An Overview
The South Georgia Farmworker Health Project was developed in 1996 in collaboration with the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center (SOWEGA AHEC) in Albany, Georgia, and in collaboration with the Georgia Farmworker Health Program, State Office of Primary Care. The initial projects were in Brooks and Echols counties. In June 1998, the Project was expanded to include a week in Decatur county. The Decatur County Health Department has been a key partner in that Project.
Working under the direction of physicians from the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Emory School of Medicine, and PA faculty from the Emory PA Program, students and faculty provide free health care to farmworkers and their dependents in far south Georgia during a peak period of the summer agricultural season. Community volunteers participate as interpreters, as health care providers, and provide logistic support and supplies for the Project.
Youth from an Atlanta church have participated for three years, as part of their mission projects. In Atlanta, they collect, organize, and pack clothing, which they then help distribute on site. At a migrant summer school site, the youth help with pediatric screenings (height, weight, and vision screenings), move the migrant children through the clinical stations, and provide them with "prizes" when they finish their screenings.
The Project has grown from its initial one week outreach, providing care to approximately 150 farmworkers, to a two week outreach providing free care to 1200-1600 farmworkers and family members. The Project has helped document the need for these services in South Georgia, and has thus contributed to the expansion of on-going services for Farmworkers in Echols and Decatur counties.
The Project seeks to not only provide care to a medically underserved and economically important population in Georgia, but to also increase the awareness and competency of health care providers and students in working with this population. It is clear that many Americans do not see how their fruits and vegetables reach their stores and tables. The Project gives all those involved a better understanding of this process, and appreciation for all those involved.
(©Emory PA Program)
Medications, vitamins, clothing and other items (i.e., sunglasses, caps, toothbrushes, toothpaste) have been graciously donated by corporate partners in the past. This is an ongoing need for the Project. For more information on items needed or to offer a donation, please contact us here. You can also view and print an Adobe (pdf) formatted brochure about our Project.
A number of companies and other organizations have supported the Project. Please view our "Thank You" page.
Emory students should read the journal entries of a student participant (password protected).