Kate Hibbs, Migrant Health Educator

This summer Kate Hibbs, a double major in Hispanic Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies, had an unusual summer internship. Kate was a health educator for migrant farm workers on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Farm workers are vital to the harvest of over 6,000 acres of crops in that area of Virginia, approximately 120 miles from our campus. During her twelve-week internship with Rural Family Development Kate distributed information on prenatal care in tomato packing plants, conducted health surveys, led focus group discussions, and gave presentations to migrant workers on STD prevention and domestic violence.

If that work wasn't exciting enough, Kate was interviewed by Sandy Hausman of Virginia West Public Radio who was investigating the case of farm worker families who had been evicted from company housing units when they were unable to pay a sudden rent increase. The company placed the families in substandard, overcrowded cabins, some without toilets, with up to 70 people sharing one stove. The cabins were quickly shut down by the Virginia Department of Health, but families were separated. The interview can be accessed at:

www.wvtf.org/news_and_notes/audio/200908241107250.migrantone.mp3

Kate is the second major in Hispanic Studies to have won this internship, preceded in 2007 by Olga Grosh who is in her second year at UC Hastings School of the Law.