The city of San Luis is busy in the early morning hours when farmworkers are out to catch their buses to head to work in Yuma County fields as far as Wellton.
Last week, two nurses with the Rio Colorado Yuma Chapter 7 of the Arizona Nurses Association, under the umbrella of the American Nurses Association, were out at 3 a.m. distributing drawstring bags with personal hygiene products to workers.
Every December, Campesinos Sin Fronteras holds a one-day health and resources fair for farmworkers in San Luis where they can get a warm meal, free health services, reusable bags and more. Campesinos is open year-round to offer these and other services to farmworkers and other low-income residents in south Yuma County.
In that same parking lot of a closed supermarket, buses were parked as some workers tried to keep warm as they chatted with fellow workers. Others passed by on their way to catch other buses.
Marilyn Whitenton is one of the nurses with the Yuma group. She said her group was not able to recruit nursing students to attend the Dia Del Campesino event in December but wanted to give back.
"We decided to provide these items to farmworkers because of the work they do and to thank them," Whitenton told KAWC.
The bags have items including toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, band-aids, hand sanitizer and shampoo.
"We hope the workers maintain their levels of energy and health,” Whitenton said.
Anna Lozano Pedroza, who lives in San Luis, was one of the workers who picked up a bag and spoke about connecting with the nurses. I took the opportunity to ask her how she was feeling about national rhetoric regarding deportations and whether she and her fellow workers are concerned.
“We appreciate these women giving us these health items," Lozano Pedroza said. "Some farmworkers are cautious of possible raids. I have seen some rumors on my phone of police. We workers watch out for each other. It has to be that way.”
Abraham is another worker who said he appreciated the donations. He said he hasn’t heard of law enforcement targeting migrant workers in San Luis.
“It’s pretty nice of the women to be out here this early to thank us farmworkers," Abraham said. "I haven’t seen ICE around here. We workers all have papers. We all come to work. We’re just chillin’.”
Whitenton and her colleague Sharon Perry said their organization will accept any community donations for the farmworkers and said they would return to distribute those items.
“The workers are very appreciative of us being here today," Perry said. "They work hard and get up early every morning to be out here.”
The Yuma nurses group held a town hall this past October at the San Luis Medical Mall. A practicing nurse practitioner from San Luis spoke spoke to the nurses about the challenges in care on the border. Nurses decided to prepare the bags but had not been able to distribute them until last week.
To donate to the Rio Colorado Yuma nurses chapter, you can email Marilyn Whitenton at mwhitenton@msn.com.
