(no subject)
I just returned from my first time volunteering at the UConn Migrant Worker Clinic. It's a free clinic that travels around CT to give free health care to some of the 20,000 migrant farm workers in our state. After exchanging a few emails with the girl who is in charge of the clinic, she told me I could start coming and acting as a translator for the doctors and medical students.
Needless to say, it was incredibly intimidating driving into a tobacco farm where the barracks were lined with tough looking men and women, smoking and drinking. However, upon entering the cafeteria (the clinic is usually outdoors, but it was raining), I saw how appreciative the people were. I had some trouble translating (it's been over a year since my last Spanish class...), but the language started coming back to me. I ended up translating for three patients over the course of two hours.
Although it was difficult, nowhere near a victory for my language skills, I had a fantastic time. It felt so cool to be playing doctor for real - learning how to take a history, seeing how diagnosises are made, and seeing different approaches by different doctors. It was also humbling to figure out how useless much of the Spanish I know is. I took me 10 minutes to convey the word "poop" to a girl. That was...embarassing? No, just silly. In conclusion, I will be returning to the clinic whenever possible.
Needless to say, it was incredibly intimidating driving into a tobacco farm where the barracks were lined with tough looking men and women, smoking and drinking. However, upon entering the cafeteria (the clinic is usually outdoors, but it was raining), I saw how appreciative the people were. I had some trouble translating (it's been over a year since my last Spanish class...), but the language started coming back to me. I ended up translating for three patients over the course of two hours.
Although it was difficult, nowhere near a victory for my language skills, I had a fantastic time. It felt so cool to be playing doctor for real - learning how to take a history, seeing how diagnosises are made, and seeing different approaches by different doctors. It was also humbling to figure out how useless much of the Spanish I know is. I took me 10 minutes to convey the word "poop" to a girl. That was...embarassing? No, just silly. In conclusion, I will be returning to the clinic whenever possible.