Annie Murphy-Hagan's Donovan Fellow Blog

Annie's Blog August 15

amurphyhagan@scu.edu (Annie Murphy-Hagan) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:39:23 PST

August 15, 2008

So where do I go from here? I had my last day of work today, marking the end of a very different kind of summer. I still don’t know how I can summarize my time here. I’ve been given a lot to think about lately and I think I will be turning it over in my mind for a while before I can come to any definite conclusions. I feel that my time at Virginia García was positive, but at the same time it took away some of the comfortable ignorance I had carried around with me before. As such, I recognize the “me” from before this summer cannot articulate my experience in a fitting way. I have no great insights here. Perhaps those will come later. Maybe in the years to come I’ll be able to better understand what this summer has meant for me.

For now here are four things:
1) What I’ve seen: poverty and how it limits almost every aspect of living, education, health, happiness, and livelihood.
2) What I’ve learned: that a significant portion of our population is under appreciated and that racism is still a very real and apparent.
3) What I think: kids have the greatest chance to get out of poverty. I’ve seen all kinds of kids this summer: those that love to catch snakes and hear the story of “Riki Tiki Tavi,” those that love to play soccer, build paper airplanes, solve word puzzles, and listen to stories. I’ve also seen kids that lack that childish “spark” of energy. I’ve seen kids that cannot think outside of the adult world: kids that make crude sexual jokes, that are unable to be imaginative, kids that fear for their family’s safety.
4) What I want to do: help kids before it becomes too late. I want to keep them from getting dragged down into the world of the migrant camps. I want to get to them before they lose that childlike “spark.” I think I want to believe that people actually can climb out of the circumstances that they were born into before it ruins them.

Annie's Blog August 13

amurphyhagan@scu.edu (Annie Murphy-Hagan) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:37:14 PST

August 13, 2008

Today was the first ever “Migrant Health Fair” to celebrate National Farm worker Health Week. The event lasted from 10am-3pm at Virginia Garcia in Cornelius, OR. There were a number of tents up with different health and education stations (i.e. breast cancer, diabetes, preventing sexual assault, mental health, etc). There were diabetes tests and free fungal foot creams to treat athlete’s foot—so kind of your basic aid that would be offered on a camp day.

There were also fun stations, such as face painting (my job) and “going fishing.” A MEChA group from Forest Grove, OR ran the fishing station by quizzing kids on fruits and vegetables at each turn.

The day turned out to be a scorcher—well into 100 degrees Fahrenheit. By the end the face paint had melted all over the table. The snow cones followed suit and melted everywhere too. So you get the picture: your basic summer fair day full of color, melted pieces, and sweaty people. And just when you begin to close down the tables, the person next to you (who still has a ton of energy) turns to you and says, “So next year . . .”

Annie's Blog August 5

amurphyhagan@scu.edu (Annie Murphy_hagan) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:34:59 PST

August 5, 2008

More from the camps. Today we went out to McMinnville for our Outreach. We were accompanied by a number of nursing students from Clackamas Community College who were helping out as a part of fulfilling their nursing program.

I saw fewer people at this camp than almost any of the others. Very few people came out for check-ups and even fewer visited the education tables. Only men appeared to be working at the camp and the lack of families seemed to give the place a more subdued tone. It made me wonder how many more men we have in the United States living isolated from both their country of birth and their current homes.

Institutional poverty is a crime. It is a crime that six year-old Virginia García died of blood poisoning from a simple open cut on her foot. It is a crime when many people do not have the most basic information for preventative care. But isn’t it equally a crime when one’s own living conditions robs them of long-lasting happiness? For so many young men in the United States, work is a way to provide for families they may rarely see again. This is an incredibly depressing reality and really weighs upon the mental and physical health of many of our patients.

Towards the end of the day we saw a man who had never spoken to a doctor before. He was slightly nervous before his check up, but became relieved when he learned we weren’t going to do anything involving needles and blood. This man is not an anomaly, nor another agricultural worker statistic. He shares some of our same phobias and probably has a family as well. And today he had his first check-up with the doctor.

Annie's Blog August 1

amurphyhagan@scu.edu (Annie Murphy Hagan) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:14:34 PST

August 1, 2008

“I know many young men who were the veriest vagabonds in the state who are here respectable and doing exceedingly well”
        -Peter H Burnett, 1844

     This quotation comes from a concrete sidewalk square at the bus stop to Cornelius. I marvel at how these words spoken 164 years ago are still characteristic of Oregon today. In 1844 covered wagons were still rolling off the Oregon Trail and pioneers were laying down fence lines. In a sense I always assumed more or less everyone in mid nineteenth century Oregon was a vagrant of some kind. But even in 1844, according to Burnett, there were migrants outside of the migrants. And they subsisted . . ,

    It is a common misconception to assume that as time goes on, society becomes more progressive, equal, inclusive, and conditions improve. In reality, social conditions have fluctuated for centuries. What if the life of a migrant worker was better a century and a half ago, when subcontracting was seldom and the bureaucratic English speaking government had a lesser grip? And at the sametime, working at VGMHC makes me think that we may once again have a chance to be in one of those “progressive stages” of history.

I went to an In-service this week that brought all the VGMHC clinics together. New plans were unveiled to “target populations,” “ensure patient services are language and culturally appropriate” and to make VGMHC an “advocate for community care.” And it’s working. In 2005 the dental clinic of VGMHC had 5,830 dental encounters. This past year they had 14,279 dental encounters! People are coming to the clinic. Maybe it’s the atmosphere of the clinic, the respect for privacy, the efficiency of services, or more likely the fact that a dad won’t have to ask his eight-year-old daughter to translate to the doctors that he is having chest pains and could be having a heart attack.

VGMHC is something different. It operates under the philosophy that to help a community you have to have a part in it. That’s why the medical care teams here speak the language of their clients (believe me this is huge). This is the reason why the Cornelius clinic has an herbal garden with herbal medicine practicums in which Drs, Nurses, and Patients share herbal remedies. And this is why kids leave every doctor appointment with a new book to read.

Yes, I have encountered many different types of people this summer. The important thing, I’ve discovered, is to realize that seasonal workers (no matter how long their stay) are here. Parents, no matter where they live want their kids to be respectable, and with help many may be able to do exceedingly well despite the odds.

Annie's Blog July 31

amurphyhagan@scu.eud (Annie Murphy Hagan) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:12:52 PST

July 31, 2008
Today we went to one of the bigger camps in Washington County: forty-two trailers housing anywhere from 450 people on up. This was a big camp day so we came out with a giant coalition of volunteers. The VGMHC trailer rolled in ahead of us. The trailer provides room space for medical treatment to be given to serious cases on site. We set up tables and tables for registration and basic procedures such as checking blood pressure and diabetes tests. We have a station with a nurse provider who offers care as well. There was a station that provided education and advice on legal rights (i.e. protection from pesticides, right to pay, protection from harassment, etc). Not everyone at the camp can speak Spanish or English, so we even have a few translators that speak indigenous dialects such as Zapoteca or Trique. (I’ve met a number of kids who are trilingual in Spanish, English, and an Indigenous language). We also were joined by the Cascade AIDS Project. They performed t-tests, passed out condoms, and gave presentations on protective sex.
I got to be Santa Claus once again, and I dispensed packets of crayons with activity books this time instructing Wash your Hands! and Brush your Teeth! Those that completed the packets got a bag with a toothbrush, floss, and toothpaste. The only politics around this gift giving being who got the Winnie the Pooh tooth brush vs. Princess Ariel. A woman came from Multnomah County Library and read to the kids and gave away armfuls of books.

When all said and done, I’m sure well over 50 people had been registered and more had gone to the health presentations. Not a bad day’s work.
As the day began to wind down, we (the nursing students, volunteers, and VGMHC staff) bought a few sopas from a woman in a nearby trailer and sat under the trees as the last few people went through the trailer. We joked about the things we had in common and talked about the upcoming prospects for the next sports season. Time began to slow down. Music could be heard coming from the window of a nearby house. The sun beginning to set and the day took on that peaceful quality it adopts when it is in transition between evening and night. The atmosphere was . . . I struggled for the appropriate word in Spanish. “Tranquilo” is probably the closest equivalent. But then, as I mused through Spanish vocabulary, I recalled that the appropriate Spanish response to a person sneezing is “Salud,” meaning health. Where as in English we say, “Bless you.” Maybe a combination of these two responses explains the importance of good health. If one is healthy, then they indeed are blessed. And looking around the table this evening I concluded that we are all blessed: with good health, good company, and with two beautiful languages that have managed to converge underneath the same tree to speak the truth that we see in one another’s eyes.

Annie's Blog July 23

amurphyhagan@scu.edu (Annie Murphy Hagan) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:11:26 PST

July 23, 2008
    This summer I have been volunteering at Virginia García Memorial Health Center (VGMHC) in Cornelius, Oregon. The center is a non-profit medical clinic that reaches out to people in Washington County and beyond. In particular the VGMHC has an Outreach Program directed at helping Oregon's migrant workers. In 1975, Virginia García, a six year old daughter of migrant parents, died of blood poisoning from an open foot wound. Her death was due in part to an inability for the migrant and medical communities to communicate with one another. Today, the Virginia García program brings the medical community to the migrant labor community.
    As a volunteer I run around the VGHC clinic dispensing patient surveys, reading to children in the waiting room, and doing anything from making medical files to cleaning. The best part of my job is visiting the migrant camps on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I get to bring packets of coloring books, activity pages, and sometimes books or toys. Needless to say I’m very popular. Yesterday we visited a camp with substandard living conditions. There were piles of garbage and a trailer exposing residents of the farm to asbestos. Even though no one lives in them now, there were kids climbing in and out of the trailers playing their exploring games. Here are kids, full of energy, climbing through hazardous waste that will one day indirectly contribute to their deteriorating health. It is strange how one can sense the shadow of sickness stalking children full of such life.
    We arrive at the camps at the end of the workday bringing medical supplies, some medicines, diabetes tests, etc. High blood pressure and diabetes are probably among the most common cases we encounter, but there are more serious cases that get either immediate treatment or referral to VGMHC clinic. Looking around at the camp yesterday I wished we could have brought an armful of tetanus vaccinations.
    At any rate, yesterday I came with armfuls of Recycling! activity books and coloring pages. I am always amazed at the impact education has clearly made on the lives of the children I meet. Many speak and read English with surprising ease—so if you ever have any doubt about Migrant Ed programs or English in the classroom, it works—I’ve seen the results now with my own eyes. Not only was their English adequate, but also the kids I was working with knew how to identify recycling items and environmentally friendly living choices, which is not exactly a necessary skill for seasonal farm workers.
After the activity books we went on to talk about all the wildlife creatures the kids had caught on the farm. Their most recent adventure had to do with a giant snake that they had caught earlier. They were also very eager to show me a wildcat kitten that was hiding out in one of the rundown trailers. There wasn’t much going on, so of course , they wanted to show me the cat. So there I was following a group of six 9-11 year old boys mewing like cats to tempt the live one in the trailer to come out. The faintest of meows could be heard from within the trailer. But alas, no wildcat appeared.
A short while later I heard a triumphant cry from the boys. They had caught two gardener snakes and raced towards me to show them off. Soon we had a crowd of MDs, Nurse providers, and VGMHC employees surrounding the kids showing off their prize. I guess it was a successful day after all.