| Monday, April 9, 2007 |
| Faces Worth the Fight |
Note: Turn sound on to hear music with slideshow.
This past Thursday, some member of Border Beat traveled to St. Andrew's Clinic to do some reporting, some profiles, some photography... some video. Everything we saw and experienced in our day there is probably more than most of us can put into words. It was the first trip for all of us -- and at least for me, I went into St. Andrew's having never heard of it before getting involved with Border Beat.
Then again, none of us have ever needed health care so badly that we've had to go to St. Andrew's.
Jack Reed, Ren Clark, Lauren Hillery, Me, Amanda Hines, Nicole Mott.
At Border Beat, we are planning on making a special section in which to publish all of our articles, photographs and videos... and with everything we saw, I'm sure the section will turn out fantastic. There were just stories everywhere.
It's hard to not get caught up in everything, when you're there. All around you are children who are brought there because they have no options left. Some of them travel for hours for this once-a-month clinic; some come back every month, seeking care. It's hard to imagine the struggle they go through just to take care of their children.
I feel so niave when I look back on all of the times I just walked to the nurse's room when I was at school -- or when I had my mom simply drive me to the doctor. If I didn't feel good, I was always taken care of... and I never had to worry that I wouldn't receive the care I needed. My parents had insurance. My doctors accepted that insurance. My parents paid the co-pay. It was as simple as that. We picked up the prescriptions I needed and we were on our way. I never realized how lucky that was, because it felt so easy.
What these parents do in order to get care for their children, is not so easy. It's nothing like the life I had to live.
You can tell yourself all you want that you are going into an environment that is unfamiliar. You can prep yourself for what you are about to see. You can tell yourself you are there as a journalist, and try to force yourself to remain somewhat isolated.
It is ridiculously hard to stay as objective as possible -- and its hard to cut yourself off, in a way, from seeing those sad faces and wanting to scoop them up in your arms. You see, I love children. Head-over-heels love children. As easily as they make me smile, they also break my heart.
I know most people feel that way.
It's probably why Dolores Huerta said a week and a half ago at the Cesar Chavez Forum that we need to make children the faces of the immigration issue. We need to see the pain that is out there. People relate to children more. They see their negative actions more clearly when they realize how it is harming the generations that have to follow. We are more inspired when we realize there is someone out there worth the fight.
If St. Andrew's taught me anything -- it's that there are children worth the fight. Who knows what the right answer is to the "immigration issue." But its worth fighting for... a solution deserves to be reached because there are those who can't afford to not have a solution.
You know, this morning as I was getting ready, I was watching Lou Dobbs Tonight, on CNN. I couldn't help but cringe every time I heard them say "illegal aliens." It was almost like they refused to use any other term. Over and over again, the term rolled off their tongues as they discussed "BROKEN BORDERS."
They talked about how many jobs and how much money we lose every single year to illegal immigrants. They threw out facts and statistics left and right. At one point, they even said America basically gives away the cost of a "Mustang convertible" to each illegal immigrant family in the U.S. each year.
Yet, last time I checked, illegal immigrants weren't driving around in our mustang convertibles.
But there are kids crossing the border with their families to visit St. Andrew's Clinic every month because they can't afford surgeries that may or may not save their lives. Or at the very least --- help improve their quality of life.
(All photos taken by Kari Shaffer at St. Andrew's Clinic on April 5, 2007.) |
posted by Border Reflections @ 1:16 AM  |
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