Debbie Hutchinson and Marvin Millington

[00:01] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Good morning. I'm Debbie Hutchinson I am 47 years old. It's Saturday, August 21, 2021. I'm in the city of Enfield, the northern part of the state of Connecticut. And my conversation partner is Marvin Millington I am his liaison officer. I'm a vice consul with the government of Jamaica. And Marvin is one of the hardest working migrant workers I've come to know in the state of Connecticut.

[00:34] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Hi, I am Marvin Millington I am 28 years of age. Today is Saturday, August 21, 2021. I'm in the city of Enfield, Connecticut. My conversation partner is Debbie Hutchinson and she's my liaison officer.

[00:57] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Fantastic. So, Marvin 28, you're one of the younger core of migrant workers from the thousands of migrant workers that come to Jamaica. This is a storied program. We've been doing this for 78 years, since 1943.

[01:18] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Okay.

[01:19] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: And we can go into the legacy of just how we started a little bit. We started in World War II, and we developed a program that was a partnership with the US Government. We were one of the only countries that responded early, early on in the war to bring workers here. It's a program that I'm very proud of, and I'm proud to be talking to you about your journey into this history program. How did you decide to become a farm worker?

[01:53] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Well, my dad has been traveling on this farm work program for, like, 30 years. I've seen what he achieved. I've heard of some of his stuff that he spoke up here. I heard of some stuff that was here in America. So I saw this as an opportunity to come and explain, experience it first and myself, which was good. I'm glad I'm here. It's a lot of stuff that I've been introduced to, I've been open to. I learned a lot since I got here, and it's very nice to be here.

[02:25] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: So pretty much, your father was doing this work before you were born?

[02:31] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yes.

[02:32] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Let me ask you, what month were you born then?

[02:34] MARVIN MILLINGTON: October.

[02:35] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: So you were born in October, So that means your father was not home when you were born.

[02:40] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Correct.

[02:41] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Ah. So the interesting thing for us as we talk about this journey is most of our migrant workers don't get a chance to see their children being born. He must have missed a lot of birthdays.

[02:56] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yes, he did.

[02:58] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Was that hard? Was it hard seeing daddy go away all the time?

[03:02] MARVIN MILLINGTON: At some point it was, you know you're gonna miss him, but then start to look back and say, this is to help us financially. So you just have to, like, Try to cope with it, Stay in contact with him, you know, try to be comfortable with him being away. Make him comfortable just the same being away from us.

[03:28] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Did he tell you how he became a part of the farm work program? Did he tell you those stories?

[03:34] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah, he shared with me one time that he went down to Westmoreland in Jamaica. They had like, they were selecting some guys to go on the program. He and another guy from St. Elizabeth, they went there, they slept overnight to do an interview the following day. This was just like hearing about this opportunity to come to America to make life better in Jamaica. They did all these sacrifices and they got through and they started the program from there.

[04:11] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Aha. So he must have told you how difficult it was. Was this a dream for you to join this team of workers coming here, or you just happened to decide at some point that you had to do this?

[04:29] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Well, I always wanted to be a mechanical engineer, but then I had like a sister is like two years older than me. He had her expenses of college and all. So I kind of sit back and let him get she through the college first. But then I started working and get a little bit comfortable and starting to earn some money. So, you know, got a little too comfortable. So I kind of like took the mechanical engineer off my mind for a minute. But then it's gradually opportunities come. I heard that like they're selecting guys again. They're issuing like they call it cards back home to come on the program. I tried, but that didn't work for me until.

[05:26] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Why didn't it work?

[05:28] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Because like there's like say five cards or six cards come to like a area like our community or like our parch. And there's like 500, 600 guys trying to get one of the cards. So you know that like a lot of persons for that small amount of car. So unfortunately I wasn't chosen this.

[05:51] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: So it's hard. It's like 1 in 100 chance of you making it onto this program. Right There just never enough opportunities for all the guys who want the chance.

[06:02] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Right, right.

[06:03] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Got it. So then you, you didn't make it. Did you give up on the dream of being a part of this program? What happened? How did you land here?

[06:14] MARVIN MILLINGTON: I didn't give up. I actually tried like two or three times getting through with the card. But then the offer came wherein my dad could take me onto the program because I guess his years of working here, they gave him an opportunity where he could take me onto the program under his name. So that's how I got Here. And I was pretty relieved and happy, excited to come and see what's happening here in America.

[06:44] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: So where was the first place you went to work? I know some of the guys have gone to different, different farms. Where did you land?

[06:50] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Jarmok. I landed at Jarmuk to work and.

[06:53] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: I was like, so you've always been in Enfield, at Jarwalk Tobacco. And how many years now have you been?

[07:00] MARVIN MILLINGTON: This is my fourth year here.

[07:03] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Did it live up to what your father told you about this program or was it completely different from what you'd heard?

[07:10] MARVIN MILLINGTON: No, it was like exactly what he told me because he's been here for like a lot of years. He. He's been here and maybe watch Owen grow from a child to where he's at now.

[07:22] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: He's watched the owner's child grow up to become the owner.

[07:26] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Right.

[07:26] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Wonderful.

[07:27] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Right.

[07:29] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: That's another part of the program that I don't think many people realize that the same farmers come every year. They don't really change. The attrition is the same and so the skill sets are the same. What was the hardest part about your entry into the program?

[07:47] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Adapting to like, you know, being away from home, having to like, basically do everything for yourself. Like you come in, you have to like prepare your meal, you have to get your stuff cleaned out, like your area cleaned out, washing your clothes, all that. So, you know, like doing a day's work, coming in tired, it's like a lot to get adjusted to. But gradually you fall into place and you find your rhythm, you set your timing and everything works out well.

[08:19] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: What are the hours of work life? Give us a day in the life of a farm work from your perspective.

[08:27] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Okay, so I'll say my day starts at like around 5:30. So I get up, prepare my lunch package, my lunch bags, get ready. We have to get started working at 7am There's a break at 9, work until 12 for lunch, half an hour lunch, then we Normally work like 5:30 on normal days. Some days we go over like, if we want to like complete a section for the day, go over to like 6:30 thereabout. When we come in again, prepare or like our meal. If we have clothes to wash, have a shower and go back to bed the next day all over again.

[09:18] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Wow. So there is little social interaction. Is it isolating to be a farm worker? Do you feel like you're away but still together? And what is, what is that like when you sit back a day after work, what do you do to connect or to.

[09:37] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah, we have social media can connect back home with families over video chat, live chat.

[09:46] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: That's different from when daddy was a.

[09:48] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Part of it, because back then, I remember he used to, like, send messages, like letters. And I remember him. He ran a joke, like, he was saying he would send a letter. I would take him, like, a week to hear what's happening back home. Because I remember one time there was, like, a hurricane that passed through. I think it was a Gilbert. So that messed up the whole mailing system. So it took longer than they thought. So, like, the farmers were here not knowing what happened to their families back home in Jamaica, that should have been, like, devastating to them. But in the new era, there's, like, you make a call and you can see what's happening back home over video callers.

[10:30] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: It's a whole different dimension.

[10:32] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah. So that makes it a bit easier. Also, I want to add to the fact that my dad being here and then coming to this same form, it's like I'm already home. It's not like I'm going to where I'm around complete strangers. He's already there to guide me and help me along the way. So that added to me being away from home.

[10:55] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: A lot of people think that my group work is slave work. I'm gonna put you out there. Do you. Do you see yourself here at this farm that way?

[11:07] MARVIN MILLINGTON: No, it's definitely not like that. The most get the job done, which is required by every employer. It's not like they're behind you, driving you and telling you to do this and rushing you this and that. If you're gonna, like, behave like you don't want to do it, Stand up on the work and, like, wasting your time, basically, they're going to approach you and address it. But it's not like they're driving you to do it, like, pushing you behind to say, do more than what you're doing, because they basically understand that what you're doing is your best, and that's what matters.

[11:48] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Okay, so what's nice about being at this one? What do you like about your environment here? How would you rate your employer?

[11:58] MARVIN MILLINGTON: They're very much welcome. I love to Owen like my brother. I look to Steve like my father. They're awesome people. I can, like, go to them with just about anything, and they won't turn me down. They'll sit and hear me out in their very busiest times. I can't even remember one time Steve sitting on his phone, Look, I'll give you back a call. I'm gonna deal with the situation. He hung up his phone and dealt with the situation there for me. But to me, that's like personally very much. It shows that they appreciate you leaving home to come and get their job done. Yeah.

[12:42] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Do you think that the general public understands or even appreciates what happens with the agricultural community? Do you think they really know what's going on with the H2 program in.

[13:00] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Terms of like persons here, how they treat us?

[13:04] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Yeah.

[13:04] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah.

[13:04] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: A lot of people tend to think that the agricultural program doesn't pay you well and they think that you guys are not getting enough or that you are being abused or they don't really know the agricultural program. From your vantage point, what would you like to say to those people who have these opinions about the migrant community?

[13:29] MARVIN MILLINGTON: I would say that they're definitely wrong. It's not like what they're thinking. As I say, it's hard work. Yes, but still at a fear day's pay is what we got for our 30 days work. So it's like I would say normal.

[13:52] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Did you know what you were going to be paid before you got here?

[13:56] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah, back in the processing center back home in Jamaica, when we got our contract, we got the rate printed on the contracts. So we had an idea as to what we were going to get paid.

[14:09] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: And how much are you paid per hour.

[14:12] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Currently we're paid at 1499 before tax and it's withdrawn.

[14:18] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: You said before tax. How many people know that the ag worker pays taxes and has deductions that is paid over to the irs and how many people do you think know that?

[14:32] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Well, the ones who get paid should know they get their space stuff so they all check it.

[14:37] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: And so you actually get a pay stub.

[14:39] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Right.

[14:39] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: And you can see how much you're earning.

[14:41] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Right. And to take it to the next level. We all have bank accounts now and we have our debit cards. So we. It's not like we're walking around with some lump sum of cash on Fridays.

[14:52] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Okay, so you have our safe cards right now. So you're banking here, you're into the 21st century, you have Social Security numbers, you pay taxes now that you've been earning and you've been earning for the last four years.

[15:10] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah.

[15:11] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: What, what have you invested in? Where does that money go, what you do?

[15:18] MARVIN MILLINGTON: I've been aiming towards getting my home back home in Jamaica, setting up place from like my wife and I, eventually our family getting like a ride eventually. Definitely try to save because you have to have something set aside for whatever might come. And I'm trying to like set up something wherein should I stop traveling, I can have that to rely on. Yeah.

[15:50] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: What if you got sick here? What happens? Do you have access to healthcare?

[15:55] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Oh, yeah.

[15:56] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: What do you mean, oh, yeah?

[15:57] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Like top of line health care? Because last year I had a surgery done when I was it 20, 19. Yeah. I did a surgery back home in Jamaica. When I came up last year, I got an hernia. To cut the story short, when I did the surgery here, the doctor said the job that they did back home in Jamaica, they could have done it better. So in the end result is that when they went in and did what they had to do, it's way better. Because normally where they had the cut, when I did it back in Jamaica, I would feel like a little tender spot. And since I did the second surgery here, it's not like that. So I would even class it better than what they have in Jamaica.

[16:57] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Okay, so how do you access your primary care? What happens when the guys get sick? What happens now that you have Covid in terms of vaccinations, in terms of even COVID testing? Where does that support come from?

[17:14] MARVIN MILLINGTON: There's a community health center that they're joined with us. They help us medically who get injured. They're there. If it's like an immediate situation, the ambulance will come just the same. But I mean, it's like, to how I see it, it's like we're like citizens living here because we're almost accessing.

[17:40] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Like, all the benefits.

[17:42] MARVIN MILLINGTON: All the benefits.

[17:43] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Fantastic. When I look at where we are today, thousands of migrant workers building this economy. We knew that last year, Covid took a toll. Were you surprised that migrant workers were allowed to come in even though countries were closed and borders were closed? Yeah.

[18:06] MARVIN MILLINGTON: I was surprised because back in Jamaica started to hear news that no workers will be traveling because of the COVID and all these things. I was surprised that they actually let us in, per se.

[18:23] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Weren't you scared?

[18:25] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah, there was a bit. Some fear in the back of my mind, yeah.

[18:31] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: But you still came.

[18:32] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah.

[18:33] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Why?

[18:34] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Because we still have the aim. We still have what we're working towards. It's not like we're coming to get mixed and mingled with other persons. We were coming to go to the farm, do the work, get back to the camp.

[18:46] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: So you felt like you would be relatively safe?

[18:48] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Oh, yeah, definitely.

[18:50] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Okay. It's a huge camp.

[18:53] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah, big.

[18:55] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: We've got 100 people.

[18:58] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yep.

[18:59] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: What is that like?

[19:01] MARVIN MILLINGTON: It's like a rush hour in the kitchen in the mornings on Sundays, definitely. It's crazy in the kitchen because like, traditionally Jamaicans always wanting to have a good Sunday dinner.

[19:14] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Yes.

[19:14] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Someone said Sunday dinner, it's like a three course meal, fully with dessert and all.

[19:22] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: So you still manage to get all of that done?

[19:25] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah, because we corporate, we have like, they take it for joke. Like when you go to like the banks and they give you a number in the kitchen, they're like saying like, what's your number? And it's not your time yet and all these things.

[19:37] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: But so they manage who is at the store.

[19:39] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Right.

[19:39] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: And who is at the sink.

[19:40] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Right.

[19:41] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Wow. So you have to have a number system going in there.

[19:44] MARVIN MILLINGTON: It's not really a number system, but let us use that as a joke, you know, to have some humor in the camp while they're doing what you're doing.

[19:50] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Okay.

[19:51] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah.

[19:53] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Being here, what's it like on the Jamaica side? Where did you feel if you had to do this whole program, where do you feel the support comes from in terms of your family members, in terms of your community? How important is this program to the Jamaica side?

[20:18] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Art makes a huge impact. Because when I get back home, I see where persons that are less fortunate that truly in my heart I would really want to help, but couldn't. I see where this program allowed me to assist. Even if it is not much, I could still assist because I'm in a better position than where I was back in Jamaica. So it helped me to assist them more than what I could back home.

[20:52] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: I saw a gentleman the other day, he was buying shoes and I was like, how much shoes can one person buy? And he said, it's not for me. Yeah, it's for the children back home. And he packed a barrel of shoes to go home. In your community, how important is the migrant worker to the development of that community?

[21:17] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Actually, my dad and I, we do shippings. Like we get parcels of rice, peas, tin products. I will ship them home, like on. I think it's like this Sunday, like Christmas Sunday. The Sunday after Christmas, we invite persons to the church and we package them and we hand them out.

[21:41] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Really?

[21:41] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah.

[21:43] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: So the community comes.

[21:44] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah.

[21:45] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: And you hand out food.

[21:46] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Right. Also, on Boxing Day, we.

[21:51] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Boxing Day is a day right after Christmas, right?

[21:54] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah, the 26th of. Yeah, the day after Christmas. We do, like, preparation of meals and we issue it to the community just the same. Sometimes we handle the packages on that same day when we're issuing the meals. So that helps us in that era. Yeah.

[22:13] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: If Jamaica lost this program, what would that look like?

[22:18] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Devastating. This program is feeding a Lot of persons back home, it's cooling a lot of person. It puts shelters over a lot of person's head. It helps a lot.

[22:34] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Do you think that we have taken care of the privilege to be a migrant worker or do you even see it as a privilege to be a migrant?

[22:44] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Oh, yeah, it's definitely a privilege because then you can. It helps to. As a young man personally, it helps me to achieve the things that I've always wanted then being back home in comparison to working there, it would take longer then you have to. The cost of living, taking back so much from what you work, it's very hard.

[23:15] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Very, very hard.

[23:16] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah.

[23:17] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: I don't know if you know, but every year the United States gets to decide who comes. They get to decide which countries can come. Jamaica has never really lost its place on this preferred list of countries that can come. What would your message be to the aspiring young men who are coming to be a part of this program? What would you want them to know?

[23:47] MARVIN MILLINGTON: You come here for a reason, Stick to that reason. If you have a plan back home, work towards the plan. Ah, I hear a person say, if you come here for women, there's a lot back home in Jamaica, so you shouldn't be here. Come with a plan, work towards that plan, get it done. Stay within the laws of the country, Try not to disobey the laws of the country, try not to disrespect your co workers, try not to disrespect your employers. Because these opportunities that you're granting unto us, it is making a great impact back home. So just do good, do your best.

[24:42] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Do you think that your contribution here at the farm, do you think that the other workers see you as a leader?

[24:54] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah, a lot of them do. A lot of them actually call me their boss.

[24:59] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Really?

[24:59] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah.

[25:00] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: But you're one of the younger ones, you've just come, right?

[25:03] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Even the older ones do. But I guess it's to how I do operate around them, trying to help them. They always look to me like solving problems. So I think that's the reason why.

[25:19] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: What are some of the problems that you think are frequently discussed? What does the migrant worker struggle with in this country?

[25:31] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Well, I remember 2019, some of the guys came here, they were like, I can't manage this, I'm going to go back home and it's too much and this. And I took like two or three of them and said, look, you came here for a reason. If you can't manage the work, let the pay, the pay that you're collecting, let it motivate you to do it because you know that what you're collecting here, it can do a lot back home in Jamaica for you and your family. So use something to motivate yourself to continue having that drive, that zeal to go on. It doesn't make sense to come here and try to give up when you're already here. You can do it. You're strong enough to do it. That's what I remember telling the guys. And even last year, one of them came to me and he said, you remember when I just got here and I was about to give up and you took me one side and you talked to me saying that, look, you can do it. And look, he's here and still here.

[26:35] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Now, still having the motivation.

[26:37] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah.

[26:37] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Do you think that you have the support of the Jamaican government while you did?

[26:42] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah. Because even back home, I remember at the processing center, they came to us last year with the COVID When the COVID was like, high. They came to us like, thanking us for still coming to go on the program. They were saying to us, like, look, this helps back home in Jamaica. And they're thanking us for the sacrifices we're still trying to make despite hearing that the COVID is like that high and we're still going to like take a risk to travel into it. And they were like, very much appreciated of us.

[27:23] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Okay.

[27:23] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah.

[27:24] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: If you had to change one thing about this program, what would it be?

[27:30] MARVIN MILLINGTON: I must say, some of the guys that tries to, but by each other. Yeah.

[27:41] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: So it's more the attitude of.

[27:42] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Right.

[27:43] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: You would want more training, I would.

[27:47] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Want more unity among us. You know, unity is strength. But if you're gonna have five guys pulling that way, five guys pulling the opposite way, you know it's gonna break apart. But if the 10 of us attack the problem or the situation or the work altogether, we can conquer it easier.

[28:06] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: I see. And if it was so hard for you to get on to this program and this is such a meaningful program, how would you address that? What do you think can be done to create more opportunities for hard working young men who have no opportunities back home?

[28:32] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Ah. If it's possible, give Jamaica more chances. Give them more opportunities where they can get more young men here. There's a lot of hard working men back home. Even in my community right now, that is. You're like looking and hoping for a.

[28:52] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Chance, but everybody says there are no jobs. You guys are taking these jobs from local Americans. Do you think you're taking the job from a local American?

[29:04] MARVIN MILLINGTON: I don't think so.

[29:06] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: What do you think?

[29:12] MARVIN MILLINGTON: What I see here in America, there's a lot of job opportunities here. It's not like we're here taking jobs from local Americans. Because I've seen where in. In some areas, there's, like, large farms. Like, so Steve Job was telling me about this farm that does, like, 5,000 acres of sweet corn. That's, like, a lot. And that's like, just one farm in comparisons to the all the farms here in America. So in America, there's, like, a lot of job opportunity opportunities here. So I don't see.

[29:52] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Do you think other people want to do this work?

[29:56] MARVIN MILLINGTON: That's. That's the other thing. Because Steve had some guys from here, they work like they don't want to do it. Basically, they're stopping, they're taking a lot of water breaks. And throughout a day, whose work they probably do probably an hour's work of what a Jamaican would do. So, as you mentioned, I don't think that they want to do this.

[30:29] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: It's hard work. Pulling yourselves between the leaves is not easy. Picking tobacco is really hard work. What keeps you going day in, day out, picking those leaves, taking care of those leaves, hanging those leaves. What keeps you going?

[30:47] MARVIN MILLINGTON: I always tell myself that, look, it's a whole team thing. If we get this done right for the boss, it not only benefits the boss, it also benefits us, because then we can look forward to next year. Because if he's successful this year, he's gonna more thinking of doing it again next year. But if he's unsuccessful this year for, like, say, three consecutive years, what's the next thing he's gonna do? Probably stop. So that's why I always try to. Or who I'm working with try to have them go in and have them go in and do do their best. Because I always tell them that, look, this not only benefits us, it also not only benefits the boss, it also benefits us.

[31:41] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: All right, so we're going on this trend. We have. Tobacco is growing this year. We had flood rains, we had diseases. Was it harder this year than any of the.

[31:55] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Oh, yeah. We had to do more cultivating. We had to, like, water in cans. We had to take the nozzles off and pour the ur. Like, walk through the field and pour the fertilizers to try and keep the tobacco leaves green because of the vast amount of rain that we got. It basically break down the fertilizer that was applied. So we had to reapply fertilizer in order for the plant to sustain its growth and Stay green until it's ready to reap.

[32:32] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: So it was longer hours?

[32:35] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yeah, there were some longer hours. Like, as I say, I remember one of the field. We had, like, a couple rows left. I wanted to finish it, so we just. I told the boss that, look, I'm trying to complete this field, so we're just going to push and get it done, start a new one. The other day, said, all right, go ahead and do it.

[32:55] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: We have a strong Jamaican community. I don't know if you know, but the West Indian Social Club started back in the 40s, and it's celebrating 70 years. You know, these men came as migrant workers and set up the West Indian Social Club in Hartford. And from that, we have one of the biggest Jamaican communities here in the state of Connecticut. What does it feel like to know that you're a part of that legacy?

[33:31] MARVIN MILLINGTON: It's a great feeling. You know, once it's something positive, once it's something good, it's always a good feeling to be a part of that, to know that you actually contribute to it. So that's. It's a good feeling. Tremendous.

[33:48] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: So we've stepped on the backs of what these men have set in place and set in motion, and we're now moving towards a new era. One of the things we struggle with is literacy in the outfit, with our migrant workers, how do we ensure that no one is left behind, that they are also moving into a new era, understanding the technologies and being a part of the journey forward.

[34:20] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Who understands it, help who don't understand. Because I've helped a lot of guys since they came in with the banked accounts and the card. I've helped them at the ATM machines or the ABMs where they do the purchases. I've helped them and basically teach them how to use the cards until they're actually using it by themselves now. So it's basically one hand help the.

[34:48] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Other and taking the time.

[34:50] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Taking the time to help each other.

[34:53] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: What do you want to say as we wrap up our conversation? What do you want to say to the Jarmon family, to the government of Jamaica? What do you want to say to these different groups of people that make this whole thing possible?

[35:09] MARVIN MILLINGTON: I want to say thank you for even thinking of starting this program, even considering the fact that I've taken us Jamaicans here and giving us this opportunity. As I've said a couple times earlier, it makes a lot of difference backwards. So I just wanted to tell you many thanks to the Jarmak family, of course, by far to what I've heard Some of the elder guys say that I've been to other farms. They're saying that here at Jarmock, it's like the best. So I want to thank you guys for that. Let's continue to do what you're doing and all the best for the years to come.

[35:55] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: All right? And as we wrap, do you think this is a fluke? Do you think this is an odd chance that you work for a great employer, or do you think that if people got to know the program, there are many great employers?

[36:09] MARVIN MILLINGTON: I believe there are many great employers. It's just that you just need to get on the program and as I say, do what is required. Because like any other employer, if you're not doing what you're required to do, they're not going to be pleased with that. Yeah.

[36:33] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: So on one hand, as we wind down, if you had to look at your entire four years, there's some wonderful people that you might want to salute today. Who taught you the most, Owen. Who supported you the most in difficult times?

[36:53] MARVIN MILLINGTON: My dad.

[36:54] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Okay. Who made sure your health care needs were met when you needed them?

[37:00] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Ms. Pak, the one at the community health center.

[37:03] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Ah, so you have. You have. You have someone down at the community that you're on a first name basis with. All right. And who do you think of all the guys that you work with was closest to you in difficult times?

[37:22] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Like the co workers.

[37:23] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Mm.

[37:24] MARVIN MILLINGTON: About that again.

[37:25] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: Your dad again. Well, I want to thank you for talking with me. I'm hoping that just by sharing your story, people get a new perspective.

[37:37] MARVIN MILLINGTON: Yes.

[37:37] DEBBIE HUTCHINSON: A perspective of the vital nature of this program, a perspective of how lives are being changed by this program, and a perspective of how long and how many generations have come down the line to bless both the US Economy and the Jamaican economy. Thank you, sir. Marvin

[37:59] MARVIN MILLINGTON: You're welcome. Thank you, too.