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ASB 2010 - Medicine at the Margins: Health of Underserved Agricultural Communities in the Central Valley - Central California

Basic Information
Application Process: 
ASB 2010
Trip Name: 
Medicine at the Margins: Health of Underserved Agricultural Communities in the Central Valley - Central California
Air Travel Trip: 
No
Number of Participants: 
12
Trip Description: 

Although the United States spends over 16% of its GDP on healthcare, more than most nations in the world, it still treats medical care as a privilege rather than a right. Our trip aims to better understand and to serve those who are not privileged with easy access to quality healthcare. As home to some of the largest immigrant communities in the US, the Central Valley of California is a harrowing case study of injustice and discrimination. So who are these underserved communities, and where do we find them? Latin American and Hmong immigrants comprise a large portion of this population  across the fertile lands of California’s Central Valley. Our trip aims to better understand the farm-working communities in Stanford’s backyard. Facing extreme occupational hazards, social stigmas, and/or cultural barriers, members of these communities, though perhaps very different from each other, share a need for accessible, affordable and culturally-sensitive healthcare. During our spring break, we will travel throughout the Central Valley, meeting with activists in the struggle to make quality healthcare accessible to all people. We will meet with leaders from government, medicine, and community organizations to better understand the etiology of poor health in populations at the margins of “mainstream” society. Substantial amounts of service in clinics, migrant camps, and community organizations is a foundational aspect of this experience. Our program will provide students with the opportunity to develop a more personal understanding of the many factors contributing to the health of communities. In our winter quarter class, we will interact with experts in the fields of community, public, and international health. The perspectives we develop and questions we raise in the class will enrich and inform our week of service-learning during spring break.

Trip Leaders
Rachel Kelley

 I met Rachel during our Healthcare of Underserved Communities ASB class last fall. She seemed to subscribe to the “speak softly, and big sticks are dumb” philosophy. And still does. Rachel is uber-passionate about social justice, and her ASB 2009 experience motivated her to continue her baller public service outside of the confines of the Stanford bubble. This summer, Rachel ran the Habitat for Humanity Youth program in Denver, helping to plan programs so kids can experience the full power of service for themselves. She then ventured to the far off land of Bolivia to live and work with children affected by HIV. Her experiences there taught her the wealth of knowledge and wisdom to be gained from living with and listening to those that the world has seemingly forgotten. When she’s not changing lives, playing Frisbee or jamming on her djembe, Rachel is hard at work tackling the HumBio Core. She enjoys the occasional spirited debate, but prefers to leave the sleazy politics to the sleazy politicians. She likes camping, Spanish music, Spanish language, Spanish food, Hispanic people, long walks on the beach, oh, and changing the world.

Sarah Hennessy

I met Sarah during our Healthcare of Underserved Communities  ASB class last fall.  A lot has changed from those first few classes when I thought, “Wow, that short girl speaks her mind!” Well, she still speaks her mind, usually quite animatedly, and she’s still short, but after a fabulous experience on ASB 2009, she’s even more committed to fighting social injustices here and around the world.  Hailing from Pfafftown, North Carolina, Sarah’s task after finishing her 2.5 remaining years here at Stanford is to erase the appalling disparities in infant mortality rates - both here in the US and around the world - as a brilliant and compassionate medical anthropologist. Until that day in the rosy, idealistic future, you may find her enthusiastically planning ASB, indulging in tangents during said planning concerning the meaning of life, the universe and everything, or reading HumBio in the gym…where she works for money.  She works out, too.  But let’s be honest, playing is WAY more fun than working, so Sarah enjoys playing: guitar (she’s learning), tricks, horror movies, with her many friends, with fire, sports (especially fencing and rock climbing) and good music.  Inspired by her road trips through the Central Valley, one of these days she just might buy herself a camper van and embark upon an epic road trip across the continent, planting seeds of justice, peace and wellbeing wherever she goes.