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Department of Health and Human Services: Operation Athena

Difficulty
Basic
Domain
Medical
Subdomain
Pediatrics
Environment
Unaccompanied minors are sheltered at a convention center
Region
US/Mexico border
Time Estimate:
11 min.
Avg. Length per Line:
4 sec.
Introductory Summary
It’s March 2020 and Alicia Leon, CHI™ Spanish, is recruited for a community interpreting project on the US/Mexico border known as Operation Athena. An unaccompanied minor who only speaks an indigenous language comes into the clinic with stomach pain.
Disclaimer:
This text is an original work of fiction based on real scenarios. Any similarities between people or places are purely coincidental.
Participants
Abbr. Role Language(s)
Int Interpreter en-US es-MX
Mnr Unaccompanied minor mam-GT quc-GT
Mnr-I Unaccompanied minor (friend) es-GT mam-GT quc-GT
Rep Lang. Agency Rep. en-US es-DO
Dr Pediatrician en-US
RN Registered Nurse en-US
Sec Security Guard en-US
Contributors
Author
Romina Espinosa
Co-Author
Ana Soler
Editors
Devin Gilbert
Yohana Imperio
Allison deFreese
Audio Engineer
Omar Mendoza
Voice Actors
Pediatrician
Delaney Johns
Security Guard
Skylar Lees
Unaccompanied minor (friend)
Pamela Martínez Ruiz
Registered Nurse
Nathaniel Murphy
Lang. Agency Rep.
Mayelín Sabala Veras
Interpreter
Giovanna Torres
Full Summary
It is March 2020 and Alicia Leon, CHI™ Spanish (Certified Healthcare Interpreter), gets recruited by a language agency in a city on the US/Mexico border for a community interpreting project known as Operation Athena. This project lasts four months. Several social service agencies and a local children’s hospital participate in Operation Athena during this time. It is a vital project funded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Unaccompanied Children Program. Thousands of unaccompanied minors arrive from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, Brazil, and Ecuador to many cities on the US/Mexico border. These children need services such as education, healthcare, childcare, basic needs, and legal representation for their immigration asylum cases. The program’s ultimate goal is for unaccompanied minors to be reunited with their families in the United States or to be placed in the US foster care system. Alicia Leon comes every day for four months and interprets at the Urgent Care station on the first floor of the five story Convention Center building. In this particular scenario, a ten-year-old unaccompanied minor assists Alicia with relay interpreting for another unaccompanied minor who is in urgent need of access to healthcare.
Main Challenges
The interpreter, Alicia, speaks English and Spanish. The ten-year-old patient, Lucia, comes to urgent care experiencing weakness and abdominal pain. Lucia does not speak English or Spanish. She speaks two indigenous languages from Guatemala: K'iche' and Mam. Lucia is holding onto her friend’s shoulder as she arrives for treatment and is held from the waist by her friend Fatima. Fatima speaks Spanish, K'iche', and Mam. When the doctor for the night shift, Dr. Nguyen, dials a local vendor for remote language service, an interpreter who speaks Quiché or Mam is not available. In this urgent situation, Dr. Nguyen proposes relay interpreting. Since no interpreter is found for the language combination, the help of a minor to assist another child in a critical healthcare situation is the only resource available after exhausting all other options.
Key Terminology and Vocabulary
English español
relay interpreting interpretación de relé ---
medical visit questionnaire cuestionario de visita médica ---
K'iche' quiché ---
Mam mam ---
tummy panza ---
stomach estómago ---
urgent care cuidado de urgencia ---
diarrhea diarrea ---
exam table camilla ---
lung pulmón ---
deep breath in inhala profundo ---
deep breath out exhala profundo ---
stethoscope estetoscopio ---
aftertaste regusto sabor
medication medicamento ---
be itchy picar ---
lice piojos ---

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Supplementary Resources
Trauma-Informed Work with Asylum-Seeking Youth at the Border (MHTTC)
Migrant Caravan: What is it and why does it matter? (BBC)
Migrant Caravan: Thousands Move Into Guatemala, Hoping to Reach U.S. (NPR)
Caravana de Honduras avanza rumbo a Estados Unidos (El País)
Estados Unidos permitirá que los jóvenes centroamericanos puedan reunirse con sus padres que ya están en el país (NY Times)
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement: An Office of the Administration for Children & Families
Millions of children translate for their immigrant families. I am one of them. (Umme Orthe)
Interpretación de relé (Universidad de Vigo)
Lice infestation (Merck Manual)
Infestación por piojos (Merck Manual)
What You Need to Succeed in Remote Interpreting! (Eliana Lobo)
Four Years in 4600 Characters or My Thoughts on Immigration Journeys (Olena Hart)

Dialogue