Carillon Flashback September 19, 1968: Paraguayan Mennonites coming back in droves

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/06/2024 (274 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A large group of Mennonites from Manitoba left for South America in 1926 and 1927 and in 1948 another 1,500 left for East Paraguay. While a few families came back to Canada, after a short time, the rest learned to adapt to life in their new country, raising different cash crops such as cotton, castor beans, sweet potatoes and a variety of tropical fruits.

In the past four years, an increasing number of Paraguayan families have made the decision to return to the country their parents left 40 years ago.
Many have made their homes in Steinbach in the past year or two. Most of those are members of 40 families, some with as many as a dozen children. Twice that number of families has moved back to the towns of Niverville and Grunthal, and the City of Winnipeg, in the past four years.

According to Rev. John M. Funk, who came to Steinbach from Paraguay this May, all the heads-of-households of the newcomers are employed. In addition to, grown-up sons and daughters, and often the wife as well, have found employment since arriving in southeastern Manitoba.

Funk says they all come with the intention of working as labourers and have no aspirations to farm or own their own business in Canada.

“They wouldn’t know how to farm here. Farming methods in Paraguay are similar to methods used in Manitoba when their parents or grandparents left for South America 40 years ago.”

Men are employed at factories such as C.T. Loewens, the Manitoba Dairy and Poultry, Friendly Family Farms, and Winnipeg firms such as DeFehr Furniture. A number of women work at Manitoba Dairy and Poultry plant at Blumenort, and at Steinbach Apparel.

While they have no special training, they find employment quickly because they are willing to work, and work hard. Friends who have found jobs are asked, by those still in South America to inform them about the possibilities in Manitoba.

Many Mennonite families left Manitoba in the 1920’s and 1940’s with the idea of preserving a culture and a way of life which they felt was threatened in Canada. Their children did not share the fears of their parents, then, nor do they now have those same fears for their own children.

When they arrive, they do not ask for a good home or expensive furnishings. They did not have up-to-date facilities in Paraguay and know how to live without them in Canada.

None of the children in homes visited by Mary Barkman of The Carillon News expressed dissatisfaction at starting school in a classroom of younger children.

Like their parents, who are satisfied to start working anywhere they can find a job, children are confident this is a necessary part of adjusting to a new country.

Families who have lived here four or five years after coming from Paraguay have adjusted well to the way of life they have found among Manitobans, who share their religious background.

Some of the recent arrivals say if they don’t like it here they can always save their money and move back to Paraguay.