Doctor Cares for Latino Immigrants

 

Oksana Dragan

The name carved in black over the entrance to the three-story yellow brick building in a residential¹ section in the heart of Washington, D.C. reads “La Clinica del Pueblo²” - the People's Clinic. The founder³ and director of this clinic, Doctor Juan Romagoza, came to the United States from El Salvador twenty years ago, fleeing torture and persecution⁴ in his native country. His story and his clinic in today's edition of New American Voices.

La Clinica del Pueblo treats about six thousand patients each year, the vast majority of them immigrants from Latin America who have low-paying jobs and no health insurance.

“Their needs stem from chronic⁵ problems --diabetes⁶, hypertension, asthma⁷, arthritis⁸, cancer, AIDs are the most common medical problems. Also teen pregnancy⁹, sexually transmitted diseases in teens. And emotional problems, the effects of the trauma¹⁰ of civil war are frequent in this community. Domestic violence and alcoholism … many people come through these doors with that problem.”

Although Doctor Romagoza speaks English, he prefers to talk about his work and his personal experiences in Spanish. A compact, energetic man in his fifties, he directs a staff of forty-six, plus one hundred volunteers, in providing basic health services, health education, and counseling to the more than 500 people who visit his clinic each week.

 “We provide a series of medical services integrated into a concept of holistic¹¹ health, in which we incorporate not just the physical aspects of medicine with specialists but also the emotional and mental health dimensions and the social aspects. We have very interesting, innovative¹² clinics that deal with AIDs, prenatal care, diabetes, a very popular clinic involving alternative therapies. We offer help in translation also, both in our clinic and for our clients in other hospitals and clinics where they need interpreters.”

La Clinica del Pueblo's services are free. Dr. Romagoza says the 4 million dollar annual operating budget is covered by the city, the federal government, and donations from foundations and private individuals. To help with costs, the Clinic tries to match up needy¹³ patients with services that the city already provides to low-income individuals -- such as food stamps or HIV testing -- but which the Latino immigrants might not know about. La Clinica's health workers also go out into the community.

”In view of the fact that we don't have much space, we try to go where people live, to their neighborhoods and churches, to talk to them, and make sure that they know where to find us when they are sick. And we have educational programs in the evenings in strategic locations, where Latinos gather, trying to warn them and teach them about the symptoms of AIDS. Also we have what we call nutrition Saturdays and health Sundays, teaching people about better nutrition and preventive health care. We go to the churches to try to educate people to do routine examinations. And we strive for early detection of the problems most frequently present in our clients, and if it's too late we refer them to the right place for follow-up treatment.”

Juan Romagoza opened La Clinica del Pueblo in 1983, not long after coming to the United States seeking asylum¹⁴. Like so many other Salvadoreans, he had fled the violence of the country's civil war. As a young doctor practicing medicine among the poor of San Salvador, he had been suspected of being a guerilla leader, and was arrested and tortured.
注释：
carve [kB:v] v. 雕刻
three-story 三层的
clinic [5klinik] n. 门诊部
torture [5tC:tFE] n. 痛苦
persecution [7pE:si5kju:FEn] n. 迫害
stem from 起源于，起因于
chronic [5krCnik] adj. 慢性的
diabetes [7daiE5bi:ti:z] n.［医］糖尿病
hypertension [7haipE5tenFEn] n. 高血压
asthma [5AsmE] n.［医］哮喘
arthritis [B:5Wraitis] n.［医］关节炎
trauma [5trC:mE] n.［医］外伤
alcoholism [5AlkEhClizEm] n. 酒精中毒
compact [5kRmpAkt] adj. 体格结实的
incorporate [in5kC:pEreit] vt. 合并，一体化
dimensions [di5menFEn] n. 范围，度
innovative [`InEJveItIv] adj. 创新的
prenatal [5pri:5neitl] adj. 出生以前的
therapy [5WerEpi] n. 治疗
interpreter [in5tE:pritE] n. 口译人员，翻译员
donation [dEu5neiFEn] n. 捐赠品，捐款
food stamps 食物券
Latino [lA5ti:nEu] n. 拉丁美洲人
symptom [5simptEm] n. 症状
nutrition [nju:5triFEn] n. 营养
preventive [pri5ventiv] adj. 预防性的
client [5klaiEnt] n. 病人
asylum [E5saIlEm] n. 庇护
guerilla [^E5rilE] n. 游击队

 

1 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

2 pueblo   

n.（美国西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村庄

参考例句：

• For over 2,000 years,Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States.在长达2，000多年的时间里，印第安人统治着现在美国西南部的大片土地。
• The cross memorializes the Spanish victims of the 1680 revolt,when the region's Pueblo Indians rose up in violent protest against their mistreatment and burned the cit

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

5 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

6 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

7 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

8 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

9 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

10 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

11 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

12 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

13 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

14 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。