Page 18
Nurses Recruited
Trying to Live a Decent Life
Linfield grows diversity
Comic twist on
immigrant life
Linfield College and Salem Health are working together in
crease the number of Latino registered nurses available to care for
the mid-Willamette Valley's growing population.
Latinos make up more than 10 percent of the population in
Oregon, but Latino registered nurses are only 1 percent of the
health care workforce. The chance of a Latino patient being cared
for by a nurse native to the patient's culture is even lower in the
Salem area, where Latinos are 22 percent of the population.
"When people seek health care, they are seeking comfort," says
Laurie Barr, human resources director for Salem Health. "When
you are sick, you are very vulnerable. It can be terrifying if you
don't understand the language.”
On Linfield's Portland campus, an innovative initiative was
launched in 2004 called Ayudando Podemos ("Helping each other,
we can do it").
"We saw an increase in Latino enrollment from 2.6 percent in
the 2002-03 academic year to 8.4 percent last year," says Peggy
Wros, associate dean for the nursing school.
Ayudando Podemos recruits Latino high school students from
Oregon, helping them obtain Bachelor of Science degrees in
nursing.
Orientation sessions are given to families, and students are
provided with scholarships, support groups, advising, bilingual
support, and tutoring for courses and the licensing exam for
nurses. Many program graduates mentor other aspiring Latino
students.
Linfield's success also means success for Salem Health's drive
to improve culturally sensitive care for patients.
"We are increasing the diversity o f our applicant pool, and
Linfield College is one o f the major programs on our radar screen,"
says Barr, who hired Latino Linfield grads to fill a quarter o f Salem
Hospital's 2009 summer intern program. Many graduates were
recruited through the Ayudando Podemos program.
T erry F amily
F u n era l
H ome
Pelu Theatre, a company based
in Portland but rooted in San Juan,
Puerto Rico presents “A Suicide
Note from a Cockroach,” March 18-
21 and March 25-28 at Imago The
atre, 17 S.E. Eighth Ave.
A circus theater spectacle, the
play explores the themes of exile and
the birth of a new subculture in
America, putting a comic twist to
the existential dilemma of being an
immigrant in the U.S.
Pedro, a cockroach from the
low-income housing projects in
New YorkCity, is about to commit
suicide. He has been married seven
times, and each of his wives has
been killed! He lost his best friend,
he lost his job... he has nothing
and he hates the world! This is his
story, a story of a poor Latino that
went from human to a suicidal
cockroach.
The company uses circus theater
as its vocabulary for telling stories:
aenahsts, tumblers, acrobats, musi-
cians and, of course, clowns form an
ensemble of cockroaches trying to
live a decent life - but with one
Carlos Alexis Cruz and Mayra Acevedo explore the themes of exile
and birth in a comic twist to bring an immigrant in the U.S.
antagonist, a human!
The show will be performed in
“spanglish” or the language that
defined the puertorican exile in NYC.
Both English and Spanish speaking
audiences would not find any trouble
Bank
The O regon Food Bank is its Nutrition Education program
recru itin g S panish -sp eak in g in W ashington C ounty.
volunteers to teach and assist
"If you love to cook or have
Spanish-language skills, con-
sider join in g our team ," said
Ginny Sorensen, Nutrition Edu-
cation program coordinator.
M aterials for curricula are
offered in Spanish to groups o f
adults and groups o f parents
with children.
The hands-on course helps
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in understanding or following the
action, and at the same time be trans-
ported musically to the “barrio”,
Admission is $ 10. For tickets and
more
inform ation,
visit
pelutheatre.com.
people learn to stretch their
food budget w hile creatin g
nutritious m eals and snacks.
The course covers basic nutri-
tion, menu planning, food-bud-
geting and shopping through
six, consecutive, w eekly ses-
sions.
For m ore inform ation, con-
tact A lana H arris at 503-439-
6510, extension 309 or em ail
nepwest@ oregonfoodbank.org.
Youth Fest at Rex Putman
All members o f the commu
nity are invited to a free Latino
youth and family festival, featur
ing dancing, food, music, youth
talent and Mexican bingo.
The event, sp o n so red by
Northwest Family Services and
the Juvenile Assistance Corpo
ration, is scheduled Friday,
March 19 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30
p.m. at Rex Putman High School,
4950 S.E. Roethe Road.
For more information, call 503-
546-5077.
To Place Your Classified Advertisement
Contact:
Phone: 503-288-0033
Fax: 503-288-0015
e-mail: classifieds@portlandobserver.com