September 2006
By Sue Adams, RN, MS and Sandra Buntin, RN
This summer, three Arizona State University College of Nursing students spent a weekend learning about healthcare disparities on both sides of the Arizona/Mexico border.
Border towns have been described as a “cauldron of poverty, pollution and neglect that threatens to spill its toxic brew nationwide.” Twenty-three percent live at or below the poverty level, compared to 12.4% for the entire U.S. They are plagued with environmental issues similar to third-world countries; many lack clean water and basic sewage.
The San Pedro River in Naco contains 35 times the federal maximum for lead in drinking water and 5 times the maximum for arsenic. This puts a large burden on border healthcare. The U.S.-Mexico Border Counties Coalition reports $31 million was spent in 2002 for care in Arizona border hospitals (Trevino and Coustasse, 2006).
While the media portrays the southern border of Arizona as swarming with invaders trying to take your jobs, the students found human beings in need of basic medical care. They visited orphans Naco, Sonora; children who suffered abuse, abandonment or whose families could no longer care for them. All were grateful that a handful of motivated American nurses would come to help provide free health screenings and education.
Students learned about more than health care, they learned about social justice, international politics, and beneficence. To receive care in Arizona, Mexican citizen must have visas, or complete a tedious medical-exemption application. Taking services to Mexico is also a challenge; the Mexican government won't allow needed medicines and supplies to cross the border.
Sandra Buntin, RN-BSN student said of her weekend, “I had no idea this would impact me the way it has. My whole idea of what was happening on the border and what should be done with the illegal immigrants has changed. I never stopped to give much thought to the fact that if I was in their situation, I would probably be doing the same thing.”
"The people of Naco are hard workers trying to support their families, and want the same things I do for my children, safety and good home. It is too sad that the politics of drugs and terrorism have gotten in the way of seeing the good that is in people and seeing that everyone deserves to have a good life with clean water and a safe place to lay your head.”
At the fenced border, students visited with the National Guard, the Border Patrol and John Mather, Director of the clinic. Of the wall, John stated, ''We believe in getting to the root causes of migration, for the Mexican people to be able to sustain their living in their own communities with their families, we need to be putting our energy into real solutions, not into more walls and fences.''
