(upbeat music) - [Tom] This week on Arizona Illustrated, protest reflections.

- [Isaiah] Whenever there's a chance for me to be vocal about what I have to say.

If I can make a change, even if it's in one person's life that's what I have to do.

- [Tom] Hope for a better tomorrow.

- We all need to remember to be kinder and to be compassionate.

- [Tom] And Tigist, midwife.

- [Tigist] The power of nature, the power of a woman.

And it was a miracle for me, and it was amazing.

(upbeat music) - Welcome Arizona illustrated, I'm Tom McNamara.

We're here on the university of Arizona Mall with the drive-through vaccination clinic, going on right behind me.

This effort opened in mid January and will soon become the first 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, state operated COVID-19 vaccination site in Pima County.

To date its focus has been to vaccinate the group 1 B population as quickly as possible but it will have the potential to vaccinate six times as many people as it does now.

This has reports emerged that Pima County will receive fewer COVID-19 vaccines and state officials say the shortage is due to fewer being sent to Arizona by the federal government.

All the more reason to continue preventing illness and saving lives by remaining vigilant and observing all precautions.

There is still much work to do, here's an update.

New cases in Arizona continue to trend downward from its record setting peak of over 9,000 a day, one month ago.

Good news however, the present number still represents a serious health threat.

More than a million doses of vaccine have gone into the arms of Arizona's in the past month, according to the Arizona department of health services, with new sites like the one on the UI campus prime to open, the hope is that this positive trend will greatly increase if the vaccine supply keeps up.

For information regarding vaccinations, use the vaccine finder tool at azdhs.gov.

The killing of George Floyd on May 25th, 2020, sparked widespread protest and social unrest throughout the country, seeking justice for victims of police brutality and an end to anti-black racism and white supremacy.

Those and calls for fundamental change continue as America grapples with racial inequity and social injustice.

And we spoke with two 19 year old men in Tucson about their take on the protest and where we go from here.

(upbeat music) - I think protests are very important because people can't ignore chance, people can't ignore large amounts of people that's in your face.

And whatever they're saying you're gonna have an understanding of that to some extent.

You're not gonna be able to ignore it the same way that you ignore posts or the same way that you ignore something that you see on the news.

That's in your face and if you're able to understand it maybe it gets something kicked up in your head and you come to some new revelation.

Then the protest has done it's job.

People have different creeds, different races, different genders, ethnicities, all come together to say that, this definitely needs to be stopped.

And we're gonna be loud about this so that everyone could hear this and not just ignore it.

- So if you are committed to black people being free, some of the things that you have to do are not just show up when it's trendy to show up for black people.

To not just show up for us when we're dead, the real work starts after the hashtags are over.

(audience claps and cheers) What are you going to read in order to understand the way that you participate in anti-blackness, the way that you participate in white supremacy.

Who are you going to listen to?

(mumbles) - When it goes on the news, when it goes in a post, people could see it, but people could also ignore it.

Could post black lives matter on your story, but that doesn't mean that you're gonna be out there on the front line saying, oh yeah, you know what, they knew justice.

Because when it's time to be loud, when it's really time to be helpful, most people don't help.

They're able to say like, yeah, I stand with you guys but it's mostly to go under the radar.

It's just to see like, yeah, don't get me (beep)for that.

It's just to kind of push it off and say, yeah I stand with you guys, but don't bring me into it.

If the amount of people who are saying that black lives matter actually mattered.

There wouldn't be a reason for protest because that many people would be able to have that conscious change.

But there's a disconnect because of the fact that they don't do, as they say, they don't care as much as they say they do.

- You're marching and everyone is having their voice heard.

And you know, whether it be like marching on like town hall or a freeway to like get people who normally wouldn't see the cause or understand the hurt and the raw emotions, they see it.

They have to see it.

They have to walk through you.

They have to see you.

I think that's where, like I really do like to see, you know where the movement and the protests are going is because it's these people who normally would not have talked to each other, being in a space where they can have a discourse.

And I think that's one of my favorite parts about it.

(mumbles) And that's why I like black lives matter.

So I'm not sure like everything that's happened around in the movement, is that it's very decentralized.

You know what I mean?

It's very communal based.

People from that town getting up and organizing and you know, it's not, oh, there's a leader or like a guy who's telling everybody what to do.

It's very much like, okay, we the community have acknowledged that this is a thing we have to do.

And we've seen other places do it.

Now we have to march, we have to, you know push for our local government to prosecute these cops or whatever.

- What's his name?

- [Audience] George Floyd.

- Why are we here?

- [Audience] George Floyd.

- I love to see you that.

That's the future of movements.

- We are here today to peacefully mourn George Floyd.

- It's gonna be a lot harder for like the system to crack down on those movements because you know, that's what happened to us in the sixties and the seventies as they assassinated and locked up all of our leaders.

- I don't wanna see any more live destroyed.

- We still have people from the native American rights movement that are in prison.

And you know, they're never getting out.

(mumbles) People that were in the black civil rights movement you know, people were murdered by the system and or in prison, and their lives were ruined and communities were ripped apart because it challenged the status quo.

And what made society like comfortable.

- So, today for the black people next to you, we are human, change your mindset.

I need help.

I have been victimized and traumatized and I watched the video of my cousin last breath and if they look like me and don't look like you, spend two minutes or two seconds talking to them.

Find out their story, find out their name.

(audience claps and cheers) (mumbles) - I have five siblings.

I wouldn't want them to experience what I've experienced, to understand that they might experience racism or have experienced racism that breaks my heart.

And so whenever there's a chance for me to be vocal about what I have to say, if I can make a change even if it's in one person's life, that's what I have to do.

Because if I'm not doing anything to stop it then I'm helping it by ignoring it.

(siren) And so when you hear those loud protests going down your street and it makes you feel like nervous or just uncomfortable, that's giving you an opportunity to actually listen and change your point of view.

- I think healing is important.

And then also finding a place of love and compassion for other people, even though they're not a part of your group.

- And not to have a sense of superiority.

- Yeah, I love my people but I don't believe we're better than anybody else.

We are a part of everybody else.

And I think it's all through cooperation and the sharing of ideas that any tangible progress is gonna be made.

- Imagine losing everything that's dear to you and you and your family are threatened with torture and even death.

Naturally you'd wanna protect yourself and those dear to you, even if it meant leaving your home in your country to seek out a better life, thousands of miles away.

That's exactly what many refugees now living in Arizona faced.

And once here, there are new challenges, including coming to terms with past horrors.

Fortunately, there is a community here to help provide them with hope for a better tomorrow.

(upbeat music) - Something that all refugees share is loss, and some of that looks physical, but a lot of that is mental and emotional.

And for some people, they may never regain what they lost.

But having an understanding of the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees reminds us of the resilience that we all have within us.

You know, even given some of the worst that humanity can do they still hope for a better tomorrow.

Our vision at Owl and Panther is that, you know one day we'll live in a world where torture is not a thing.

(upbeat music) - The U.S government defines torture as an act carried out against somebody against their will, or with somebody that's in their physical custody or control.

And the person who is the aggressor must be acting under the color of law, meaning that they're a militia governments, police, someone that's in charge or assuming charge, and that they are intentionally causing pain and suffering physically or mentally.

Most of the families that we're working with right now are from Sub-Saharan Africa.

So we have a lot of families from originally the parents might be from Burundi or from the Democratic Republic of Congo or Rwanda, and maybe they were staying in camps in Tanzania or Kenya or Malawi nearby.

Not all of our families have been specifically meeting that definition of torture, but many of them do and very traumatic experiences on the way out of their home country.

Many of them because of war.

(upbeat music) - A lot of asylum claims require an expert in order to be translated to the court and help them understand the context of why they fled and the types of persecution they experience.

I work often with people who have a lot of mental health problems and have come from places where they can't trust the government.

They might've been tortured by government agents or they may have experienced brutality from police or military.

And I explained to the court why, if they're sent back to Nigeria or Ghana, they will be deprived of the type of care they're getting now, and that will expose them to further risk.

And so a lot of resettlement of migrants involves helping them understand how they can rely on government, why and under what conditions they should contact the police, why and under what conditions they can turn to different agencies of local government to help them.

(upbeat music) - You leave because you have to, you know, in my case, I left because my life was threatened.

(upbeat music) When you've been tortured or when you've gone through or experienced a significant trauma.

Isolation is very detrimental.

You relieve all of the traumas and what a community like Owl and Panther does is encourage you to come out of that space that you feel like you have control over, that space that you feel like it's safe for you and be with other people.

And what Owl does is offer some of those same benefits that you would get from a therapy session with a professional, right.

It gives you a chance to process what you've experienced, what you've been through, but also process what you hope for and what you want your future to bring.

(upbeat music) - Isolation, and being alone is more detrimental to the human brain than having a chemical imbalance, and just putting one person in solitary confinement or keeping them alone can have more of a negative effect on their wellbeing and their mental health than them having an actual neurotransmitter imbalance or a problem in their brain.

That's like measurable and treatable with the pill.

(speaks in foreign language) COVID has affected everyone and it's affecting refugees, I think, especially.

People don't realize that, and when you don't have a lot of resources and you don't have access to transportation or you have a language barrier then you're really at a loss, because community and sharing space together was some of the brightest times in the week for a lot of people.

And we can't gather and share and do art projects together in person, and that's a big loss.

- The rhetoric of xenophobia brings people to the conclusion to somehow the movement of these people is illegal, or their activities are illegal and it's categorically untrue.

There's no such thing as an illegal asylum seeker.

And there is a misapprehension that somehow migrants are taking jobs but rather they are the engine of growth.

And that's why countries are want migrants.

The United States actively go to refugee camps looking for the best possible candidates for resettlement.

Well, here in Tucson we want refugees because they actually cause economic growth.

And they also bring additional resources with them because various agencies support and sponsor them monetarily and through other forms.

(upbeat music) - I encourage people to learn as much as they can before they put judgment.

What we all need to do is understand why people are leaving, right.

And trying to figure out, you know, what we all need to do collectively to make it so people don't have to lose everything.

But one thing that we all need to understand is the work should always continue because, you know there's still hundreds of thousands of people who personally need to heal but the people around them also need to heal.

You know, it goes back to generational trauma where it becomes a cycle, right.

So as we work towards ending torture, you know, I think we all need to remember to be kinder and to be compassionate, so that we can all facilitate that healing and facilitate that process for people who need to heal.

- Tigist Ejeta is a licensed home birth midwife but getting there wasn't easy.

After having her childhood dream of becoming a doctor stymied.

She was overcome by witnessing the power of childbirth and work to become a midwife in her home country of Ethiopia.

However, after moving to the U.S, she would have to start her journey all over again.

My name is Tigist Ejeta.

I am a home birth midwife licensed here in Arizona.

(upbeat music) We live in a state called Oromia in Ethiopia and there is a small city called Ambo.

I grew up in Ambo.

I went to high school in Ambo.

My father is, he's in a healthcare profession.

So I grew up seeing him taking care of my mom, and I wanted to become a doctor because I wanted to help her.

She had a heart problem, she's a stay at home mom.

She raised us all four of us and she's a warrior, she's a very strong woman.

During some ceremonies or holidays, we have our own ships that would be like slaughter there.

And then my father, whenever that happens my father teaches us anatomy, where the heart is, where the lung is.

I was sure that I would be in healthcare professions.

I just accidentally ended up in midwifery department because the government assigns students into different departments.

And I thought that was not challenging enough for me.

Obviously it will not help my mother.

One day I was in my clinical rotation, there was a mom who was laboring and I just got into the room and then she was ready to have her baby.

She was pushing and then I just caught the baby and I was shaking and it was a miracle for me.

And it was amazing.

That changed how my look into life and how I look the midwifery profession, and just the power of nature, the power of a woman.

I think I kind of dedicated myself for it after that.

I did my first degree in midwifery, and then I have my master's degree in nursing.

We moved to U.S 10 years ago.

My husband got a PhD scholarship here.

And then after I came here, I started looking at my options of being a midwife, how I can continue.

Because of my visa I had a lot of restrictions here.

I can't go to school, I can't volunteer at something related to my profession.

So I literally can't do anything except just sitting.

So I decided to have a baby.

The pregnancy was hard and I was sick most of the time.

By the time I was in labor, we went to the hospital.

I was not allowed to walk around during that time.

They said that baby's heartbeat was not stable.

So there were a lot of interventions involved which most of them were not necessary.

I couldn't say no, because I didn't think I had the choice.

And I didn't think I had the right to say, no.

I am a midwife and I know what the potential complications are, when they try to do something.

I didn't think I have the backup to make my own decisions.

So I was in labor for 24 hours and then baby decided not to come out.

And then they had to do a C-section.

That was a very hard experience.

After my husband finished his PhD and he graduated.

Then he found a job here at the University of Arizona as a Postdoc.

And that's how we came to Tucson.

And when we came to Tucson, I was pregnant with my second son.

I talked to a friend of mine.

She's a midwife in Cincinnati.

So she said she will come to my birth.

And she was there as my doula.

That was kind of a game changer for me.

When my husband got a job, then my visa also changes.

After my second son was born and I was free, to do anything.

So I started salary searching towards doula.

And then I found out about the doula workshop training that is given locally here.

And that's, I started my doula journey.

They were kind of finding a way for me to go back to the midwifery role.

And they're like, you shouldn't be treated this way.

You should, they're like there should be a way for you to work as a midwife.

And so I was a volunteer doula for them.

A doula is a person who is trained to support a woman during pregnancy, during birth and postpartum, just by providing emotional support and physical support.

A midwife helps a woman emotionally, physically but it's more clinical.

And they are also trained to identify risks and problems and referring properly when the time comes.

If we see a medical model of care and the midwifery model of care, they are two completely different things.

And midwives consider pregnancy as a natural occurrence.

And when a woman gives birth in a hospital she's considered as kind of having a problem.

That the pregnancy is a problem.

Doctors, obstetricians, they are trained to manage problems.

They are trained to treat problems and they don't give enough time for her body to do its own job.

And usually when you talk about midwifery, we trust the woman, we trust in her ability to give birth.

We trust her body, and do we teach her to trust their body too.

(upbeat music) And my husband will say, is midwifery your religion?

And I'm like, yes.

So they joke about it, and they say, it's her religion.

(upbeat music) - [Tom] Watch Arizona Illustrated stories on demand on our website azpm.org/ArizonaIllustrated.

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Here's a sneak peek at next week's Arizona illustrated.

- [Interviewee] I don't feel like with dance I'm ever limited.

It allows me to express myself and all the things that I don't get to do when I'm in the lab.

- [Narrator] Everyone has such a unique story and such a unique set of skills that they bring to the table.

- And I just wanted to thank the team to my committee.

if I hadn't found science and told myself, okay, well grad school is your next step.

I probably wouldn't know a lot of the things I know now.

There's so many different environmental issues going on.

Then the people again that are being affected the most are the people like me.

I wanna be able to eventually develop some form of environmental, nonprofit that could help to combat that.

I'm appreciative of science and all that it's taught me.

And everything is connected and everything affects somebody somewhere.

- He's a very talented student, he's not only a scientist 'cause I will always remind him that he is a scientist, and he's also a dancer.

- Thank you for joining us here on Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara, see you next week.

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