New Refugees: Our Own Children

In India, the doctors and scholars are leaving to find better paying jobs overseas, creating a "Brain Drain" in the country. People from Viet Nam and other southeast Asian countries are finding a new home in the western world even if it means splitting up the family. It's called survival. Young families in Argentina and Brazil are leaving their homes and families because of lack of opportunities.

People who strongly believe in growing up in a world filled with uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents are having to leave their worlds behind, so their own futures aren't jeopardized. It tears at their hearts to leave, but their own country, economy, and people are letting them down. To ensure their immediate family will survive, they have to leave their extended family, and all that they hold near and dear.

We often think this will never happen to us, that in the rural areas of the United States we hold dear all the ideals of the family. Our summers are heavenly, our winters make us strong. There are lots of reasons for people to want to stick around and raise children.

Think again. Look down the mainstreets of the small towns, especially in the Midwest. Ask yourself how many of your relatives and friends have moved away and are living in "the big cities" of Fargo, Chicago, Denver, or have moved to the East and West coasts. How many of the high school graduates really are going to stay in the small towns they grew up in? I can count 17 of my first cousins living in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and have other relatives spread across the entire United States. It's a real tragedy to think I may never see some of them again. It's the same case scenario as in places around the entire world. Much as we'd like to believe it, the "Good Old Days" are gone.

It's a pity, isn't it, that this generation is forced to leave in search of a "better" life. You may be a skeptic or a pessimist-call it what you like-and try to deny the facts, or shrug them off saying, "It's their loss," or "If they were tougher, they'd stick around." Instead of our usual hardened rural attitude, maybe we should face reality and begin to act.

There are many alternatives. First of all, perhaps we must do all we can to create an atmosphere that's conducive to staying. Businesses, farmers, and families can offer opportunities for advancement and professional improvement without chastising the employees for trying to advance themselves or their careers. Extension personnel can help by encouraging volunteerism. Businesses and organizations may also be approached by Extension to financially support community efforts and volunteerism.

All of us can personally invest in our own communities, and not only financially. We can be more community-minded. Plant some trees, clean up the ditches, make a cleaner, safer environment. Be politically active. Voice an opinion. Be willing to support the schools and the people in the area. When someone gets an opportunity, rejoice, instead of cutting them down. Being involved in 4-H, Master Gardeners, and other Extension programs as a volunteer, leader, or member is another option.

Changes of attitude may be hard to face, but if our rural areas are to remain viable and long-lasting, we must do something, and Extension is the catalyst! If people are willing to pay high prices for sporting events and athletes, let's also give some high dollars for things that can really make a difference in our own local populations. Revitalizing rural America isn't impossible. But, it does require a change of attitude about priorities, and here's where Extension's role also lies.

Whether we like it or not, rural areas in the U.S. have some of the same challenges as the rest of the developing world: "Brain Drain," families-at-a-distance, and looking elsewhere for higher salaries and greater opportunities-these are local, as well as international issues-and we hold the keys right in our own hands.