May 18, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 7A
Luck and circumstance
Cannon Beach
nurse reflects on
a lifetime of care
FLOORING
CCB# 205283
y
ou ou
r r w
ep alk
ut o
at n
io
n
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
t first glance, serving peo-
ple in Clatsop County
versus those in a refugee
camp on the other side of the
world seem to have little cross-
over.
But Margo Lalich, a long-
time nurse and public health
worker based in Cannon
Beach, has spent much of her
time doing both. Her most re-
cent trip to serve Rohingya ref-
ugee camps in Bangladesh illu-
minated that common ground.
“(Working at a refugee
camp) sounds heroic and ro-
mantic, but it’s not that com-
plicated when you recognize
the humanity in one another. In
some ways, we all come from
the same place: suffering,” she
said. “When I look at a child in
a shelter, or I see people who
lost children in the migration,
or lost a child to diphtheria, I
see myself as a mother and I
see my children. Those fami-
lies go into shelters of tarps and
bamboo sticks and they make it
their home.
“When we put aside the pol-
itics, and the religion, you’re
just helping mothers, fathers
and children.”
Last fall, Lalich spent a
month at the Nayapara and
Kutupalong refugee camps
through Medical Team Inter-
national. The nonprofit helps
recruit and train local health
care workers on proper sani-
tation, preventing the spread
of disease and supporting safe
home births.
As of April, there are more
than 781,000 Rohingya refu-
gees living in camps and settle-
ments, according to the BBC.
The Rohingya, an ethnic Mus-
lim minority, have been driven
out of their home country of
Myanmar since 2015 due to re-
ligious persecution.
For the past 20 years, Lalich
has interwoven a local career
in public health with frequent
trips to volunteer at refugee
camps around the world. Her
life reflects a blended passion
for connecting with other cul-
tures and health care, two ideas
both deeply rooted in her up-
bringing.
A
Child of ‘adventurers’
Born in Liberia, Lalich was
the child of “adventurers,” as
she called them, who met in
Greece during her mother’s
stint working with Hungari-
an refugees in Europe in the
1950s. Over the course of her
childhood, Lalich grew to love
learning about different cul-
tures and experiences.
Lalich decided to study so-
ciology at the University of
Washington. But as she stud-
ied, she couldn’t help but long
for travel.
To help finance her adven-
tures, she worked as a fisher-
man in Alaska, where she met
the father of her children — the
man she eventually moved to
Clatsop County for in 1987.
She received a nursing degree
from Clatsop Community Col-
lege and began work as a nurse
at Providence Seaside Hospi-
tal for 10 years before joining
the county in 1998 as a public
health nurse.
“I’ve always had a passion
for public health,” she said.
Flooring
Installation
3470 Hwy 101 Suite 102 • Gearhart, Oregon
503.739.7577 • carpetcornergearhart.com
CONSTRUCTION
B oB M c E wan c onstruction , inc .
E xcavation • u ndErground u tiitiEs
r oad w ork • F ill M atErial
s itE P rEParation • r ock
owned and operated by
M ike and C eline M C e wan
503-738-3569
PHOTOS MARGO LALICH
Women community health workers demonstrate hand washing as part of the health educa-
tion program for families at a refugee camp in Bangladesh.
34154 Hwy 26, Seaside, OR
P.O. Box 2845, Gearhart, OR
S erving the p aCifiC n orthweSt S inCe 1956 • CC48302
LANDSCAPING
Laurelwood Compost • Mulch • Planting MacMix
Soil Amendments
YARD DEBRIS DROP-OFF
(no Scotch Broom)
503-717-1454
34154 HIGHWAY 26
SEASIDE, OR
Laurelwood Farm
Margo Lalich waits for a
team of community health
workers to arrive at the end
of their day from doing
household visits at a refugee
camp in Bangladesh.
“Whether it’s in Clatsop Coun-
ty or a refugee camp, standards
for public health are the same.
It’s water and sanitation, basic
hygiene … it’s taking care of
basic needs.”
After receiving her master’s
degree in public health, Lalich
balanced her love for working
abroad and keeping a home
base for her family. In 2002 she
transitioned into working full-
time with the county to help
manage the public health pro-
gram, including the county’s
immunization strategy, emer-
gency preparedness and other
services before becoming the
director in 2010.
Lalich stepped down in
2013 to pursue an opportunity
to be the director of the Mult-
nomah Education Service Dis-
trict.
She found her experience
working out in the field as a
significant asset while address-
ing emergency management at
home.
“It’s really informed my
practice. We have a very cum-
bersome system of practice in
this country. When you work
in other places that aren’t bur-
dened by complexities, you
get to focus on the issues,” she
said. “Emergency response is a
perfect example. Here it is so
complex, we make so many as-
sumptions. And yet you can do
a lot to take care of a lot people.
Our expectations are just high-
PAINTING
Margo Lalich, a public health nurse who lives in Cannon
Beach, has cared for people in refugee camps.
er here. Keeping that in per-
spective is a tremendous asset.”
Daunting scale
Some aspects of working
abroad will always be differ-
ent. The sheer scale of people
who need treatment at one time
is daunting. Some of the most
specific challenges to treating
public health in camps are the
lack of public infrastructure
and dangerously low vaccina-
tion rates for preventable dis-
eases.
“People are dying on a daily
basis from things we don’t even
think about here,” she said.
But to Lalich, her passion to
serve is driven by a belief that
human suffering doesn’t have
borders.
“I’m aware that I’m in a
different environment. But we
see trauma in our own commu-
nities — it just presents differ-
ently,” she said. “I guess I feel
like a chameleon: I deploy and
I adapt. I feel like I’m coming
home when I deploy. I’m not
thinking about lack of resourc-
es, or my discomfort. I just see
what is in front of me and what
needs to be done.”
Last trip
After 20 years, Lalich de-
cided to make her trip to Ban-
gladesh her last.
After 30 years of living in
Clatsop County, she intends
to move away from Cannon
Beach to pursue more indepen-
dent projects related to public
health. But one lesson will stay
with her wherever she goes
next.
“When I come back (to the
United States), I recognize it’s
purely luck and circumstance
I was born where I was, and
not a refugee somewhere else.
I never take that for granted,”
she said. “So I take the best of
what I have experienced and
try to share that with others.”
Randy Anderson
Licensed • Bonded • Insured
CCB# 89453
36 Years Experience
Anderson Painting
(503) 738-9989 • Cell (503) 440-2411 • Fax (503) 738-9337
PO Box 140 Seaside, Oregon 97138
www.andersonpainting.biz
“Custom Finishing”
TREE REMOVAL
HIGH CLIMBING DANGER TREES
PRUNING STUMP GRINDING
JUSTIN J. DAY
F REE E STIMATES
(503) 338-5780
Warrenton, Oregon Licensed Bonded Insured CCB# 214256 WA#QUALITR831PO
CONSTRUCTION
Cannon Beach Library
Rare & Old
Book Sale
Memorial Weekend
May 26-28, 2018
“Helping shape the character of Cannon Beach since 1973”
Residential • Commercial • Remodeling
New Construction • Storm Damage Repair
Full Service Custom Cabinet Shop
10 AM to 5 PM
503.436.2235
131 North Hemlock • Downtown Cannon Beach
www.coasterconstruction.com • CCB# 150126
503.436.1391 • info@cannonbeachlibrary.org • cannonbeachlibray.org
LAWN CARE
Making Sweet
Memories for over
55 Sweet Years!
Freshest Homemade:
Saltwater Taffy
S
T as I id O e O N
Chocolates
CA
LO
utlet Mall
W n C O
T ow
Se
&
h
ac
n Be
no
an
Caramel Corn
Downt
Caramel Apples
THE ONLY
E
D
& MORE!!
TAFFY MA N
IN CANNO
Wedding Treats &
BEACH! Gift Baskets Available!
WE CAN SHIP CANDY
DIRECTLY TO YOU!
Free Estimates • Storm Clean-Up
JIM’S LAWN CARE
503-325-2445
LAWNS • SHRUBS • GUTTER CLEANING
BARK • BRUSH CLEARING & REMOVAL
WEEDING • HAULING • MONTHLY RATES
STORAGE
STORAGE AVAILABLE
CANNON BEACH
BUSINESS PARK
10’ x 10’ Heated
Contact Holly at 503-436-2235
www.brucescandy.com • 503-436-2641 • 503-738-7828