four

by: poppyseed

Fri Mar 12, 2010 at 00:00:00 AM PST

peek in the room. six in there. mom, four kids, a stroller.

one of them is on my chair. a sullen teen in a hoodie. one eye peeks from around the edge of the hood, glares at me, and retreats.

this should be interesting.

because before you're sick you're okay

by: poppyseed

Sun Nov 07, 2010 at 00:00:00 AM PDT

and no one can tell that there's something really badly wrong with you. like the people who watched over you last night when your leg looked okay had no idea that this morning it would bloat and ooze and start to turn that weird purple color that means you're going to the operating room and now is the time to be very specific about how you want us not to cut it off, just please don't cut it off.

which is why i didn't screw up two months ago

i forget which island it was

by: poppyseed

Thu Oct 07, 2010 at 00:00:00 AM PDT

that he picked to drink himself to death on but he ended up face down on the beach with a bottle in his hand, as always, and they scraped him off the beach, threw him into a hospital, and he lasted another two years after that.

and the thing i can't get over

by: poppyseed

Fri Oct 01, 2010 at 22:33:26 PM PDT

is how nice everyone is, these people who get beaten in prison.

we are so gentle with one another. we don't know how to say hello to one another, there are so many cultures, so many languages in this room. we smile softly, speak softly. we cover our hearts. we look into each other.

and then there are the nightmares

and then it slowly dawned on us

by: poppyseed

Mon Sep 27, 2010 at 00:00:00 AM PDT

that it wasn't exactly normal for someone to get stabbed at school, that it isn't the sort of thing you can expect people to just shake off, just shrug and move on. and it took us a really long time, the three of us in that room, to just get that said, to realize that maybe we hadn't quite realized it before, that we needed to actually say it out loud, that maybe the headaches and the nightmares and the lying in his room for hours not moving were all connected.

underwater

by: poppyseed

Sun Sep 26, 2010 at 00:00:00 AM PDT

so a couple of days after he was discharged from the hospital his father was wandering around in the parking lot in the middle of the night looking for him. he'd been missing for days. he didn't know where else to go.

and i want you to know

by: poppyseed

Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 00:00:00 AM PDT

that i keep poking at the place that hurts to see if it still hurts, and how much. it's a way to prove to myself that i'm still alive, that my soul is still in there somewhere, that i'm still vulnerable.

"This law will make me feel like a Nazi" - AZ officer on SB1070

by: los anjalis

Sat Jul 24, 2010 at 17:07:44 PM PDT

"This law will make me feel like a Nazi out there.  I have a great deal of contempt for it; I’m very emotional about it... This law is - pure and simple - a racist law."

In the lead-up to the implementation of SB1070, the Arizona law known commonly as "papers please", it is heartening to see a police officer in AZ speak up against it:

He very clearly states why this law is a huge health/human rights violation:

"So under SB1070 I know that people will not call officers in the case of a real emergency. I could see this type of scenario: a woman is being beaten by her husband or her significant other.  And, if I show up, and I develop reasonable suspicion, or LESS, even, that the person that is a perpetrator in this case, is in this country extralegally, i'm going to start heading in the direction of asking the victim of the case, are you here illegally?  I will have to arrest both of them -- I'll be required to -- and both will be deported.  It violates our calling to serve and protect. It violates, under our Constitution, the requirement to serve and protect."

Thanks to the savvy folks at Cuentame for collecting video testimonials. And check out Alto Arizona for actions in Arizona this week, and solidarity actions you can join in your own towns and states.

so one of my patients didn't show up today

by: poppyseed

Fri Jul 16, 2010 at 22:46:27 PM PDT

Doctors for Global Health General Assembly

by: lindarella

Mon Jul 05, 2010 at 11:27:15 AM PDT

Join Doctors for Global Health for their 15th Annual General Assembly

                                            August 6th-8th

                                           Atlanta, Georgia

 Seeds of Change:  Health and Justice in the Global Recession 

Keynote speakers:

Alice Lovelace- Atlanta poet and organizer for social change

Jim Withers- Founder of Street Medicine Institute and Operation Safety Net

Opening address by Dr. Elizabeth Kiss, President of Agnes Scott College

Register now at www.dghonline.org

The General Assembly is a great opportunity to hear reports from the field directly from our overseas partners and volunteers.  Other topics to be discussed include the impact of the economic recession on minority communities; the effects of mining on health; water rights; and health care reform.

Registration is on a sliding scale fee basis.  There are scholarships available for students and others.  Thank you!  We are looking forward to seeing people interested in health and human rights this summer in Atlanta!

Who we are:  Doctors for Global Health has been working for 15 years and counting to improve the health and well-being of poor, marginalized commuities around the world by increasing access to quality health care; developing educational opportunities and avenues for artistic expression; and raising awareness of health and other human rights.  Learn more at http://www.dghonline.org