The extent of Garcia involvement in her site work truly reflects through her vivid descriptions and makes her writing arguably more emotional than the previous pieces we read.
I was personally stuck by the opening story in Chapter 5, which revolved around how a father caused his own child’s death with drug overdose. What both intrigues and upsets me the most is what the father’s decision to use heroin to help his crying child implies. Why was the heroin there, somewhere near a child’s bed? Was heroin so prevalent in his surrounding and deeply attached to his identity that he would turn to such drug in moments of confusion? Had the child managed to survived, would it be possible for him to leave a life free of addiction given such upbringing?
The author tells the sad story to lead into her critique of the closure of Nuevo Dia. Specifically, she took issue with how the reason cited by HealthValue representative for the closure was, in summary, “that it was essentially premodern and its people irrational and untrustworthy.” Yet, when the author herself was asked to give her own account of the situation, she said “Life outside of it.” While the author did not mean to attach a negative label to the neighborhood the way the representative that she previously criticized did, I personally do not agree with how the author’s statement shifted the blame for Nuevo Dia’s failure from its own structure and operation to the people and lives it was supposed to heal.
I also see similarities among Nuevo Dia’s situation and Dixion’s writing on midwifery in Mexico. In both cases:
- There is distrust between the people and the government/ those in power. Those most affected by the issues are not included in discussions about new solutions (e.g. Meetings were attended by HealthValue-affliated people only).
- ‘New’ public health structure does little to account for the historical contexts of the neighborhood it serves and fails short of its goals as a result. The most prominent issue is overload/ long-wait time for patients.
- In response to government’s failure, people stood up to establish their own means of healing for themselves (e.g. midwifery in Mexico, Adela’s drug detoxification service). It’s also interesting how Adela herself was once a midwife. I wonder whether there are specific traits that make people more suitable to this type of work, or that this was a mere coincidence.
Lastly, I like how the author ended by recounting a comment she received from one of her speech. To the comment that perhaps public health officials have limits and will not be able to consider all aspects when designing programs, the author responded by emphasizing the importance of keep on trying. While I echo that emphasis on continuing effort, I want to expand by suggesting that the solution to such problem should not be solely public health experts’ responsibility. Perhaps an interdisciplinary approach that fosters collaboration among multiple fields such as public health, childcare/ education, economy, etc. may prove to be effective.