My Story, my connection to community health, and the importance of developing new community outreach techniques that work for the Hispanic and Latino immigrant agricultural sector. By Ana Elisa Wilson (Translated to English).

It's been 12 years since I decided to take the helm of my ship and sail on this great adventure of community health work. This field of work had a big gap where the tools and techniques for providing people with information were completely lacking, particularly, access to appropriate Spanish language resources that offer hope and new learning opportunities for Latino/Hispanic people (primarily in the immigrant agricultural sector).

During these years, there have been many immigration changes in Hispanic / Latino families who live in rural zones in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. They come from many different countries including: El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Mexico, and more. These people have a need to emigrate to the United States for a better life that is so great, they emigrate without caring about the dangers to which they are exposed during that long journey.

Even though I am a citizen of the United States, I have experienced racism and the pain of not being accepted throughout my journey and have found it difficult to pursue my passion for community health. My work has been arduous, and I have made sacrifices for myself and my family along the way, in pursuit of helping the community.

In Mexico, I worked for the Chamber of Commerce, and also for the state government's tourism secretary. As a manager in a travel agency, I always worked to find information and resources. I also wrote for a local newspaper in my city for a couple years.

Years ago, I decided to do something new and explore the rural zones between the states of Washington and Oregon. Wanting to learn more about the hispanic/latino people and see what was happening on the other side of the bridge, I began to make connections with the population in the Morrow and Umatilla county community. I soon realized that there were no Spanish resources or organizations that had health programs in Spanish, and there were many cultural barriers too. One concern I had in particular was that there were many Spanish-Speaking agricultural families who did not have the opportunity to learn English because of their jobs. When I volunteered at  a church in the area I learned that there were no Spanish speakers to help people understand the health hazards of their jobs working in the field and facing occupational hazards that affect their health.They told me that they have many health problems, and no one teaches them anything.

After this, I decided to cross the bridge to Oregon, and I began to pioneer Latino/Hispanic community work in eastern OR.

Community service opportunities arose as a health coach with Doulas Latinas International, opening the first office in Hermiston. After this, I started the New Euvalcree office with OHP and received awards for the huge enrollment numbers. Then came the opportunity to become a community organizer with Oregon Rural Action. During the pandemic, I developed a very successful project: A radio show in Spanish, to provide health information to Spanish speakers/agricultural families. At the time we were also able to host experts from the medical sector to inform the community on COVID-19 prevention. This project was not only a success but a big deal as it was the first radio show where Spanish and the Guatemala Mam language were spoken in eastern Oregon and Washington. 

We received support from the Oregon Health Authority for this show, and it ran for four years with over 90 radio programs. During that time, I met Dominica Navarro with NCAP and became passionate about pesticide prevention and its relationship with chronic diseases.

I began helping Dominica with outreach and engagement for educational workshops and felt a calling in my heart that this was my place. Working at NCAP first as a volunteer took my education in community work to another level, and I have been able to help the community in preventing pesticide exposure and related chronic health conditions.

Working for NCAP for almost 3 years now, it has opened the doors for me to continue advancing in my passion, which is community work. Here, I have been able to be an instructor for health programs all about pesticide prevention, climate change, environmental care, and more. At NCAP, we are working to overcome language barriers and provide health education so people can be aware of the serious health risks and illnesses caused by pesticides and chemicals.

I am so grateful, from the bottom of my heart, for having the opportunity to work at NCAP and help so many people receive an education in Spanish, especially in all of our program areas. I feel very honored to be part of NCAP's history.

Ana Elisa Wilson

Healthy Communities & 

Environment Program Co-Manager