美国国家公共电台 NPR A Policy Knot Leaves Oklahomans From Marshall Islands Struggling To Get Health Care

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

In the town of Enid, Okla., there's a tight-knit community of immigrants from the Marshall Islands. After World War II and up until the 1980s, their homeland in the South Pacific was a U.S.-administered territory. And for over a decade in the 1940s and '50s, the Americans used it for nuclear bomb tests.

A treaty now allows Marshallese to come to the U.S. and to live and work as indefinite legal residents. But in Oklahoma, as noncitizens, they get neither state nor federal health care services. Reporter Sarah Craig has the story.

SARAH CRAIG, BYLINE¹: The Enid Community Clinic is nestled in a row of run-down brick storefronts, the pharmacy² and auto³ shop on either side closed for good.

JANET CORDELL: Good morning.

DAINA JOSEIA: Good morning.

CORDELL: How are you today?

JOSEIA: I'm fine, thank you.

CORDELL: Good, good, good.

CRAIG: Daina Joseia shuffles⁴ inside, leaning on her granddaughter for support. She wears a floral muumuu, like most Marshallese women.

CORDELL: Remember me? I'm Janet.

JOSEIA: Yeah.

CORDELL: OK.

CRAIG: Joseia came to see Nurse Janet Cordell for her diabetes⁵.

CORDELL: So you're taking your medicine?

JOSEIA: Yeah.

CORDELL: OK. How often are you taking it?

JOSEIA: Every morning and night.

CORDELL: Good. You have to take it until it's all gone.

CRAIG: Joseia's kidneys are failing, and she needs regular dialysis. But she can't get it because, like most Marshallese in Enid, she's uninsured. It's been that way since 1996, when the Marshallese lost access to Medicaid and Medicare. All she has is this charity clinic.

CORDELL: I don't know what to tell you. We'll help you as much as we can, and you need to remember that taking your medicine, keeping your diabetes under control is going to help, but it's not going to cure it. We'll see you later. Give me a hug.

CRAIG: The first Marshallese came to Enid to attend a Christian⁶ college. Now they come knowing there are jobs at a meatpacking plant.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: In the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean lies the tiny coral atoll of Bikini...

CRAIG: But they might not have come at all if it hadn't been for the nuclear tests.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: ...With the atom bomb.

CRAIG: After World War II, the U.S. military took control of the Marshall Islands. They started moving people from island to island to clear a path for the bombs.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Three, two, one, zero.

CRAIG: Between 1946 and 1958, they detonated 67 nuclear weapons. Daina Joseia remembers, as a little girl, seeing the Bravo test, the biggest and most destructive bomb ever detonated. It carried the force of a thousand Hiroshimas.

JOSEIA: (Through interpreter) It's like a real bright color, like a fire.

CRAIG: That was 1954. Dangerous clouds drifted across the islands - radioactive pulverized⁷ coral dust coating homes and people. Joseia remembers seeing people with burns all over their bodies and their hair falling out. In the following years, people developed thyroid problems and cancer. Babies were born deformed⁸. And Daina's convinced the bomb made her sick, too.

JOSEIA: (Through interpreter) We believe that all our health issues are coming from the nuclear testing.

CRAIG: Including her diabetes. The idea that radiation could lead to diabetes - it might sound strange, but there's a connection. The bombs contaminated their traditional foods, like coconuts⁹, fish and breadfruit. They were too dangerous to eat. And so the Marshallese started to eat processed, imported foods, like Spam and white rice.

Another Enid resident, Terry Mote¹⁰, spent his childhood on the islands eating that way. He's now 42, too young by decades to remember the bombs.

TERRY MOTE: We began to be like, you know, eating canned meat is a good thing. But then, at the end of the day, it's not good.

CRAIG: Today, the Marshallese have among the highest rates of diabetes in the world.

MOTE: Our environment is not safe. It's still contaminated.

CRAIG: Mote lives with his wife, Lynn, and their five kids. His mom, Mojina, lives with them, too. He works at the county health department. He's always thinking about the health problems in his community.

MOTE: (Singing) Teach me to walk...

CRAIG: Even in church.

MOTE: (Singing) ...In the light of his love.

CRAIG: After the service, Mote talks to the youth group about being healthy.

MOTE: What time you should go to bed?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Nine.

MOTE: Eleven?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Nine.

CRAIG: It was about five years ago that Mote's mom went into the hospital for her diabetes. She was there for months.

MOTE: We had little knowledge on, you know, when you stay in the hospital for certain days, the bill is running. So by the time she got out of the hospital, I was so surprised.

CRAIG: He says the bill was $50,000, and he could only pay part of it. Mote's mom wasn't insured. That's when he learned she couldn't get Medicaid or Medicare in Oklahoma. None of the Marshallese can.

MOTE: It's because No. 1 is I just want my family to be treated like the rest of those who are eligible¹¹ for the Medicaid.

CRAIG: Unlike other states, Oklahoma didn't cover them with its own funds after the loss of federal health coverage¹².

MOTE: People turned to me and asked for help. And they said, hey, can the church help me pay my bills? So I'm like, hey, you know what, there's a lot of problem here.

CRAIG: Mote has asked lawmakers to help, but it's a hard sell because most Marshallese can't vote.

MOTE: We feel that we're left out by means of someone to represent us.

CRAIG: A 1983 treaty between the U.S. and the Marshall Islands lets Marshallese live here, but they only have limited status. They can apply for citizenship¹³, but most aren't doing so. Terry says he's the only one he knows.

MOTE: And that's because the law to be a U.S. citizen is so tough on us.

CRAIG: He says most Marshallese find the process intimidating¹⁴, unaffordable. And then there's the language barrier. And this is a close-knit community. There's no sense of urgency to assimilate. These also stand the way of getting health care. And most Marshallese think it's taboo¹⁵ to talk about being sick.

MOTE: I feel frustrated¹⁶ because these people need to be healthy, need to be treated like human beings.

CRAIG: Mote says he's applying for citizenship because he wants to run for city council. He wants the Marshallese to have a voice.

MOTE: Why the government came to our island to do 67 bomb testing, and then they're just going to let us die of this?

CRAIG: Some states, like California and Oregon, cover the Marshallese. Oregon has even set up a special insurance program. But Mote's attempts to introduce similar legislation in Oklahoma have failed. But he says he's not giving up.

For NPR News, I'm Sarah Craig, in Enid, Okla.

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1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

3 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

4 shuffles   

n.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的名词复数 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的第三人称单数 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• She shuffles cards expertly, all the guys stare in amazement. 她熟练地洗着牌，爷们都看呆了。 来自互联网
• Fortune shuffles cards, but we discard them. 命运负责洗牌，而出牌的是我们自己。 来自互联网

5 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 pulverized   

adj.[医]雾化的，粉末状的v.将…弄碎( pulverize的过去式和过去分词 )；将…弄成粉末或尘埃；摧毁；粉碎

参考例句：

• We pulverized the opposition. 我们彻底击败了对手。
• He pulverized the opposition with the force of his oratory. 他能言善辩把对方驳得体无完肤。 来自辞典例句

8 deformed   

adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的

参考例句：

• He was born with a deformed right leg.他出生时右腿畸形。
• His body was deformed by leprosy.他的身体因为麻风病变形了。

9 coconuts   

n.椰子( coconut的名词复数 )；椰肉，椰果

参考例句：

• We found a bountiful supply of coconuts on the island. 我们发现岛上有充足的椰子供应。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Coconuts provide "meat", drink, oil, soap and fiber for fishing line. 椰子提供“肉类”，饮料、油脂、肥皂和做钓（鱼）丝的纤维。 来自百科语句

10 mote   

n.微粒；斑点

参考例句：

• Seeing the mote in one's neighbor's eye,but not the beam in one's own.能看见别人眼里的尘埃，看不见自己眼里的木头。
• The small mote on her forehead distinguishes her from her twin sister.她额头上的这个小斑点是她与其双胞胎妹妹的区别。

11 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

12 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

13 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

14 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

15 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

16 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》