My Love Fast

I started a fast today to stand in solidarity with people across the nation to move for reforms to the nation’s immigration laws. I was moved to action when I first came to Arizona. Fell in love with the place. Was in love with my new husband. I had just left my family. Was content to discover a new place. I started to know about the deaths in the desert immediately. I was a student of human rights! I started to go to the frontera frequently. Mostly I wanted to help. Didn’t know how or what, but I went. The early images for me were of seas of migrant people waiting to be delivered. And I mean literally waiting to be delivered across the border from the US to Mexico. I can never forget, and will always remember the wounds on people’s feet. Torn and bleeding. Skin, flesh, and bone. I took pictures to a national public health conference, and received attention and good conversation with other activists. Was even hit on in the worst way. I felt that I was delivering a message to the nation’s best public health minds. Surely, once people saw the pictures I had, and that it was happening on American soil, they too would be galvanized and we would build a public health work force to solve this humanitarian crisis.

I guess it was the wrong crowd at the wrong time. I found my kindred people on the frontera. Those who made it their work to be in service always. Everywhere. So on the frontera, I sit with people, serve food, ask how they are feeling and ask about their feet. Nurses hustle in the medical unit corridor to wrap feet with mole skin. Dangerous wounds that are also deadly. A diabetic woman with skin torn from her heels expressed how she really didn’t know she would be walking in the desert like that. She said she would never do that again. Actually, the realities that the great many faced were not far off from those they imagined. To prepare, women bought birth control for the journey, just in case. Children found themselves alone in the darknesses of the desert. Wandering a border that was not even in between countries they knew anything about. Even those of us who love it, traverse only willingly. I got the sense that not everyone was willing. Kind of like in some public health initiatives.

On the opposite side of the aid station, a parking lot made of dirt threw around dust from about 100 people waiting to give “rides” to the migrants. They weren’t taxis. Also in that small space of the aid station, coyote parking lot, fence, buses of migrants, we had the luck to have the National Guard, Border Patrol, Mexican Police, and the Federales, all surrounding the 400 or so migrants who walked back into Mexico with bleeding feet.

The public health force never materialized. My plans changed.

Today I fast in solidarity with over 170 Asian American and Pacific Islander people and families to move our nation toward a just system of law, humanitarian protection, and rights for migrants and all those who seek life elsewhere. I am proud to represent the entities that I work on behalf of: Asian Pacific Community in Action, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, Health Through Action Arizona. And for all Arizonans – we could have changed this earlier. Don’t stand down now. Arise.

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum napawf.org
NO More Deaths nmd.org
Humaneborders.org
Asian Pacific Community in Action apcaaz.org
Health Through Action Arizona htaaarizona.com
AIM for Equity facebook.com/aimforequity
National Council of Asian Pacific Americans – ncapaonline.org
We Belong Together webelongtogether.org


Zeenat Hasan, Health Through Action Director
Asian Pacific Community in Action

Moving on . . .

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am writing to inform you that I have accepted the position of Associate Director for the ASU Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center (SIRC). My last day at APCA will be July 19th. While I am very excited to be joining a nationally recognized research center, I will also miss being centrally involved in the ambitious enterprise known as the Asian Pacific Community in Action.

I have relished my seven years with APCA. Through the good and the tough times, the work of APCA has never been less than a labor of love for me. I take great pride in the fact that we have become a highly respected and nationally known Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) health organization in the course of just a few years. More importantly, we have provided educational, clinical, and referral services to thousands of AAPI community members – a good number of whom are living longer and healthier lives due to our work. In addition, we have taken a leadership role in involving the AAPI community in the political decision-making process through our Health Through Action Arizona coalition, and we are continuing to test social enterprise approaches through our Bridging Cultures language access program.

I want to thank our Board of Directors for their support throughout my tenure as Executive Director, particularly Dr. Albert Celoza, whose thoughtful guidance and encouragement as Board President has made a great difference in my work at APCA. Most of all, I thank the dozen or so people who have served as APCA employees since I began work in July 2006. These individuals, particularly the six current staff members, have honorably and passionately represented APCA on a daily basis. Moreover, they have patiently weathered fluctuations in our operating resources with nary a complaint and have still managed to put the needs of the community above their own. I could not have asked for better company on my journey. 

Speaking of good company, I also want to thank the many individuals and agencies that have become APCA partners over the past several years. This includes our friends at the state and county health departments, other non-profit organizations, academic partners, health care providers, foundations, colleagues at AAPI health organizations throughout the country, our volunteers, and others too numerous to reference here. I will greatly miss the interactions found among like-minded people interested in serving the greater good.  

However, it is time for me to start a new chapter in my professional life. Having spent a considerable amount of time in the government and non-profit sectors, I hope to bring what I’ve learned to the critically important work of health disparities research. Just as APCA allowed me to more fully explore my Asian ethnicity, I expect my time at SIRC to allow my academic interests to blossom. 

However, this is not goodbye. From my perch at SIRC and through personal interest, I plan to stay involved in addressing the many challenges facing Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and refugee communities in Arizona. Indeed, my time at APCA has firmly convinced me of the deep truth in Margaret Mead’s well-known quote: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  As APCA Executive Director, it has been my privilege to work shoulder to shoulder with many, many people to help change our little corner of the world, and I look forward to continuing the fight.

Please stay in touch. At SIRC, I can be reached at (602) 496-0700, or for the time being I can be reached by email at doughir@msn.com.

Regards,

Doug



Doug Hirano, MPH, APCA Executive Director

Cambodia Revisited

I’m just back from a three-week volunteer assignment in Cambodia. I can honestly say that I have a different worldview based upon this experience. Please check in on my travel blog, http://dougincambodia.wordpress.com, to read about my experiences and see some photos. 

- Doug Hirano, MPH, APCA Executive Director

APCA Attends Obama Speech on Immigration Reform

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a major speech by President Obama at a high school in Las Vegas. The speech outlined the pillars of the President’s vision for immigration reform. What most impressed me was not necessarily the substance of his speech (a bipartisan group of Senators had preempted him by issuing a largely similar immigration reform plan the day before) but his style and communication skills. Sitting no more than 40 feet from him (VIP seating – thanks to the Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum), I could immediately see that he has an innate charisma and an ability to powerfully connect with his audience. I think everyone could sense his passion and dedication to the issue of immigration reform. In addition to outlining his immigration plan, he introduced an audience member who had received a deportation deferral through the President’s Executive Order. This served to put a human face on the issue of immigration – very smart. 

Click here to see a video of his speech. For those with eagle eyes, note that at 23:49 of the speech, I am pictured sitting on the far left of the screen as President Obama talks about the audience member. I happened to be sitting next to two colleagues: to my right is Jeff Caballero, Executive Director of the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO), and to his right is Pier Simeri, Community Relations Director, City of Avondale.  
      

- Doug Hirano, MPH, APCA Executive Director

Citizen Who

What is it to be an American? To what does being an American citizen obligate us and entitle us? Eric Liu – actor, musician, attorney, and author – examined these and other questions in a one-man show at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts last week. The sold out show (I arrived too late for a seat) was videotaped and is archived for viewing here.  Particularly for Asian Americans and other immigrant populations, watching this performance is time well spent. The show was sponsored by Zocalo Public Square, a project of the ASU Center for Social Cohesion and the New America Foundation. 

- Doug Hirano, MPH, APCA Executive Director

In the rear view mirror: 2012

The year 2012 was our 10th anniversary – a time for reflection and celebration. We are proud of our progress in the past ten years and looking forward to unprecedented work in the next ten years. However, from a budgetary standpoint, 2012 was a year in which the recession and budget cuts finally caught up with us a bit. We were fortunate to add some short-term contract work conducting community assessments and a multi-year contract through the Kids’ Health Link program of the Children’s Action Alliance.

I am grateful to our staff members for their passionate and productive work on behalf of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in Maricopa County. Behind the scenes, they touch the lives of thousands of AAPI families and individuals every year. In addition, our board of directors continues to provide sound leadership and organizational support. Our volunteers, partners and supporters deserve much credit as well.

I think 2013 will be an exciting year. We have some exciting grant proposals currently under review, and we are in discussion about some other new opportunities. However, before we leave 2012, I thought I should provide a quick synopsis of some of our achievements for the year: 

Research and Assessment 

• Conducted a comprehensive community health assessment of north-central Phoenix on behalf of Desert Mission

• Conducted focus groups and a community survey for the REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) project of the Arizona Department of Health Services

• Disseminated more than 1,500 copies of “State of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Arizona, Volume 2: Health Risks, Disparities and Community Responses” 

• Initiated a Social Baseline Survey of three Arizona mining communities in conjunction with EPG and BHP Copper, Inc.

• Established a Scientific Advisory Committee to provide consultation and technical assistance to APCA on scientific program, policy and research matters

• Published an article in the journal Progress in Community Health Partnerships on the status of Asian American and Pacific Islander health research

Community Organizing and Engagement
 

• Continued “Health Through Action Arizona” activities, including dissemination of the policy blueprint and conduct of “Know Your Rights” language justice workshops to more than 300 community members

• Four APCA staff members completed “Connect to Power”, a year-long advocacy and leadership training sponsored by St. Luke’s Health Initiative

• Helped establish a new community wellness coalition in south Phoenix known as “Cultivating South Phoenix”

• Participated in the development of the Arizona Smoke Free Living (ASFL) coalition, which is focusing on establishing smoke-free multi-unit housing facilities in the Phoenix metropolitan area

• Participated in a bipartisan coalition that developed a national platform for immigration reform known as “SANE”

• Collaborated with the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum to help create a new nationwide AAPI health advocacy network known as “AIM (Advocate, Impact and Mobilize) for Equity”

• In partnership with other community-based agencies, held a voter registration drive within the AAPI community

Community Education and Services
 

• Presented a play about suicide prevention called “Quiet Cries”, which was attended by 80 community members

• Published articles on the importance of hepatitis B screening among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in journals of the Arizona Medical Association (Arizona Medicine), the Maricopa Medical Society (Round Up), and the Pima County Medical Society (Sombrero)

• Established the availability in Arizona of smoking cessation telephone counseling in Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean through the California-based Asian Quit Line

• Joined Kids Health Link, a coalition that enrolls families into the AHCCCS and KidsCare programs and also continued to assist AAPI community members in receiving services through local community health centers

• Coordinated free diabetes and cardiovascular disease screenings in a variety of community settings to more than 250 individuals

• Provided free hepatitis B testing to 262 individuals and participated on the national CDC viral hepatitis campaign steering committee

• Added new contracts for medical interpretation through the “Bridging Cultures: Connecting Lives through Language” program, trained more than 20 individuals in medical interpretation, and assisted hundreds of patients in receiving in-language medical care

• Educated more than 400 community members regarding breast cancer prevention and referred more than 100 women for low-cost mammograms and pap smears

• Recruited more than 40 community members to participate in emergency preparedness exercises and trainings coordinated by the Maricopa County Department of Public Health

Other
 

• APCA executive director was selected as a 2012 Virginia G. Piper Fellow

• Held a “Taste of Asia” 10-year anniversary fundraising dinner, with 300 attendees

• Served as featured speakers at the following workshops and conferences: 

• 10th Annual Conference of the ASU Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center 

• 23rd Annual Conference of the National Adult Protective Services Association

• Social Determinants of Health workshop, Arizona Department of Health Services

• ASU Trans-disciplinary Training for Health Disparities Science Seminar Series "Social Determinants of Health: Service and Policy Implications” - ASU Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy

- Doug Hirano, MPH, APCA Executive Director

Regular physical activity: better than an apple a day?

A new study provides further evidence that a physically active lifestyle can extend the quantity and quality of life. The study found that there was a gain in life expectancy of 3.4 years for individuals who averaged 150 – 300 minutes of physical activity per week – when compared to individuals with no regular physical activity. Study results applied to individuals 40 years of age and older.  Similar results in a study in Taiwan suggest the longevity benefits are transnational and cross cultural. Importantly, physical activity provided a benefit for individuals across the spectrum of body mass index, meaning that even obese individuals could expect to see some life expectancy gains with regular physical activity.  Click here for a link to the study.

- Doug Hirano, MPH, APCA Executive Director