Mantengo Resources to

support B.C.’s Spanish-speaking agricultural workers and their employers

As the agricultural community approaches harvest and foreign workers begin to arrive, AgSafe has developed a collection of wellness resources and materials in support of British Columbia’s Spanish speaking agricultural workers titled “Mantengo”. These resources are part of AgSafe’s larger Mental Wellness in Agriculture initiative.

Supported by the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federalprovincial-territorial initiative, Mantengo is a collection of interrelated videos and resources in Spanish and English to help improve the mental and physical wellbeing of agricultural workers in B.C., as well as those guest workers who have travelled from outside of Canada and are working in various agricultural sectors throughout the province.

“B.C.’s guest workers face many emotional challenges while working here,” says Wendy Bennett, AgSafe Executive Director. “Loneliness, anxiety, and depression often occur as a result of being so far away from their families and community. We developed Mantengo to make supportive mental and physical wellbeing resources more easily accessible for Spanish speaking workers and their employers.”

Mantengo aims to educate, inform, and provide informational material for employees and employers in British Columbia about the challenges faced by guest workers and how those challenges affect overall mental wellness. The program is a series of inter-related videos and resources designed as a wellness package to support mental wellness and help improve the overall mental wellbeing of agricultural workers who have travelled from outside of Canada and are working in various agricultural sectors in B.C.

“Guest workers on B.C. farms play a key role in our food system, so it’s important they have support in our province,” says Pam Alexis, Minister of Agriculture and Food. “Mantengo is a great new resource for Spanish speaking workers and their employers to help them take care of both their mental and physical health, while they work hard to put food on our tables and support their families.”

In English, the sentiment of Mantengo is to maintain your wellness. AgSafe encourages employees and employers to use the Mantengo resources jointly as a team, and to incorporate the resources into everyday workplace health and wellness programs. Employers will find the Mantengo resource user guide helpful. The Mantengo resources can easily be incorporated into your foreign worker welcome and orientation, safety talk or weekly/monthly safety meetings for all staff.

“Workers whose native language differs from their employers are the pillars of Canadian Agriculture,” says Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. “Our investment in Mantengo supports both Hispanic workers and their employers by making essential information related to their wellbeing, mental and physical health more accessible.”

Mantengo resources can be found on AgSafe’s website at www.agsafebc.ca/ mental-wellness/mantengo. For more information about AgSafe visit www. AgSafeBC.ca. o