are 254 counties in the state of Texas. 500,000 out of 3,000,000 of the migrants and seasonal farm workers who live in the United States reside in Texas. And, 200,000 of the 500,000 migrants and seasonal farm workers who live in Texas reside here in Hidalgo county which is located in tropical deep south Texas on the Texas/Mexico border.
The migrant health care program of South Texas College is now called “The Center of Excellence for Health Professions Development”. All the courses offer continuing education (CE) credits. The Texas Nurses Association has approved all the courses for Continuing Nursing Education (CNE). And, the Center was certified by the Texas Department of State Health Services to provide continuing education to licensed professional. You can read more about the Center at http://nah.southtexascollege.edu. Scroll down toward the bottom of the page and on the left click on “Milagros: Center of Excellence Health Professionals.”
The Center also offers several activities that include: onsite workshops, an annual conference, presentations at state and national conferences, and a web site containing a virtual library of resources (nah.southtexascollege.edu/Milagros).
The continuing education online courses are offered to healthcare and social services providers. The instruction is provided by expert professionals. The courses are delivered using Blackboard and Horizon Wimba. These are the delivery methods used by the South Texas College Distant Education Department. The curriculum in migrant health is available to all individuals or organizations using web-based online platforms.
The curriculum are adapted to a self-paced format. The course titles are 1) Culturally Competent Healthcare 2)Ethical and legal Issues in Health Care of Migrant Populations 3) Grassroots Approach to Migrants’ Health Issues 4) Health Care Alternatives Used by Special Populations 5) Introduction to Migrant Health 6) Health of the Migrant Child 7) Mental Health and the Migrant Family.
The course “Health Care Alternatives Used by Special Populations” is offered online by Loretta Ortiz y Pino, MD and Elena Avila, RN,MSN/Curandera. Loretta has her own private practice in pediatrics in rural northern New Mexico. Elena is a Psychiatric Nurse and specializes in psychotherapy. She is the author of “Woman who Glows in the Dark: A Curandera reveals Traditional Aztec Secrets of Physical and Spiritual Health.” In this course the Loretta and Elena introduce the healthcare provider to the unique health issues of migrant adults and children growing up along the US-Mexico border that use Curanderismo along side modern medicine. This courses covers the tools used in spiritual ceremonies called “limpias”, folk diseases, ways to include Curanderismo with modern medicine, and the careful investigation and analysis of the cultural practices found in Hispanic communities in order to interact with clients of Hispanic/Native American ancestry.
One of my pages is titled “El consultorio.” This is a glossary of expressions and words in Spanish pertaining to health and medicine. They were collected from recent interviews in deep south Texas and northeastern Mexico. Many are home remedies and cultural beliefs. This page can be found in the “Virtual Library” section of the Milagros Center of Excellence in Migrant Health at http://www.southtexascollege.edu/milagros/virtual_library.html
When migrants and seasonal farmworkers and other living along the border don’t have access to modern medicine they resort to remedies of curanderos.
I’ve received many responses from hospital librarians stating that the collection of expressions and words found in “el consultorio” have been very useful because often someone from this area will seek medical help at the hospitals and they will use some of the expressions and words. For example, a common expression is “sangre de change” or “monkey blood” to refer to “iodine.” Two common expressions I didn’t include yet in “El consultorio” are “ajo” or garlic and “teleraña” or cobweb. After an insect sting it’s common to rub a slice of garlic on the insect sting area to relieve the pain. And, for cuts it common to rub cobweb on the cut to stop the bleeding.
A medical librarian wrote a few years ago and asked why I was suggesting this list of remedies and why the ones who use them don’t just go to a doctor’s office or clinic to seek medical help. If migrants and seasonal farm workers and others who don’t have health insurance could afford medical care and modern medicine, they wouldn’t have to use these home remedies and folk beliefs and visits to curanderos.
There is a summer program pertaining to curanderismo at the University of New Mexico. The title of the program is “Traditional Medicine Without Borders: Curanderismo in the Southwest and Mexico.” The instructor is Dr Eliseo “Cheo” Torres. Dr Torres is the Vice President of Student Affairs at the University of New Mexico. This summer course provides information on the history, traditions, rituals, herbs, and remedies of a folk healing tradition called Curanderismo that is used in the Southwest United Sates and Mexico. The required texts are “Curandero: A life in Mexican Folk Healing” and “Healing with Herbs and Rituals: A Mexican Tradition” which were written by Dr Eliseo Torres and “Woman Who Glows in the Dark” which was written by same Elena Avila who is one of the instructors of the online course offered by the Center of excellence at South Texas College.
This two week course allows students to share knowledge about the art and science of healing. The students include traditional healers of all backgrounds, western medicine practitioners and members of the public. At the 7th UNM summer Curanderismo Progam about 20 of the students are curanderos who come from Mexico. They also share their skills and knowledge. Elena Avila, RN, who lives in Albuquerque conducted a class in psychic healing. Other classes demonstrated energetic healing methods. A physician made a presentation on healing through ceremony. Local healers demonstrated holistic, traditional and integrative medicine. And, a Bolivian botanist gave a presentation on growing medicinal plants. You can read more about this summer program of curanderismo online at http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/003068.html and http://www.unm.edu/~ovpsa/curanderismo.html.
A note from the author: Dr Eliseo “Cheo” Torres is a friend and former college classmate. I invited him to the Nursing and Allied Health campus of South Texas College at the end of March. The title of his presentation was “Mexican Folk Medicine and Folk Beliefs: Curanderismo y yerbas medicinales”. The presentation begins with a definition of curanderismo along with its history and historical and geographic influences. He elaborates on the three levels of curanderismo: material and spiritual and mental. Eliseo mentioned several herbs and popular plants and showed examples and explained their uses. Then, he covered candle rituals and massage therapy and different folk beliefs. A few of the common folk beliefs mentioned were “mal de ojo” and “susto”. In addition to giving details of the UNM summer Curanderismo Program Eliseo finishes his presentation by metioning the three great curanderos: Dom Pedrito Jaramillo and Teresita and Niño Fidencio; and several modern curanderos. And, at the end of his presentation he asked students to come on stage and look at the examples he displayed for the presentation.
He gave permission to place his power point presentation on our school’s web page so that students and faculty could make handout copies of the power point presentation. You can view the short power point presentation by going to http://nah.southtexascollege.edu/ and scroll down to the bottom left hand side and click on “Mexican folk medicine and folk beliefs presentation.”
James Phillips
South Texas College
Email: phillips@southtexascollege.edu
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