Here are some facts about child sexual abuse. Roughly one in three girls and one in seven boys will be sexually abused before they graduate from high school. Girls are victims much more often than boys, and men are most often the perpetrators. Usually the abuser is someone the child knows, but not necessarily a family member.

Here’s another fact about child sexual abuse: almost no one likes to talk about it.

“Any time we talk about child sexual abuse, people become very guarded – it’s such a taboo topic,” says Jorge Guzman, Puente’s Director of Prevention Services.

He and Iris Fernandez, two of Puente’s licensed therapists, are about to start a difficult conversation about child sexual abuse with the entire community.

On March 11, Puente will lead a community-wide child sexual abuse education and intervention workshop. The program’s first workshop on March 4 – the first time it’s been offered, and the only such workshop in the county — was delivered in Spanish.

The workshops are sponsored by Enough Abuse, a national grassroots campaign to end sexual abuse of children by reaching out to entire regions and communities with educational programming.

The workshops are free and Guzman says he’s hoping to draw locals of all ages and backgrounds. He and Fernandez will train participants to recognize when someone is showing warning signs of abuse; who to call if they suspect abuse; and how to open a conversation with someone they suspect may be a victim.

“I believe there are cases where families suspect that something’s happening and they don’t know what to do. This would be an eye-opener for them,” says Fernandez.

Puente was chosen to administer the workshops because of the lasting impact they could have on a small, rural community – and also because of the trainers’ facility in Spanish.

Puente’s counselors do work with victims of child sexual abuse, though most of them are “older people who were sexually abused when they were kids. It took them years to overcome that shame and actually talk about it,” says Fernandez.

One of the most important parts of the workshop – and the biggest challenges – is getting people comfortable talking about sex and sexuality. Many people try to avoid even using the correct terms for genitalia, and would rather use euphemisms. But you can’t end child abuse without talking about sex.

“It’s a healthy thing to do to be open about sexuality in general,” says Guzman. “We want to respect the culture that people grew up in, but we want to offer an alternative way of talking about sexuality as it concerns abuse.”

Join the discussion and attend a free workshop on March 11 in La Honda (English). Both discussions are from 6-7:30pm and will be at the Puente offices in the respective towns.  Call 650-879-1691 for details.

At the close of 2013, Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel was honored with a Citizen of the Year Award by the Half Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau. The annual award is bestowed on a local hero whose work represents exemplary humanitarianism, and who has had a significant positive impact on the overall Coastside community.

Chamber director, Charise McHugh, and Kerry Lobel

Lobel certainly qualifies on all counts, having spent the past 8 years leading Puente’s staff in an unprecedented expansion of services. Thanks to Lobel, Puente touches more lives than ever before – including in Half Moon Bay, where Puente has collaborated with local agencies and philanthropists on a number of initiatives.

In her remarks, Charise McHugh, President of the Half Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce, highlighted Lobel’s efforts to “create true sustainability in the local economy.” She praised many of Lobel’s recent, successful efforts to bring a new mobile healthcare van to the South Coast. She also singled out Puente’s partnership with Coastside Farmers’ Markets to increase the buying power of low-income customers at farmers markets in Half Moon Bay and Pacifica – in addition to Pescadero Grown!

Among her many accolades, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors named Lobel a Woman of Distinction in 2010.

March 24th-31st is Farmworker Awareness Week (FAW), which gives special recognition to the men, women and children who make up a large part of the labor force that picks America’s produce. This year marks the 15th anniversary of FAW, a national event put together by the organization Student Action for Farmworkers based in North Carolina (www.saf-unite.org).

There are between 2-3 million farmworkers in the United States, 75% of which were born in Mexico. Many spend years separated from their families working in America and sending money home to support the education of their children and care for their home and other family members. It is not uncommon for farmworkers to endure substandard housing conditions and low wages here in the states. Thankfully here on the San Mateo coast, almost all farmworkers are paid an hourly rate as opposed to a piece-rate. Even though all are paid minimum wage, however, the Fair Labor and Standards acts exempt people working in agriculture from earning overtime. So, even though many people (both farmworkers and growers alike) work many more than 40 hours per week, they do not earn overtime rates for those hours.

Both farmworkers and growers are entrenched in a challenging system. Consumers want more affordable food, and so market-driven low prices for produce is one factor that prevents growers from paying higher wages. Fuel costs have doubled in the last 20 years, which also does not make it any easier.

Puente works with farmers and farmworkers to build a sustainable agricultural South Coast and the community at large to leverage resources for healthcare, youth employment and leadership development, and more. For more information on Puente’s work or to donate to the cause, please visit www.mypuente.org.

To help community members learn more about this important issue that affects our community, Puente is hosting a viewing of the award-winning documentary, Harvest of Dignity. The film will be shown in English and Spanish at 7pm on Wednesday, March 26th in the multi-purpose room of Pescadero Elementary, 620 North Street. Light refreshments will be served. For questions or directions please call Puente at 650-879-1691.