Louisiana: The State We're In; 431

Production assistance for the following program was provided in part by Kaiser Aluminum. Louisiana: The State We're In with Beth George and Ron Blome. Good evening. Welcome to this edition of Louisiana: The State We're In. With the summer coming to a close and a special legislative session just around the corner, it seemed a good opportunity this week to pause and share with you two of the most memorable stories aired on Louisiana Public Broadcasting this last year.

Beth, our first story is a tale of poverty and opportunity in Louisiana. It's a story that we prepared last April on the migrant education program in Louisiana. It's a story we pick up in Evangeline Parish. It is planting time in Evangeline Parish. But this week the fields are too wet to plant this year's sweet potato crop and so, on this day, there is no work in the fields and only a few jobs open on the crawfish farms. And with no work, there is no pay for the migrant workers who tend the fields. For the workers there is only the wait for another day, hopefully a payday. But for these children of the migrant workers, today is a day for learning. These are the children of migrant farm workers who attend school. The state says there are about 9,000 of them enrolled in these special programs. But they say there are many thousands more who either do not attend school at all or who do not participate in the federally funded program that is supposed

to help them cope with the transient lifestyle of the migrant farm worker. In Evangeline Parish, the state's program is administered by the Evangeline Community Action Agency in Ville Platte. Officials here keep the records and administer the program that serves 264 children. Roy Wimberley is executive director of the Evangeline Parish Community Agency and he says that getting the children of the migrant workers into the classroom is the first challenge they face. Well the first thing you don't do, you don't tell them they're migrant. You just tell them they're a seasonal farm worker. Because when you use the word migrant, they get a different, the wrong connotation. So consequently you can emphasize the program is designed to help their child to adjust a new school system and that's the way you approach them. And you approach them with a concept that do you want your child to continue to live the way you live, you know, fight from day to day or that you want him to learn a trade of welding or go into another field? And this is the way you approach it. With the small children, say

from 5 to say 14 or 15, you have no problems. Sixteen on up, then you run into a problem because the parents feel the child should be working in the fields to earn his share of the income of the family. Is it hard to keep the kids in school in a week when, say, they're planting potatoes out here? Very. Very hard because the parent again feels that that child should be taking care of his share of the responsibility of raising a family of earning an income. What do you do about that? Can you be truancy officers or would you offend them so much that they pull their kids out of the program permanently? They'd pull the kids out of the program. Be sure to write your name and the date on your paper. (teacher speaking) Laura Villard is not only a teacher of migrant children, she is a migrant mother who knows the cycle of farm life and what it can do to a child's development. These migrant children attend public school during the day in Ville Platte and then come to this Head Start center for after school tutoring. (teacher talking in background) Are they

more insecure sometimes than other children? Yes, they are. Yes, they are. Definitely. How do you deal with that? We try to put more, how should I say, maybe show affectionate, you know, love to them. Just tell them. maybe most of the time we say a mother or father keep moving. They don't have the time to (inaudible). You seem to be very busy here. Every day because sometimes they don't want to but then we say alright, sweetheart, if we can't love you or want to help you, you can go home. He say, No, we gonna stay. I think they feel most secure with us. This two-bedroom, four-room house is where Lorris Gallo lives with her husband, her eight children and three children of her sister's.

Her husband is a migrant farm worker and her children have trouble in school. Every afternoon five days a week, Nolly (sp?) Whittington, a tutor paid through the state's migrant education program, comes to the Gallo house to help the children. The area where we work is rather small and I guess in a large area, it would be a little more ideal but we manage. I have three first graders. And I have one that's been in first grade for three years. So we're a little more advanced with him and the other one has been in the first grade for two years. Then I have one that's in a transitional first grade and he's more or less on a readiness. He works on readiness activities. One of the first grade teachers in Ville Platte Lower told me. She says if you don't do anything else, you're showing them that you care. And she says for them that's a big, big

thing. Just the caring. It's a lot easier on me because we have 11 kids and it takes a lot of my time. So I feel great about it. It 's pretty for you to work with them on their homework. Yes, it would and would be pretty tough and I'm not just not about half of the work they got now. I never been through that half of the work they got now, so I'm glad that I'm getting half way done. What would you do if you didn't have this? I don't know. Because before I had it all I'll have it done when they come back from school if they had some hard words, I had to take them down to my sister-in-law's. ?????????????? She have some that are finished and they'd help them out with what I couldn't understand. So now that she's coming here, well I don't have to do that. So it's really a lot of help and I really like it and I'm glad of it, too. They don't have the extras. They buy seconds, you know, used cars. They buy second-hand furniture. Usually come by and pick up used clothes from us. It's it's there. It's, It's a way of life.

It almost seems like a completely different lifestyle than what most people know -- something that's almost a throwback to the Depression. True, true. What can you do? Well, training. That's the only thing. It's the parents. I hate to say this connotation but the parents are caught in a situation where if they can get the kid out and then them get trained, let them get, you know, the education and let them go. They can achieve something. That's what we after. If we can just kid out. It's, it's a rough cycle. I'm glad it's not me. (music) The migrant education program is trying to give an extra chance to almost 9,000 kids. But a freeze on the federal budget may hold the program at current spending levels. As for the Gallo family, they haven't moved in almost five years and the rules say they will lose their

tutor unless they move again across the parish line. It is a reminder that in any social program, there is only so much money for so many people before it runs out. Those children who are lucky enough to be enrolled in the migrant education program are very lucky to be in that. But as we mentioned, the state officials feel there's... they're only reaching a small portion of the many migrant children who are across the state. Producing that story was... it was hard to do. A very touching story but at the same time it was a very enriching experience to be involved with those kids. Ron, our next story is really gives you a taste of the past. I think all of us remember the famous parade of the tall ships in New York during the harbor at the Bicentennial. They paraded out of that New York harbor and all of us, I think many of us, felt that to sail on a tall ship would be a wonderfully romantic experience. Well, this spring a New Orleans public television crew was lucky enough to gain such an opportunity. They rode aboard a

Norwegian training ship, the Christian Radich, on a cruise from Galveston to New Orleans. And we have here a rare glimpse of life on board such a ship in this report from Charles Zewe. Wednesday afternoon. Pier 14 on the Galveston waterfront. The 575-ton full-rigged Christian Radich is preparing to shove off. About 205 feet long, the vessel is known as a square-rigged ship because she has square sails suspended horizontally. She is also known as a full-rigged ship because she has sailyards on all three of her masts. After two days in port, her crewmen come aboard, loaded with bags full of snacks and soft drinks and some difficult-to-find items in Norway. For the ?? 88 cadets takes time for a farewell to a newfound Texas sweetheart. noise (several voices) Then there is a roll call, and this is where

Christian Radich begins to be different. The cadets are calling off numbers in Norwegian. They have names but do not use them on board. They are known simply by numbers from 1 to 88. It is all part of the impersonality which constitutes their six months aboard the vessel learning to be seamen. On command, Christian Radich begins to move out of her berth and into the ship channel. A mizzen is hoisted on the stern to give the boat steerage. The anchor was brought aboard and the ship is finally under way for almost a week in the Gulf of Mexico. She will follow a course carrying her south and then northeast in the Gulf to take advantage of prevailing winds. Although her massive spars are ready to unfurl the sails, as Christian Radich clears the Galveston harbor, the mood of her crew is almost as sullen-looking as the weather.

The wind is from the wrong direction, so she must use her auxiliary diesel engine for power. Such an inglorious way for a proud ship to leave port. She motors along in a bumpy swash of sea until the winds are once again strong enough to fill her sails, and that is some seven hours later. It's nighttime now. The winds have finally changed to a favorable direction and after a long time, they're cooperating. And because of that, the sails are coming down on the Christian Radich. It's not easy to set the more than 14,000 square feet of sails on board the vessel. Yet there is an excitement aboard as her young crew screams and pulls miles of ropes in hoisting the sails whose names they know better than their shipmates. And as they pull, as they work, they sing a song which is several centuries older than they. (singing in background)

more singing Despite their night's hard work, the next two days teach them in men of Christian Radich an elemental lesson of seamanship, that the wind for any sailor is a fickle lover. First her sails hang limp. She is drifting off course and must again use her engine. Although not sailing, her men use the time for maintenance, for scraping and for painting. There is also time for classroom type instruction. Here, a class in cable splicing. Cadets on Christian Radich must be at least 15 years old for admission to the program which is designed to help these students learn if they are suited for careers as seamen. While at sea most of the coursework is combined with practical instruction which, in this case, means pulling rope -- miles and miles and miles of it as the ship goes through various sailing maneuvers. For youngsters who want to go on to duty in the Merchant

Marine, time aboard Christian Radich is important because it counts for twice the sea time. In other words, if they spend six months aboard this vessel, they get credit for a year's worth of sea duty. Still the overriding lesson here is to learn to work as a team. The importance of listening to commands. But aside from learning discipline, the cadets are also learning about the natural forces of the sea which, in this case, are not favoring the Christian Radich. That is nothing new, however. Seamen throughout history have learned a similar lesson. (Norwegian singing) The Norwegian folk tune sings of there always being boats that are homeward bound. And that is something of an understatement for a country which is a nation of seamen.

Christian Radich's days on the sea go back to 1937 after years of effort by Norwegian naval and shipping interests who wanted a top-quality training vessel for its seamen- to-be. Norway's first training ship was the Christiana in 1877. The vessel was named Christiana because that's the way Oslo was known at the time. She was followed on the seas at the turn of the century by the ??? Ericsson. That ship was too small. The hang-up in replacing her was money. That is where this man, Captain Christian Radich, came into the picture. When Radich died, he left an estate of 109,000 kroner. That was to cover the operating expenses of a new vessel. Still there was not enough money on hand to build such a training ship. So the Norwegians made do with older vessels. TheTrans-Atlantic, for instance, was Norway's training ship during World War I. Eventually when the money was right and the time was right, Captain Christian Blume drew up the plans and the Christian Radich became a reality. During World

War II the German occupation troops intentionally sank the Christian Radich. But she was refloated following the war and put back into service. As one of the world's last great tall ships, she is manned today by a crew of mixed nationalities. Her 88 cadets range in age from 15 to 18. And among her seven officers and 10 petty officers are veteran seamen, many of whom have served on Christian Radich before. It is important to remember that the ship is operated by a government-supported private organization. In the years since Norway's first training ship set sail, more than 10,000 young men have manned decks such as these. Captain of the Christian Radich is Jan Hansen, a 28-year veteran of the Norwegian Navy and the Merchant Marine. He is a man who finds himself not

only a stern disciplinarian, but also a surrogate father to these young men. Hansen is also not a man to be above working side by side with the crew when the situation presents itself. Rank, however, it does have its privileges where Hansen is concerned. He is fortunate in having two members of his family aboard ship with him. One of them is his wife Beret (sp?). Beret is a social worker. Among the couple's three children is 23-year-old Carsten, who is a midshipman aboard Christian Radich. But Carsten, it seems, is a self-conscious young man who, according to his mother, before crew and visitors is curt and even standoffish with his parents. On the fantail of the ship we spoke with the Hansens about their marriage, their mutual love affair with the sea and Christian Radich. You seem very happy together in a life that a

lot of people would think would be very hard. (inaudible) (accent too heavy to translate) Just being together. We always try to ??? together when we are together. You know. I think it's hard at times. It's hard when he comes back and I'm occupied with all these closets and shelves in the bathroom and he makes a big fuss about it. What about dealing with these young people, Captain? What's the most rewarding thing about working with these young men for you? (inaudible) It seems that they're really certain ???????????????? I think it has only been ??????????????

The students are willing and they're very eager to learn. And they besides sailing ??????? What's the big challenge though? You say a challenge. A challenge is like the sea, the elements. It's also the work and the discipline. You know you get tired and you know you got to work and that's it. It's just that simple, that the job has to be done. Right. When these boys leave though, when they get back to Oslo, what's the thing you want them to take with them? ??????? Everything in this six-month time. But I want them to learn a job. The technicalities are the least part of it. I want them to learn self-discipline, teamwork and simply to mature them. That's the main objectives. Breaking those apron strings Is primarily the job of this man, Steiner Sonbold (sp?)., who is the gravel-voiced first mate,

the man who keeps the cadets in line. A former chief instructor at the Norwegian Naval Academy Sanbold's most difficult task is to teach the cadets discipline. We enforce discipline from the very beginning. ?????????????? We don't have ?????????????????? cannot understand this guy! Type way of living. But. The men together. Let it. ??? So it takes a few days or weeks for a couple of them to want to adjust. I think they're shaping up very fine. You can see how they change and they change very abruptly. It's a matter of two or three weeks. You get them on board as children and you send them away as what? Well, they're definitely more grownup. They're not adults though. They

may not be adults yet. You can't expect miracles, but I think they've got a very good basis for education or federal service and I personally think. But these are the men who preserve the lore and the special quality of Christian Radich as a seagoing treasure. They are her crewmen. The cadets on this trip include 16-year-old Lars Holberg Olsen and 17-year-old Eric Rude of San Francisco. Both teenagers are seniors at Drake High School in San Anselmo, a San Francisco suburb. Both have Norwegian parents who dreamed of what many parents of youngsters on board dreamed: that their children would one day be part of Christian Radich's crew. Both youngsters say they have learned much from the cruise. They have mixed feelings, however, about whether they would do it again. If I had to do it again, I'd debate it for awhile probably. What are the things that you've learned here? Is there one overriding lesson that you've learned?

More or less discipline. It's a major thing you learn. I mean like you have to listen all the officers and stuff like that. And you have to do what they say when they say it. Is it what you expected? Yeah. Except you appreciate things much more. Like you have to wash your clothes by hand and learn to be responsible for yourself and no one's around to help you really. Like your chores and stuff, you have to do by yourself and things like that. And what would a good clipper ship be without a parrot on board? This one, named Harrod (sp), was a gift to the vessel from a South American diplomat. The bird is the pride of the second mate, who good naturedly denies keeping a black eyepatch and a wooden leg stowed away in his cabin. (parrot squaks) more parrot talk USA

The kind of comic relief provided by a parrot is sometimes the only break the men of Christian Radich know, especially on a gray Saturday afternoon such as this one where there is little to do and much to think about. static sounds more of the same It's Sunday morning, and the crew of the Christian Radich sees a sunrise for the first time in almost a week. But this is a Sunday tinged with desperation. During the night, an Alabama fisherman has been washed overboard from his fishing boat south of Timbalier Bay, so the Christian Radich and four other vessels are rushing to the area. Cadets are stationed around the deck and in the rigging, but they fight a rolling sea and chill temperatures to scan the miles of open water for any signs of the missing man. At one point a cadet thinks he sees a man floating face

downward. But the officers are later to decide it is only a large clump of seaweed. Imagination, they say, plays havoc with a man during times of stress. Despite five hours of searching, shortly after 7 o'clock a Coast Guard helicopter radios that the missing fisherman's body has been sighted. There is no chance for resuscitation. The crew of Christian Radich is downcast. No one speaks for a long time. But as they listen to the wife of the drowned fisherman tell of how the night before they thought about going into calmer waters and of how she finally gave into her husband and how he was now gone. Those are heavy thoughts for youngsters so young on a morning whose beauty defies the ugliness of the tragedy which has taken place just a few miles from the decks of the Christian Radich. music

There are also pleasant things to think about on this day, a day full of sunshine. Christian Radich paints a majestic picture as she heels through the blue Gulf waters ahead of schedule bound for the mouth of the Mississippi River. As dusk rapidly approaches, the vessel furls her sails and motors toward Southwest Pass. Within minutes a bar pilot boat is alongside and the pilot taken aboard for what will be a nearly 18-hour trip up the Mississippi River. For the men of Christian Radich, their short cruise from Galveston to New Orleans is almost over. They are once again in relatively safe harbor. But despite the anticipation, the near giddiness of the youngsters about their upcoming visit to New Orleans, there is much to think about and much to be thankful for. There is almost a religious quality about the moment,

reverence to match the day and the splendor of nature. music [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Monday morning as Christian Radich motors up the Mississippi, she passes vessels four times her size -- vessels whose crewmen stand and watch her

curious sight. As she finally pulls up to the Mandeville Street wharf, her crew can take time to ponder what is behind and what still lies ahead. By the time her voyage for this year is completed, the Christian Radich will have visited more than two dozen ports, have taken part in Boston's 350th anniversary celebration and raced across the North Atlantic in competition against other tall ships. More importantly, she will have taught 88 young men about the sea and what it means to be devoted to a mariner's life. That's our program for this week. We hope you'll join us again next week on Louisiana: The State We're In when we talk to some of the Louisiana delegates to the National Democratic Convention and we visit the largest plantation home in the South. We hope you'll be with us next week for our program. Goodnight. Production assistance for the preceding program was provided in part by Kaiser Aluminum.