Today marked our first full day in Albuquerque, New Mexico! To give a sense of what the mood is like here, we are all so eager to continue to meet the wonderful community we’ve been introduced to. We had a great introduction today when we volunteered our time at the East Central Ministries Health Fair. All of us had different tasks, so we definitely spread the word of our cause to a wonderful variety of people and had such a positive response of interest and support about ELAM. We love being here! We also joined SWOP for its afternoon event “Rock out!” It was held at Washington Middle School Park. Such an awesome space to meet more members of the Albuquerque community and witness their amazing talents. I can’t stress enough how many amazing people we’ve met on this journey! We wound day the day with a delicious, scrumptious BBQ hosted by ELAM graduate Carmen Landau’s house. Here’s Alicia’s recap of the day:

HEALTH FAIR

The morning flew by while we volunteered at the East Central Ministries Health Fair. What an exciting event that encourages and supports communities to be healthier. Events like these are exactly what we need more of. There was great food, activities, information and goodies for everyone. Some of the highlights were: Activity to paint on recycled pieces of wood, an Aztec dance performance, free garden seeds, free clothing and books, free food and free health care assessments and educational materials. We learned that this health fair happens every Saturday. INCREDIBLE! Many thanks and praise goes out to East Central Ministries and every volunteer and organization that helps to make the weekly Health Fair happen. We really enjoyed extending ourselves to assist in any way that we could. Some of us took blood pressures, blood glucose, temperature and medical histories of people from the community.

SWOP ROCK OUT

The Southwest Organizing Project put on an outstanding event focusing on community organizing. It was a gorgeous day in the park for all to enjoy.

“Don’t take lives save lives”

“Be a doctor for free”

Our two main messages/slogans shared while tabling at the event. We spread the word about this opportunity to many people, which of course, fills us with glee as a main objective of ours is to share this educational opportunity we have at ELAM and make sure people are aware of it. We were also able to share the park space with other great organizations fighting for social justice and health equality. Entertainment was fantastic with bands, slam poets, announcements made by us and other organizations, a step performance by Medina and Keasha and a Capoeira performance by Pasha and Joanna.

SPECIAL GUESTS

Ian Fabian’s Father and Uncle traveled from afar to come support us at the SWOP event. They greeted us with tremendous positive energy and it was great to know that they are strongly behind what we are doing. It was a true delight to be in their presence and we greatly appreciate their visit and the love and support that they gave to us.

BBQ MMMMMMM

Grilled meats, veggies, corn on the cob, polenta, mushrooms and many more delectable treats satisfied our hankerings thanks to Carmen’s grilling skills. Many thanks to Carmen and Frank for inviting us into their home and letting us eat such a satisfying meal. Along with great discussions the BBQ was a wonderful way to tie up the day as a group.

BIRTHDAY GIRL!

Midnight…Medina is 28!!!!! Many people from our group explored Downtown “Alburcrazy” to find a spot to dance and celebrate the birth of our beautiful, talented, intelligent and so much more… Medina! Happy Birthday Medina we are very happy we could all share this special day with you.

-Alicia

As Alicia mentioned Medina is celebrating her birthday with us tomorrow! Can you believe we are celebrating four birthdays on this Exchange? Such a great place to do it!

Thank you to Julie Sierra and everyone at East Central Ministries for inviting us to participate in this morning’s health fair. Thank you to SWOP for giving us such a positive platform at “Rock Out” to speak on and share our stories. Your work toward social justice is so profound and we are honored to be a part of it. Thank you to Papa and Uncle Mazer for coming out to visit Ian and the rest of us. You brought such a great energy to our crew and we loved getting to know you! Thank you to Carmen, Frank and Louie for having us over for dinner tonight. Carmen, you have set such an amazing standard for ELAM graduates and we are blessed to have you as a role model. Congratulations on everything you do. There’s no doubt you’ve earned it!

Tomorrow we are spending the day with the Native Health Initiative. But for now, goodnight from Albuquerque!

-Tasha