EL PASO!

Hey guys, sorry it’s taken me so long to blog!

Time seems to by since I’ve been here, which I’m assuming is a good thing, right? So much has happened – where do I even start?

First off, I’m interning with the FEMAP Foundation (www.femap.org), and my responsibilities have definitely shifted from my initial expectations! While I’m still helping with grant writing and grant research, I’ve also asked my supervisor for an independent project over the summer to further challenge myself add some variety into my work. That request has taken me to daunting but also very exciting places.

In addition to learning the ropes around the funding processes and administrative grunt work of public health, I am also trying to explore the possibility of assembling a bi-national Women’s Border Health Advisory Council. I know, it’s a handful of a name. The formation of the council has been on the Board of Directors’ strategic planning agenda for quite some time, but the foundation has lacked the staff capacity to ultimately lift it off paper.

This pursuit has been challenging because the goals of this council are still very vaguely defined. My supervisor has ultimately left it up to me to refine its goals through researching potential stakeholders, existing intuitions in the region that address border and/or women’s health, and seeking out community leaders in El Paso to discuss the feasibility and structure of the council. Meeting with other public health experts and conducting site visits at different organizations have certainly been the most rewarding parts of my internship experience thus far.

I’ve spoken to the author of Violence and Activism at the Border, Dr. Kathleen Staudt, who expounded the status of women and significance of femicide along the US/Mexico border. I’ve spent some time with Tracy Yellen, Chief Operating Officer at the Diocese of El Paso to talk about her experience working with low-income communities and the frequently overlooked importance of organizational funding.

 Last week, my supervisor and I attended a presentation at Chase Bank Headquarters where business leaders in El Paso and a Mexican government official presented on the impact of border violence on local economies. They emphasized the importance for businesses to reinvest in border communities not only to alleviate poverty, but also to encourage employment stability. Bringing more jobs and higher wages to border communities is pivotal in assuaging the violence and opportunistic crimes along the border.

It was interesting seeing American business leaders and Mexican government officials performing in a collaborative atmosphere under a common goal. The presenters adamantly advocated for the employment of binational strategies to achieve sustainable peace and economic success between the bordering nations. There has always been a stubborn tug-of-war when addressing border chaos accountability - Mexicans frequently scorn Americans for their overwhelming demand for drugs and supplying of weapons to dangerous cartels, while Americans add fuel to Mexico’s flaming public relations problem, identifying Mexico as a failed state. However, both nations are obligated to adopt a shared responsibility model to truly address and revive the welfare of not only immediate border communities, but national securities of both nations as well. I’m going to see if I can somehow get a copy of the presentation and get permission to share it with you guys.  

This week, I attended a community stakeholders meeting with the El Paso Mental Health and Mental Retardation Agency, and observed first hand the severity of the impending mental health crisis in El Paso. Effective September 1st, indigent and uninsured El Pasoans will be placed on a waiting list before they can receive mental health services from the state. The immediate consequence is the denial of mental health services to over 1,500 residents. The demand for mental health is expected to proliferate and manifest itself in far greater and more dangerous proportions, with the problem spilling over in the streets, homeless shelters, and prisons. Nonetheless, I just wanted to use this entry as just a general overview for what I’ve been up to – I’ll talk about the mental health crisis more extensively in my next post. Stay tuned!