!...Muy Complicado!

Contrary to my two recent trips to Mexico, where I visited a colony of families living in a landfill [see my last post for details], this weekend was a happy, fun experience: I was able to attend a highly religious (and extremely complicated!) Mexican wedding.

The groom was a cousin of a good friend of mine, so she enabled me to crash/understand the wedding, as I am neither Mexican or Catholic. Before the wedding, my friend took me around Hermosillo, her father's home town, where we dined on exquisite tacos from a vendor's cart, saw the university where her father lived, and generally spent time with her family. As this is a health blog, I could tell you such vendors would be ostracized in the U.S. due to his "unsanitary" food preparation conditions, but since I am biased, I'm not going to discuss that aspect of the trip. (The five tacos I had were delicious, by the way. My friends and family pray I won't contract some rare disease, to which I say "pish-posh!").

The health risk I am going to talk about doesn't necessarily apply to Mexico itself, but does apply to weddings: stress.

Research detailing the effects of stress on our bodies has been "emerging" for years, and it seems to me that everyone who has survived through middle school acne knows what effects stress can have. But, just in case, here are some resources: some are flashy and some are practical.

Also, here's a basic run-down of the symptoms, compiled nicely by HelpGuide.org:

Weddings, which require balancing dreams and expectations to throw a realistic party, are probably -the- most stressful situations in our young lives, and more often than not, brides tend to flip out. Families the world over know this; in Mexico, there is generally an outpouring of family support, such that the family is extremely involved in planning and funding the wedding (depending on the family; this was certainly the case with my friend, and she claims the rest of Mexico regards weddings similarly). America also knows this; in addition to having families support the bride, we made a satirical show about it, called Bridezilla, which follows real brides as they terrorize their poor wedding attendants (note, the video contains quite a bit of censored swearing; you have been warned):


But in Mexico, more so than America, the cuture of the family really shows and pulls through. There are so many traditions in religious Mexican ceremonies that simply -must- be followed, and so many family members that want attention from the bride and groom, that I can't even imagine the stress that a couple must feel in a Mexican, Catholic ceremony. It seems as if they have very little freedom to control what is going on around them, which would drive me nuts.

I admired the bride in this wedding for keeping her cool through all of it. I would have had a nervous breakdown during the ceremony if a random girl decided to crash my wedding and write about it. :)

The horror, the horror...

I had my first taste of Mexico on Saturday.
As a disclaimer, this is not a 'happy' story about me scoring a great deal on an embroidered pillow or getting drunk for the first time on Mexican-brewed tequilla. This is a gritty, gruesome story about what humans can do to each other in this dog-eat-dog (literally, I have photos) world. This is a story about families trying to survive in a landfill.

^{here, desperation:
poverty stains their fingers
and infants cry out}

As I've stated before, my experience with the border is highly limited to what I've read about trade policies and friends' triumphant "I went clubbing" stories. I never had to face the fact that there exists, two hours south of where I've spent the last four years of my life in university-driven luxury, a third world country.

^{nipples in the dirt
with its distended belly
Lord, is that a dog?}

I thought I could handle it. I thought I'd go down and snap some pictures, and get my story. The objective journalist, right? No. I have to confess, I am shaking as I'm typing this, and not because I'm cold on the outside. There are so many words I have yet to write about this story, and yet I feel that if I did start writing, I'd never stop, and the horror of it would get so big and out of hand that I woudn't be able to contain it. To be able to deal with this, I've put restrictions on what I can write here. Five-seven-five, self-contained syllables that create vignettes. At the moment, poetry is the best way for me to handle this issue, because I can think so much clearer in it.

^{turbuculosis
made me ignore your baby
am I so selfish?}

On that note, this is supposed be a health blog, so even though the story hasn't broken (but whom has it broken? whom will it break?), I can tell you a little bit of the health conditions I saw. I am not a doctor, but I saw dehydration written deep in the wrinkles of more than half of the population. There was a five month old baby with open sores on his head and face, as well as a crust of mucas across his eyes that screamed infection. There were coughs and hacks and rarely a smile between them. Several people have been maimed in work accidents.

^{they are scared to drink
el agua de mosquitos
but life must go on}

My sources (confidental until the story breaks) tell me that most of the people they've interacted with have TB, most likely from the crowded living spaces (at least three to a single room shack smaller than the average table). Sources also told me that the community tends to drink a lot of Coke and Pepsi instead of water, which has a huge advertizing base in Nogalas (as far as I could see from the murals everywhere). I'm going to assume that the lack of the ability to store clean water contributes to a lot of health problems, not to mention the decomposing animals and other organic material found in the dump. These people build their houses out of material found in the offal of Nogalas, and contrary to popular opinion, they don't pick thorugh the trash for food, but for building materials and recyclables; anything they can sell.

What makes this even worse is that these people pay $1000 for the privilege to own a lot there, and at $60 per week, most can't even afford that.

^{down in Nogalas
I had my first taste of pain
and it is bitter}

Citizenship Catch-22

There's something rotten in the state of Texas. State Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, hopes to pass a new bill that will deny citizenship to illegal immigrant children born in the U.S., and like everything in the illegal immigration debate, the bill has its problems. The bottom line, outlined in a Dallas Morning News article, is that, if passed, not only will the bill cost hospitals more money, it will create a community of children who are not getting medical attention.

It works like this: hospitals are currently mandated to treat anyone who comes knocking without asking for proof of insurance. When an uninsured illegal mother has a child and that child becomes a citizen, they are therefore entitled to Medicaid coverage for the first year of their lives, which hospitals recieve as reimbursements. If the child does not recieve citizenship, poof goes the Medicaid money. It's a catch-22 because, while these children and their parents are stealing from the Medicaid system just by being here, they are here, they will get sick, and they will need medical treatment which they will get for free from unreimbursed hospitals anyway.

As such, if passed, illegal immigrant children who, like their parents, will be illegal, will be eligible for free care under EMTALA (but most likely won't get it for fear of deportation, yet another horrible scenario that could go wrong with this bill).

Even the term "anchor baby" is suspect... Illegal immigrants do get perks from having their babies in the U.S. Mothers get prenatal care and a wealth of medicaid benefits, not to mention a chance to stay in the U.S. while their children are minors, based on my own preliminary research. But most illegal immigrants come here for jobs and don't wait for their children to apply for citizenship for them.

All in all, the bill has potential; it could be something that could affect illegal immigration. But until it solves the problem of making a second-class citizenry and not denying children health care while in the U.S., my vote's against it.

Bush's Amnesty

Earlier this week, the Tucson Weekly featured a trip taken by Leo Banks along one of the most popular illegal immigrant smuggling routes in southern Arizona. The story, appropriately named "Following the Amnesty Trail", was a decent summary of the problems facing the people who live along the border -- often called a "war zone" in this article and countless others. The article touched on grisly issues of human and drug trafficking, trash, and guns and violence. The rhetoric -- and the message beyond it -- was frightening, culminating in the line "Each Of These Backpacks is a New American." The Americans who live on the border and who see their desert ravaged by illegal entrants really brought out the heart of the politics of the immigration debate.

Interestingly, the Weekly also published "Death, Life, Home", which cast illegal entrants in a positive light by focusing on Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera, a man shot to death by Border Patrol agents as he was trying to reenter the U.S. The story was more of a photo essay that showed what Rivera's hard-earned American dollars did for his Mexican family--it moved them from a one-room shack that was falling down about their ears to a brick establishment with tile in the bathroom. According to the captions, Rivera was visiting his family to see what improvements he'd made, and planned on sending more money from the U.S. to his family at home.

For me, both articles speak the same messages: First, South America's economy, and therefore its people, are in huge trouble, and if people were paid enough money to survive, they would have no reason to come across the border illegally. Second, there are real people with real intentions, bad or good, in the middle of the immigration debate. We have those like Rivera, who are just trying to make a home for their families, but then we also have people like Cindy, who represent the American taxpayer (and border-liver, if that's a term) being hurt in the process. We have smugglers and coyotes who are more motivated by the dollar than anyone crossing, and then we have border patrolers. There are real people being hurt on all sides.

I think it'd be best if we as Americans, in an effort to enforce our borders, started taking care of the people in Mexico in this way: Shut down maquilidoras. Be willing to pay more for our swiss cheese. Restructure NAFTA so that it lives up to its name. Do send more people and money into the border patrol to crack down on human trafficking. Overall, however, remove the market for a human trafficker, period.
They're not easy things to do by any means, nor are they the total solutions, but I think that giving people a reason to stay on their side of the line would be more effective than a fence.

Vermont: A Recap

Apparently, I couldn't be more wrong regarding who is at fault for the financial crises of the Vermont dairy industry. Dan Hurley, the main man at northeastfarmer.com, saw fit to 'correct' me with the following comment:

"Vermont is desperately trying to stem the rapid loss of fairy [sic] farms, farmers and farmland -- largely caused by a national ag policy that generally pays off the big crop & livestock guys at the expense of the smaller, traditional Vermont farm. The state has been paying millions in aid to try and prevent a complete collapse of the agricultural economy here, it has just approved another stopgap program to get through the winter and let farmers order seed for the spring. Meanwhile, many gigantic farms in the south, midwest and west get generous federal subsidies that they don't really need to supplement their wealth. Right now, corn growers prices have surged with the rapid expansion of the ethanol, market and production,where big bucks are being made all around, yet which is getting absurd subsidies and tax breaks. Corn is already dear, but prices will get higher and the feed for dairy cows will continue up, and up.
The whole system stinks. Remind you of the whole health care system?"

Admittedly, I know extremely little about this topic, having had no exposure to the dairy industry aside from consuming their end products. Had I done some research before voicing my opinion, I would have found that the amount of Vermont dairy farms has declined for almost a decade, and state officials have been fairly busy trying to shore up the financially damaged industry. An Associated Press article that summarizes the situation indicates that state legislators have actually been pumping money into Vermont's farms for years, specifically through the USDA Farm Service Agency's 2002 Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program. The program, which has a history of being shot down and reinstated by the federal government, might suffer further cuts in Bush's 2007 budget.

Apologies to the state officials of Vermont whom I unintentionally libeled, and thanks to Dan for taking an interest. To Dan: If you have a possible solution or opinion on the health care crisis for the industry, please let me know.

On a somewhat related note, the Borderbeat.net staff was recently treated to a talk by Ignacio Ibarra, the reporter to talk to concerning border coverage. Ibarra's article "Why You Need La Perra Flaca" draws the strong conclusion that illegal immigration exists in part due to an American desire for cheap food. Americans reportedly pay up to 10% of their total budget on food, far less than any other developed country in the world, because migrant workers from Mexico will work for low wages and little protection in the farm industry.

Apparently, paying more for swiss to ensure the economics of the dairy industry is out of style.

The Great State of Vermont

"The great state of Vermont will not apologize for its cheese!" -Senator Ortolan Finisterre, Thank You For Smoking

According to the recent study "Assessing the Health Status, Health Care Needs and Barriers to Care for Migrant Farm Labor," Vermont's dairy industry is in a big heap of trouble.

The report, detailed in a Burlington Free Press article, centers on Vermont's uninsured (and unvaccinated) dairy workers, approximately 2,000 of which are illegal immigrants from Mexico. Vermont officials estimate that 75 percent of the milk produced in the state is from farms that employ these workers with "unmet health-care needs," which range from tuburculosis to worms to dental problems (note: all cases from anecodatal evidence in the article). Just to put the health risk into perspective, Vermont produces an estimated 2.5 billion pounds of milk per year, placing it 15th out of the 50 states in the industry. [source]

Interestingly, some Vermont officials are incredibly sympathetic to the migrant workers' plight, almost to the point of ignoring their legal status. Most notable are Cheryl Mitchell and Claire Ayer, D-Addison. Besides compiling the report for Vermont's Health Department, the busy bee Mitchell is a leader of the Addison County Migrant Workers Coalition, which is pressing for legislation that will start a guest-worker program.
Democratic Senator Ayer, who Mitchell expects to sponsor the bill, has a similar opinion:

"'They're here for a reason, and the reason is they're doing jobs Vermonters won't take,' Ayer said of the Mexican workers. 'There's no reason why the state can't step up to the plate and offer these people some kind of access to health care.' She said the workers could help pay for the care, but shouldn't be afraid to seek it when they need it."

I have a beef with this article; the justification of illegal activity, which is summed up in a paragraph right beneath the thesis, rubs me the wrong way:

"Most of the Mexican farm workers are believed to have entered the country illegally but, according to state agriculture officials, are critical to the viability of the dairy industry because they do the physically demanding work most Vermonters don't want to do."

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that farming is difficult, bitter work that's radically undercompensated for the physical activity and stamina it requires. I'm not surprised in the slightest that Vermonters don't want to take these jobs; there are easier ways to make a dollar. What irritates me, however, is how Vermont state officials, instead of investigating and addressing the problem of why Vermonters don't want those jobs (Economics 101!), just accept it as never-changing fact and encourage migrant workers to work for lower prices and little to no health benefits.

However, at the same time, considering that the dairy industry is so concerned with their financial status, wouldn't it cost less to raise wages enough to attract Vermonters rather than to provide free health care to illegal migrant workers? It may sound cruel of me to suggest that the Vermont officials are simply putting a Band-Aid over a larger problem by offering migrant workers free health care, but they are still not fixing the main problem: the jobs still pay extremely low wages, so apparently Vermonters won't work with them.

Yes, I realize that there is a health crisis for these migrant workers due to a lifetime of poverty and neglect, and in my heart of hearts, I would love to see a system of free health-care that is constitutional, professional, and cheap. I would absolutely love it if the workers could afford health care on their own, because that would signify that they were able to carve our their lives here. But, coming from a financial standpoint, it seems ridiculous to me that the Vermont dairy industry would encourage the retaining of said people (at low wages) and expect "legal" citizens of Vermont to pay for such a health care system through taxes. When given the choice between paying taxes into a standardized health care system and raising the price of milk and cheese, I'm almost certain that the majority of Vermonters would choose to pay more for their swiss.

Perhaps a guest-worker program is the way to go; I just don't know.

---
Image Credits:
http://static.graphics.com/stockphotos/515/1wm_food_012.jpg?9767
Used with permission.

The Price of Health

Here's a letter to the editor of Escape From America magazine, an online (as far as I can tell) periodical that features articles of tourist spots around the world on topics of medical health, finances, and of course, how to have a good time.

According to author Jerry Draughon, health care in Mexico is cheap and clean, which he attributes to a great number of Mexican doctors being trained in the U.S. He also notes that doctors make house calls and "seem to really care about you as a person," citing personal examples of his and his friends' treatment in Mexico.

Instituto Medicina de Segura Social (IMSS), the standard health insurance offered by the government (this program is similar to the social security program in the U.S.), has medical and dental benefits, prescription medicines, and even your vision needs, all for the low low cost of US$399 per year, regardless of income, as long as you live in Mexico. Draughon compares that to his previous costs of US$6500 in the U.S. and is amazed! Why don't more people take advantage of this wonderful system? At US$8000 for a heart transplant, anyone can afford everything they need in terms of health care, right?

Here's where we hit a snag. I'm not contesting Draughon's fabulous picture of Mexican health care providers; I am almost certain that they are as wonderfully clean and professional as he describes. I am, however, questioning the price. Those are U.S. dollars, folks, not Mexican Pesos. Currently, US$1 is the same as MX$10 and some change. Considering that the average daily wage in Mexico is reported to be MX$48.70 (US$4.45), the average Mexican working for those wages can't afford MX$4,360 (US$399) per year for health care. The wages are even lower if you're unfortunate enough to work in a Maquiladora, which little more than a U.S. run assembly plant that avoids tarrifs because it's on Mexican soil. (Thank you, NAFTA! [Wikipedia definition] [Research Study on NAFTA's effects on Mexico])

According to Corp Watch, a must-see the average wage for a Mexican who works in a Maquiladora is MX$37.15 (US$3.40) per day. Considering that Mexicans have an estimated MX$590 (US$59) worth of fixed weekly expenses (including food, utilities, rent, and transporation) it's no wonder that they can't afford health care, even when their health care system is "so wonderful."

Conclusion:
MX$4,360 (US$399) is a loco price to pay for health care, on both ends of the spectrum. Health care in Mexico is clean and professional, and insanely affordable... if you're paying in U.S. dollars, that is. If you're a poor Mexican citizen, well, you'd have more luck getting health care if you sneak across the border for handouts from the U.S. government, in my opinion.

Image Credits:
1. health.jpg is credited to the article, "The Fragmented Status Quo of US Health Care" from the online periodical, The Consumerist.
2. yasmin.jpg was part of an article titled "Physician assistant faculty and students assist during SIMS trip" from the Loma Linda University News center and was published with the following caption: "Yasmin Bracho, PAC (top left), faculty member, physician assistant program, department of cardiopulmonary sciences, School of Allied Health Professions, and Charinda Charoen (bottom right), PA student, help provide health care to an Enseñada, Mexico, family."

Links:
Have Fun With a Currency Counter!
If you click on ANY of the links here, please try Corp Watch first.
Contact me at sagansjagger AT gmail DOT com.