, including the use of good hand-washing techniques, appropriate attire in the processing plant, proper cooling and storage methods, recommended cooking times and temperatures, and holding methods that minimize risks. A companion training manual emphasizing good sanitation and food handling practices also is being developed.
Rippen has created pictorial representations of key concepts mentioned in the video. These icons, including the one shown on this page will reinforce important information regarding such issues as hand washing, clothing, and cross-contamination. Each icon will be placed on a large poster for display in processing facilities. "Icons are an important part of the educational message because they convey critical information in a format that is clearly understood in any language," explains Rippen. "In a bilingual work environment, they're essential."
An advisory committee is working with Wabeck, Rippen, and the rest of the project team to develop the video and training materials. This committee is made up of industry representatives, state officials, and Hispanic faculty representing businesses and participating institutions.
"Our role is to help food industry employers understand cultural characteristics of Hispanic workers and advise in the development of culturally sensitive materials that are informative and non-threatening to workers and that help them learn the sanitation and food handling procedures required in the U.S. food industry," says committee member Dr. Maria deColon, Extension specialist and coordinator of Maryland's Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program.
The number of poultry processing workers with only a limited ability to speak English or to read and write in any language has increased dramatically on the Delmarva Peninsula.
The video and an accompanying training manual will be pilot tested in a minimum of two seafood and two poultry processing plants later this year. Trainers from participating businesses will use the materials as outlined in the training packet and will evaluate their usefulness. "This will give us an opportunity to make any final adjustments to the video script or manual before it's made available to a larger audience," says Wabeck.
One copy of the completed training manual and video will be provided to the director or administrator of Extension at each land-grant institution. Additional copies will be available to the Extension system, industry, and trade and professional groups at a minimal charge. Although the materials are being developed to meet the needs of the Delmarva poultry and seafood industry, developers expect them to be useful to a variety of food processing industries.
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 Angie Danford relaxes with some four-legged friends. | Angie Danford is an 18-year-old sophomore at St. Mary's College. She plans to major
in psychology and teach high school social studies. Eventually, she'd like to pursue a
doctoral degree and become a college professor. Angie also is a veteran 4-H member. She founded the Mt. Harmony Mustangs 4-H Club with her mother and later joined the 4-H Lucky Dog Club and 4-H Teen Club. During her 10 years in 4-H, Angie has trained dogs, served as a camp counselor, taught pet care classes, participated on the state teen council, and attended 4-H National Conference as a delegate. She also has been actively involved with a special 4-H program called the HOW, which stands for "Handicap's Only a Word. |
"Our goal is to help enhance participants' self-esteem and introduce them to successful role models...; to offer information about opportunities...; and to provide a setting for teens and their families to share both their concerns and their accomplishments."
Kendra Wells
The HOW conference is an annual event that was started by two Howard County educators in 1983 as a forum for teens with physical disabilities, along with their parents and teenage siblings. The 4-H unit of the Maryland Cooperative Extension Service became partners in sponsoring the HOW conference in 1989.
"Our goal is to help enhance participants' self-esteem and introduce them to successful role models with disabilities; to offer information about opportunities in education, jobs, and recreation; and to provide a setting for teens and their families to share both their concerns and their accomplishments," says Kendra Wells, state 4-H programs specialist. This goal is accomplished through a day-long program of group sharing sessions, panel discussions by experts with and without disabilities, mini- sessions for teens and adults, and a keynote speaker. The speaker at this year's conference, which attracted more than 60 people, was Brenda Levy, a Maryland swimmer who is representing the United States in the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta.
Angie, who has Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, attended her first HOW conference when she was 14. "It was a really good experience," she recalls. "I met teens from other areas of the state and made new friends. The seminars were interesting and the pizza party and dance at the end of the conference were great fun. There was a real sense of camaraderie." In fact, Angie enjoyed the HOW conference so much that she and her mother joined the teen and parent advisory boards to help plan the next three conferences.
This year Angie returned as a member of a young adults discussion panel. "We talked about our experiences and what the younger teens might expect when they attend college and leave home," she says. "We also tried to help them understand that no matter what their disability, they can overcome it and achieve whatever they set their mind to." And that, says Wells, is what the HOW conference is really all about.
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It's important not to have preconceptions when you work with people," says Don Schwartz, an Extension agriculture agent in Washington County. "You need to find out where they're coming from and establish relationships based on who they are, not who you expect them to be."
For the past 10 years, Schwartz has provided programs and services for the county's dairy farmer's, half of whom are members of the Mennonite faith. During that time, he has found that, despite religious differences and their old-fashioned image, his Mennonite clients are progressive and well-informed about agricultural issues.
There's been a real change in attitudes and technology in the past decade," Schwartz says. "Like all farmers, Mennonites are hungry for information about advances that affect the economics of agriculture." One such advance involves the use of computers. According to Schwartz, Mennonite farmers were among the first in his area to use computers on the farm in the 1980s. Today, one of his clients has his own computer consulting business.
Like Schwartz, Garrett County agriculture agent Jim Simms has had a long-term professional relationship with Maryland's "plain people," and he agrees with Schwartz's assessment.
"Mennonites are not anti-technology," Simms explains, "but they don't believe in adopting innovations they consider
frivolous or detrimental to the strength of family and community ties. They carefully evaluate new technologies and
agricultural management practices. If they believe a specific technology has an economic value, they'll adopt it willingly."
"It's important not to have preconceptions when you work with people."
Don Schwartz
Sometimes new technologies must be modified to meet cultural restrictions. "The first local drip irrigation system I helped design was on an Amish farm," recalls Dan Donnelly, an agriculture agent in St. Mary's County. "However, the design needed to be adapted so that it used gravity flow rather than water pressure from a pump." One Mennonite farmer Donnelly knows developed a horse-drawn machine to lay plastic mulch for vegetables and another built a horse-drawn conservation corn planter.
Reaching out to Maryland's Amish and Mennonite farmers does require some flexibility on the part of Extension agents. Getting in touch with conservative Old Order Amish clients can be a challenge because most do not have telephones in their homes. "I can't just give them a call to make an appointment or discuss a problem," says Donnelly, who must wait for them to initiate contact. "Many Amish will use public pay phones, and you know you have arrived' in the community when you see your name and number written in pencil on the wall of the neighborhood phone booth," he adds.
Because Amish farmers often rely on horses and buggies for transportation, meeting sites must be accessible. "We make an effort to hold Extension workshops at locations within the Amish community," says Simms. "If that's not possible, we try to provide alternative transportation for them."
As they do for all their clients, Simms and his colleagues make themselves available to help with problems. A few years ago, for example, Schwartz helped a young Mennonite farmer who had a problem with manure spread on his land. A storm washed the manure onto a neighbor's property, causing ill will and undesirable media attention. Schwartz helped defuse the situation and worked with the farmer to develop a nutrient management plan that reduced both runoff problems and costs.
Efforts such as this have made Extension a respected source of information in the plain community. "They perceive us as educators that keep up to date on important improvements in agriculture," says Simms. And perhaps more important, adds Donnelly, is the agents' demonstrated sensitivity to their clients' values and beliefs. "We don't have to adopt or even fully understand their lifestyle as long as we respect it. Such respect is the cornerstone on which all our programs are built."
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| When taunted by another youngster about her lack of arms, seven-year-old Darli
Shaffer responded, "Can you ride a horse?" When he said he couldn't, Darli
proudly replied, "Well I can." The boy never bothered her again. Darli is one of 45 riders with disabilities who participate in the Carroll County 4-H Therapeutic Riding Program every year. Horseback riding lessons are provided, at no charge to the participants, for eight weeks in the spring and eight weeks in the fall. | 
Seven-year-old Darli Shaffer practices
her riding skills. |
 Carroll County 4-H agent Bob Shirley instructs a participant in the 4-H Therapeutic Riding Program. | "Riders in the program have shown significant improvements in balance, coordination,
confidence, courage, self-esteem, and the ability to follow directions," says Bob
Shirley, Extension 4-H agent in Carroll County, who introduced the program the first in
Maryland in 1978 when there were only some 40 such programs in the United States. Today, there is a waiting list to fill the spaces available for riders each year. Shirley says they could accommodate more people if they had more horses and access to an indoor facility. Fund-raising activities are currently under way to achieve these goals. Right now, the program has 10 donated horses. Lessons are taught in the horse rings at the Agriculture Center in Westminster by seven instructors with the help of some 75 volunteers. |
Riders with minor disabilities often can ride with minimal assistance from one volunteer who leads the horse and one who walks alongside. Those with more extensive disabilities may require an additional volunteer. Many of the volunteers are 4-H'ers or other teenagers who want volunteer service hours or who just like helping with the program.
"The teenage volunteers learn to take on responsibility and they get to know people with disabilities and realize that they're just like everyone else," says Shirley.
"I'm grateful to the volunteers who do this out of the goodness in their hearts," says Constance Shaffer, Darli's mother. "They are able to combine their love of horses and love of children to produce a wonderful program that benefits many people."
"Riders have shown significant improvements in balance, coordination, confidence, courage, self-esteem, and the ability to follow directions."
Bob Shirley
Shirley has given slide presentations and speeches about the program all over the country and has corresponded with people
in other countries about establishing their own therapeutic riding program. "It's the most rewarding program I've ever
worked with because everybody wins," he says.
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Speaking Korean and eating kimch'i with chopsticks isn't in the job description of Home Economics agent Joanne Hamilton. But educating people is. And gaining the acceptance of clients is a necessary step in the educational process.
So, on a Wednesday afternoon in May, Hamilton gamely joined a group of Korean-American senior citizens in a lunch of rice, fish cakes, bean sprouts, dried anchovies, and kimch'i (a spicy pickled cabbage) before teaching a class on banking basics.
"When working with a new audience, it's important to make an effort to learn about their culture, respect their traditions, and be receptive to social overtures."
Joanne Hamilton
This approach has served Hamilton well in her work with senior citizens at the Korean nutrition site sponsored by the Senior Nutrition Program of the county's Department of Aging. Every Wednesday throughout most of the year, 20 to 30 individuals meet at the site to eat lunch, socialize, study English, receive periodic medical services, such as blood pressure screening, obtain updates on current events, and learn about subjects relevant to senior citizens.
Hamilton has been a guest speaker on several occasions. In addition to the recent class on "Making the Most of Your Banking Dollar," she has provided information on living wills, medical power of attorney, and stretching food dollars. The nutrition site manager, Ms. Eunjoo Kim, provides translation assistance.
"Yoboseyo," Hamilton greeted the audience of 25 attentive seniors. "Today we're going to talk about won (money)." Focusing on very basic information, she described the benefits of bank accounts, including such safety and convenience factors as direct deposit and debit (ATM) cards. She also discussed factors to consider when choosing a bank, including the availability of free checking, telephone transfers, and other services.
Many of the participants don't read English so Hamilton did not distribute written information to everyone. Instead, she gave handouts to Eunjoo Kim, who explained that they were available. Several people requested the material so that they or their children could read it later.
Hamilton also dispensed with the usual Extension evaluation form. Since it is printed in English and many of the seniors have limited reading skills, other assessment tools could better determine how they use the information she presented.
Although the sessions at the Korean nutrition site are very different from the other classes Hamilton teaches, she believes there is a value to making some kind of educational connection no matter how basic with nontraditional Extension audiences. One sign that Hamilton had broken down some barriers and earned the acceptance of her audience was a request by Ms. Kim for a class on food purchasing skills.
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The Maryland 4-H Program Leadership Committee has approved the establishment of a new 4-H program that will extend the traditional 8- to 18-year-old age range for 4-H membership.
Patterned after a similar program in Ohio, the new Maryland 4-H Clover program will be geared for youngsters aged 5 to 7 years. It will offer children an opportunity to experience small group, cooperative learning in a non-competitive environment. Clover project materials cover the following broad areas:
|
Each learning experience will feature a variety of hands-on activities designed to help youngsters develop such life skills as self-understanding, decision making, learning to learn, and getting along with others.
"We think the 4-H Clover program will provide an excellent opportunity for parents and children to learn and have fun together," says Kendra Wells, state 4-H program specialist. The Clover program will officially begin this fall during the 4-H enrollment period for 1997. Local availability will depend on the number of teens and adults who volunteer their services as leaders.
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Eating a nutritious diet and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a challenge for many people. It is especially challenging for people living on a limited budget.
The Cooperative Extension Service's Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) was designed to help
limited-income families do just that. Extension-trained paraprofessionals called EFNEP nutrition assistants teach
participants how to make more nutritious food choices, manage food budgets and resources, and maintain their overall
health and fitness through diet and exercise. EFNEP classes are usually held twice a week for eight weeks, with the class
size averaging 15 clients per class. Clients are recruited in a variety of ways, including referrals from USDA's Women,
Infants and Children (WIC) program. Interest in the program also is generated by clients themselves.
"Teaching people from other countries is challenging but it gives me great satisfaction."
Diana Huertas-Miranda
An increasing number of families who need EFNEP's assistance are immigrants many of them from Asia and South and Central America. Faced with an unfamiliar language and different foods, they often lack the skills to make nutritious food choices with the money they have. To best help this immigrant population, EFNEP instructors have had to discover ways to reach and instruct people from a variety of cultures.
"Many of my students are from San Salvador, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, or Mexico," says Norma Quijada, an EFNEP nutrition assistants in Montgomery County, who teaches all of her classes in Spanish. "They rarely speak English and usually cannot read even in Spanish, so I use demonstrations and visual aids to teach them." Quijada says the most challenging thing about teaching her immigrant clients is they tend to overeat. She emphasizes eating good food in moderation, as well as eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Nutrition assistant Diana Huertas-Miranda from Prince George's County also teaches many Hispanic clients. She shares information in English and/or Spanish depending on the needs of the audience. She also focuses initially on foods with which her clients are already familiar, such as tortillas as an example during a discussion about breads and cereals. She then introduces her audience to options with which they are not familiar and tries to give a "cross-cultural aspect" to her lessons.
"Teaching people from other countries is challenging, "says Huertas-Miranda, "but it gives me great satisfaction because they are very enthusiastic and interested in learning." Kimthi Bui, an EFNEP nutrition assistant in Montgomery County for more than 14 years, teaches Asian clients, including many from the county's Vietnamese community.
Like their Hispanic counterparts, a majority of the Asian EFNEP clients cannot read, even in their native tongue, so Bui uses repetition and visual demonstrations to teach her lessons. She introduces clients to American foods and teaches them how to prepare familiar dishes with American staples, such as milk.
"In many Asian countries there isn't much milk," she explains. "After the age of about two years, children don't drink it. I encourage them to drink lots of milk and to use dairy products in their meal preparation."
Bui says the biggest challenge to teaching immigrants is their general lack of knowledge about the language and food in
general. "They don't know anything about nutrition, much less American culture, food and regulations, and they have a hard
time finding out because they can't speak English," she says. "They are here to learn, though, and that is very gratifying."
"I have learned how not to eat too much, to use less salt, to consume fewer sweets, and learned that milk products are very important for strong and healthy bones. I have also learned not to buy unnecessary items at the supermarket."
EFNEP client
Like other EFNEP paraprofessionals, Bui frequently assists her clients with subjects other than nutrition. She often finds herself reading a letter from Social Services or a note from the school of a client's child that is written in English. "I tell them they can call me at home if they need anything," she says. "And they do even at night or on weekends."
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Some children in Salisbury are doing better in school these days, thanks to members of the Riverside Roadrunners 4-H Club. In the spring of 1995, these civic-minded 4-H'ers started a club project to help youngsters living at Leonard Apartments, a community for agricultural workers, with their homework. Many apartment residents are Hispanic immigrants still learning the English language.
The tutoring project was the brainchild of Zoraida Maldonado, leader of the 4-H club. The 4-H'ers, many of whom speak Spanish fluently, responded to her idea with great enthusiasm. "They wanted to give help when and where it was most needed," she explains. "Some remember their own difficulties when learning English and adapting to a new culture and wanted to help these youngsters become the best students they could be."
While Maldonado discussed the project with Wicomico County 4-H agent Dan Tabler, school principals, and ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers, club members talked to their school counselors, recruited prospective students, and began preparing themselves. They presented their idea to parents of prospective students at one of their club meetings.
Based on information collected from the parents, they prepared a survey for prospective students. The survey included questions regarding age, grade, and the subjects in which respondents needed help. The responses were used to match youngsters in kindergarten through 10th grade with club members, who currently range in age from 9 to 16 years.
"In deciding how to pair tutors and elementary-school children, we agreed to maintain a three-year age difference," says Maldonado. "Our youngest student the first year was 5 1/2 and our youngest tutors were two 8-year-olds."
Once the matches were made, tutoring began during the last marking period (April through early June) of the 1994-1995 school year. This year, tutoring began earlier, in February.
Each club member worked one-on-one with a single student for the duration of the project, meeting every Tuesday from 4 to about 5:30 p.m. Sessions included homework review and assistance, discussion of the current textbook chapter, reading aloud for pronunciation improvement, and assistance with troublesome subjects usually math. "We helped them with any subject they were having trouble with," says 13-year-old club member Monica Buckley. "If we couldn't help with a specific question or problem, we would get someone else who knows the subject better."
Teachers have noticed an improvement in their students' work and have asked the 4-H'ers to offer tutoring throughout the school year. Club members are considering the request while enjoying a well-earned summer break. Some have already offered to begin tutoring in the fall.
"We really enjoy it ," says Monica. "Helping other people gives us a sense of being useful."
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