“I feel proud to be a Promotora with Migrant Health Promotion and to be helping women like myself.”–Marisol Luevano

Marisol Luevano serves as a Promotora in the Camp Health Aide Program in Michigan during the summer months and in the Colonia Health Worker Program in Texas during the winter months. Marisol’s experiences developed her natural skills as a trusted community leader. She says, “I feel like a community leader. No one can defeat me. I feel very strong, much more than before I was a Promotora. Through the experience of being a Promotora, I’ve realized how much we can achieve.”

Marisol was born in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. She came to the United States in 1988 to work in agriculture in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. In 1992 she migrated for the first time to Michigan, with her parents, siblings and extended family. “There were six adults and ten kids, all of us in a station wagon!” she says. While working there she met her husband Benito. “We met in the pickle season, and we got married in apple season!” Marisol now has four children and continues to migrate to Michigan with her family.

Marisol joined the Camp Health Aide Program in 1999. Her Program Coordinator remembers:

“From the start, Marisol was smart, assertive and organized, with a good sense of humor. She also made the effort to find out what the other farmworkers were interested in and led very successful group sessions as a result. She quickly became very knowledgeable about the services of local organizations and used this information to help the people in her camp.”

During the summer months, Marisol carries her first aid kit each day to the fields, coping with a constant stream of cuts during the pepper harvest. She strongly advocates for pregnant women and uses her own experiences as a mother and migrant farmworker to help other women utilize Medicaid, the health system and migrant programs. Her work so impressed the staff of these programs that they have made her several job offers.

From her work in the Camp Health Aide Program in Michigan, Marisol tells one story with special pride. She remembers helping a young woman in her camp who was being abused by her husband. After going to the Camp Health Aide training on domestic violence, Marisol went to the woman’s house to explain what domestic violence was and to provide her with information on local resources. The woman came to her two days later for help, saying she was pregnant and afraid she would lose the baby. Marisol helped her contact the police, find a shelter, get her last paycheck and make arrangements to travel back to Mexico. Marisol proudly notes:

“Maria has a little girl now who is almost 3 years old. I hear from her every now and then. She tells me that she remembers me every time she sees her daughter’s face and that perhaps her daughter would not have been born if it weren’t for my help.”

In 2000, Marisol joined the Colonia Health Worker Program in Texas for the winter season. She speaks with pride about her work promoting screening and prevention of breast and cervical cancer:

“When I started as a Promotora in the breast and cervical cancer program, my mom had never had a pap smear. That year she had one, which was normal. The next year, she had her annual exam and they found a cancerous tumor. They were able to cure it. If I had never given her the information and convinced her to get the exam, she would have died of cancer. I feel very proud of this program because we have saved a lot of lives.”

Marisol’s commitment to her community is constant. She says, “Being a Promotora is something that really distinguishes us – once you are a Promotora, you are going to be a Promotora your whole life. People know that you will help them.”