For the last 30 years Chris Wysock’s career as a full-time nurse involved working with the medically underserved and migrant populations in Oregon’s Williamette Valley.
What drove her to take a year-long sabbatical in Mexico were two things: the troubling political situation in the United States and living in a town that happens to be 60 percent Hispanic.
Working as both a nurse and a reverend, Wysock wants to get a better grasp of the Mexican culture and its language to be able to assist the large number of Hispanic workers living in the Willamette Valley who are dealing with challenging medical and immigration issues.
“Standing on a street corner in Woodburn, Oregon, is like being in a Spanish immersion class,” says Wysock. “Spanish is spoken everywhere. There are even little tiendas dotting the streets — same as at lakeside.”
To better serve Woodburn’s growing Hispanic population, Wysock hopes to gain insight into the ancient customs of the Mexican people, such as the local folk medicines and deeply ingrained remedies that the Mexican grandmothers pass down.
“I want to understand not only why they believe in these remedies but if they’re actually safe.”
Wysock gives this example: “If a grandmother advises drinking a particular tea because it will cure an ailment, I want to know how that tea acts as a remedy. That way, I can tell my patients that it’s okay to drink that tea for their ailment, adding that if they also take this particular medicine, the tea will work even better. As nurses, we’re always walking a fine line between affirming ancient beliefs and getting our patients to accept modern medicine.”
Although Wysock says she knows some medical Spanish, her ability to discuss everyday issues, such as the weather, proves more of a challenge.
“By the time I return home at the end of May, I want to be able to speak more easily with the Hispanic workers. Even though I’ve been retired since last January, I’d still like to work as a part-time nurse, either on call or covering days off for other nurses.”
Wysock was born and raised in Washington’s Yakima Valley, an agricultural area where many of her friends were the children of migrant workers, hailing from different parts of Mexico.
“By the time I was ten,” she says, “I knew I wanted to be a nurse, which may be somewhat predestined, being that my birthday is May 12 – the same day as Florence Nightingale’s.”
She worked for Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, originally created for the poor and medically underserved, which includes many of the area’s migrant workers.
“Only about 50 percent of underprivileged patients in the Willamette Valley have health insurance and more and more workers are living there full-time instead of seasonally.”
There are a total of 34 clinics in Washington and Oregon, and Wysock was the nurse manager for four of the clinics.
“Working at the clinic became my mission, as well as working part-time as a supply priest at Woodburn’s Anglican Church, a position similar to that of a substitute teacher.”
Wysock learned about lakeside while attending her 50-year high school reunion. “I was chatting with a guest who happens to live in Ajijic. I’d already been thinking of coming to Mexico to expand my knowledge and this encounter nudged my process along and got me to lakeside.”
When she’s not learning Spanish, Wysock volunteers at the Lake Chapala Society as a blood pressure taker.
“I signed up the first week I arrived because I was feeling a little lost. By the second week I met so many people, feeling lost was no longer an issue.” She also found a church, exercise classes and Spanish classes to attend, which continue to fill up her days.
Feeling frustrated with the immigration laws that are affecting her Oregon clients, Wysock felt motivated to help out while in Mexico.
“I had two medical assistants who were Dreamers and the stress that they were going through was over the top. They didn’t know what would happen to them from day to day.
“I also had a documented medical assistant who was living in the U.S. legally. She was a hard-working, single mother who worked for me for 14 years, and every few years was required to renew her work visa. The last time she attempted to do so, she was given such a run-around that she didn’t receive her visa on time. Therefore, I had to fire her. It broke my heart.”
A month later her worker received her visa and Wysock was able to rehire her.
Says Wysock, “I look forward to getting involved with Democrats Abroad, a place where I can help and perhaps make a difference.”