This is the time of year when our family has multiple visits to the doctor. The kids are getting their annual physicals for school and we are catching up on dental appointments and the like. I’ve spent a good amount of time in waiting rooms in the past month. A doctor’s office presents an opportunity for people-watching, and I’ve been surprisingly interested by what I’ve seen as I watch families doing nothing more than waiting together, filling out forms, and chit-chatting… in Spanish.

Though Orlando is bursting with Latino culture, I am starting to notice what a significant change this demographic has made to our most basic activities. Instead of filling in one sheet of paper for kids’ health history, we now have to sift through several pages because all the questions are duplicated in Spanish. Still, the parents I see in the waiting room sometimes have to have their children help out with understanding medical terminology, even if it has been translated. Dialect and slang can interfere with reading well in Spanish, and the extent to which this could affect someone’s ability to understand the medical care his/her child receives is a concern I never thought of before.

Also, I have observed that the majority of nurses and physicians’ assistants I see now are Latino. It seems that the healthcare field has absorbed a huge number of first- and second-generation Americans. While this means there are long-term jobs available to this population, it also seems to represent a complete change in job description and expectations for some positions. In my observation, bilingual nurses are spending double the time with Spanish-speaking parents that they do with English-speaking ones — sometimes to discuss health matters, and sometimes just to chat about food, family and home countries. I have recently wondered, upon watching a nurse spend an extra 15 minutes talking in the hallway with a Spanish-speaking family, if I should just pretend I don’t speak English so that I can get that sort of attention to my questions.

Along with the positive change in the availability of social and medical services for Americans with subpar English skills comes a culture-based camaraderie that has leached into the professional world. Although I am supportive of having Spanish speakers and forms available in a medical office, I am struck by how annoyed I sometimes feel when a mere demonstration of need for translation means that someone will get better service than I will.

It’s an ongoing challenge for me to stand on the border between Latinos and Americans. Having been part of more than one Latino family and having spoken Spanish for a while, I have a soft spot for their plight and believe they deserve the same treatment as all other Americans. However, as a gringa, I sense that certain boundaries are being ignored. This is especially true when I discover that I’ve only been sitting in a waiting room for so long because someone else is having a personal conversation. Furthermore, they likely assume that I don’t understand that they aren’t talking about anything medical.

Am I being too sensitive to the familiar style of Latino culture in a place of business or is this a genuine example of cultural preference?

{Photo by brettneilson}

The start of Hispanic Heritage Month is still a couple of months away, but we can’t wait to let you know about  LATINO AMERICANS — the first major (and bilingual!) documentary series for television to chronicle the rich and varied history and experiences of Latinos. The much-anticipated series, narrated by Benjamin Bratt, will air on PBS on September and October, 2013: Tuesdays – September 17, September 24 and October 1 – 8-10 p.m. ET. Additionally, the series will broadcast nationally in Spanish on Vme, the Spanish-language channel on public television, over six consecutive Fridays beginning on September 20.

We’re thrilled to finally have such a comprehensive tool to truly educate our Latino kids, and others, about our heritage in this country. Our history is definitely as varied as we are, but there are so many things that bind us together — language being the main one — and give such rich color to our tapestry.
 

Educational Curriculum in English and Spanish

 
Education continues to be one of the most important issues Latinos in the US face today.  To this end, the LATINO AMERICANS project has a commitment to leverage the stories and content in the series to inspire youth and their families to learn more about their unique cultural heritage, history, and contributions to this nation.  A team of Latino educators developed a rich curriculum that will be available at no cost via the PBSLearningMedia.org web site in September,

A total of 14 multi-media lessons and activities have been developed to enrich the learning experience offered through LATINO AMERICANS:

• Six comprehensive lessons address themes across diverse Latino experiences, communities and events.

• Eight mini-lessons focus on a particular event, experience or community in the story of Latino Americans.

• All 14-lesson modules include supporting materials such as discussion guides and lesson plans, and correlate to the program’s web resources such as timelines and maps.

• Resources for grade 4 through college, with an emphasis on critical thinking and writing skills for grades 6-12 in the areas of social studies and civics.

• Teachers, parents and tutors will be able to search content by grade level, subject area, topic or standard.

• All materials are aligned to relevant Common Core and National Social Studies Standards.

• All content are free and accessible online, as of September 2013, at www.PBSLearningMedia.org .

• Story Share: Teachers and students are invited to construct and share their own stories through the program website’s story sharing interface. 

Here are some easy things your community, school or organization can do to participate:

 
Ask for a complimentary one-on-one coaching session on how to use the content in learning settings or with community groups by emailing LatinosPBS@gmail.com.

Promote broadcast tune-in gatherings at local schools, PTA committees, faith organizations, and other service and nonprofit agencies.

Tweet during the broadcast, #LatinosPBS.

Contact LatinosPBS@gmail.com to obtain video(s) for screenings in your local community.

Upload a 2-minute video about your family, history, Latino pride: http://www.pbs.org/latino-americans/en/