Name: Meadow Magee
Social Justice Group: Maternal/Fetal Care
Date of Fieldwork: November 3, 2017
Name of Organization: Changing Woman Initiative
Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Nicolle Gonzales
Type of Fieldwork: Interview
What I did:
Before we met with her, we were at the Every Mother Counts head quarters. We helped pack bags for the Marathoners because not only do the Every Mother Counts organization raise money for the mothers in need during the Marathon but they also donate there services and resources to help the runners.
Then when Nicolle Gonzales arrived we sat down in a conference room and listened to Nicolle talk about her life and how the company, Changing Woman’s Initiative, was started. We got to ask questions and hear really intense stories from her experience with birth centers.
What I learned:
Nicolle Gonzales is a Native American who lives on a reservation in New Mexico. She told us about the horrible condition of the so few hospitals on the reservation. There was a story about a lady that she saw who went back to the same hospital that let her baby die because the doctor was late. She didn’t have a choice because this was the closest hospital on the reservation. There are no birth centers on the reservation which is why Nicolle took it into her own hands. The three main things that I learned about my topic were; There are no birth centers on the reservation, women are being miss treated and don’t even know their rights, and there is harm being done by doctors to the females in need.
What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:
I learned that it has taken a lot of time and resources to create this organization and they still haven’t built their first birth center. This showed me that it will take a lot of time before things change but every step of the way counts. Every person that donates and every person the volunteers helps. It’s a really big commitment that you have to be willing to follow through it’s toughest times.
