Someone close to me, an 8 year old girl ended up hospitalized in the burn unit of a large hospital after a serious injury to her arm and chest. We were all so concerned and upset because anyone who knows anything about burns knows how painful they are. The treatment in the hospital at first consisted of pulling off the bandage and scrapping the wound clean. Repressed tears were a constant, since we tried not to cry Continue reading “The Burn Unit”
Category: Better Relations
The Eagles of the Desert
The Eagles of the Desert–Los Aguilas del Desierto—are a group of volunteers. They are construction workers, maids, gardeners, veterans, immigrants themselves who for the last 6 years gather monthly to comb the desert along the Mexican border in search of bodies, the bodies of those who tried to cross into the US but did not make it. Hundreds die each year in this way. 412 were found in 2017. And forensic Continue reading “The Eagles of the Desert”
Dental Care and Former Inmates
An inmate gets freed from prison, he or she has no job, no money, a prison record, often poor or no skills—and bad teeth. There’s a stigma about bad teeth which compounds reentry into society. It makes it much harder to feel natural in an interview and to be able to get a job. 74 million people in the US lack dental care, and often the former inmate’s dental problem began way before prison. While there, Continue reading “Dental Care and Former Inmates”
68.5 Million Refugees
Being an immigrant is very difficult. I know from experience what it’s like to leave everything you know and have behind and go towards an unknown. And in our case we didn’t have to pay smugglers, we didn’t have to walk across borders, we had passports, visa, purchased our own plane fares and weren’t fleeing war. So when I read that the number of refugees and displaced persons from wars and persecutions has reached 68.5 million, I shudder. These are 68.5 million lives which have been Continue reading “68.5 Million Refugees”