October 6, 2023 • 49 mins
On today's episode, I'm honored to talk with and feature Dr. Enid Campos a compassionate advocate and devoted wife and mother turned CEO of the Center Clinic. Her unwavering commitment to underserved communities shines through her work with organizations like the Rochester Healthy Community Partnership (RHCP), Cuida tu Mente and La Nueva Esperanza. Prepare to be inspired by her remarkable journey and the things she and her team of volunteers are doing to change the world.
Enjoying this podcast by theheadwrapsocialite….Like, follow and share! Comment below to keep the conversation going.
IG: theheadwrapsocialite
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good afternoon and welcome to everybody.
The podcast which sharesstories that highlight people in
life, that make the world aninteresting place, which
ultimately ties us all togetherin unique and wonderful ways.
And who am I, you might ask.
I would be the headwrappedsocialite Weith mom,
(00:23):
micro-influencer in the fashionand etiquette world.
But on this podcast I will beintroducing you to some people
who I've had the opportunity tomeet along my journey, who have
helped enrich me in my life inbeautiful ways and who I hope
will do the same in your life.
(00:44):
Today, dear listeners, Iintroduce you to my friend Enid,
a remarkable soul who iscompassionate, a woman who is
definitely an inspiration tomany, an advocate to those
within our community who areoften underserved.
She is a devoted wife, motherof four, a former psychiatrist
(01:05):
and now CEO of the Center Clinic, which is nestled in Dodge
Center, minnesota.
Her involvement inorganizations like the Rochester
Healthy Community Partnership,cuida Tu Mente and La Nueva
Esperanza is a testament to hercommitment to elevating the
health of the Latino community.
(01:25):
I'm excited for today'sconversation, prepared to be
moved, inspired and remindedthat the art of healing knows no
bounds.
So, dear listeners, I wouldlike to introduce you to my
friend Enid, who Iaffectionately refer to as E?
E.
(01:45):
Thank you for being here ontoday's episode.
Can you tell the listeners alittle bit about who you are?
Oh?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Trina, what a nice introduction.
Very kind, make me veryemotional for your kindness.
It's a pleasure for me to sithere talking with you, have a
discussion.
How about life?
Well, I'm Enid Campos.
I am a wife, a mother of fourboys.
(02:15):
I was raised and born in CostaRica, in the rural area.
I am the oldest of threesiblings.
My parents they were a teacher.
I was the only child for threeyears and a half.
My mom she graduated when I wasborn as a teacher.
My dad is already.
He was a teacher but they wentto the remote area for teaching.
(02:37):
It was very interesting thatthey were in the village and my
mom was in one village, my dadwas in another village.
So I stayed with my mom and mydad came up every three days.
My mom was a teacher for thesixth grade and we live in that
school.
We have to travel by horse toget to the bigger city which is
(03:01):
Nicoya.
Coja is now one of the bluezones.
I don't know if you hear aboutit.
Please tell us more.
The blue zones are the fiveregions in the world that people
live longer.
Nicoya is one of that in CostaRica.
We were living around thatvillage for one year.
(03:23):
And then my mom.
She said I can't live anymorehere because it's so difficult
to get here.
She ended up asking my grandpa,who was a musician, but he had
a lot of connections with thepoliticians.
So she asked please, daddy,help me with finding another
school closer to the city whereher family was.
(03:46):
We move again I'm telling youthat we move different areas in
Guanagaste at that time and thenwe move again to another bigger
city, and so on.
When I finished my high school,when I was entering to the
university, my parents decidedto move to the capital.
(04:06):
We start from the village andthen a little bit bigger and
then we went to the capital forme to study medicine.
There I met my husband when Iwas doing the internship.
My husband was doing theresidency and then he was
applying to come to the UnitedStates for training.
(04:27):
At that time we were dating butI had to do my social service,
which I went to another ruralarea which wasn't a hospital but
only with maybe 25 beds.
We have to deliver babies, wehave to do small surgeries,
little things, but it was a verygood practice for us, for the
(04:53):
new medical practitioners.
Once a week we need to providea service as a physician to the
remote area, by horse too.
They don't have clinic thelittle room that we have in the
school we examine the patientsthere with the pap smear simple
things for the kids which arekept kids blood pressure etc.
(05:14):
But that gave me a differentpart of the world, even though I
was facing poverty since I wasgrowing up.
But there being in charge ofthe health of that community was
a big responsibility.
I have to do something in mylife at some point.
(05:39):
When I finished my socialservice, my husband he was here,
but we were engaged.
We got married.
He went to Costa Rica becausehe was doing his training, so we
got married there the next day.
We went for honeymoon for fivedays and then we came to the
United States to live here, andzero English, I mean just the
(06:02):
colors, and say hello and that'sit.
And then the same thing, butthe thing I did with my parents
when I was growing up movingdifferent cities.
So with my husband we moveddifferent states.
Every child was born indifferent states, four of them.
The last one was born here inArizona.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Wow, when you tell the story, I think about what
you shared with us, about yourlife, and how everything that we
experienced kind of prepares usfor something else.
Exactly, you moved so much whenyou were younger and it was
just something you had to do.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, no choice.
And then I get married and thesame thing, and I think that's
why I'm very adaptive fordifferent changes and different
things I like to do.
I struggle, as everybody, butfor my parents it was very sad
for me to go.
Yeah, yeah, because I gotmarried that day, the 28th, and
then the 29th I was flying awayfrom them and they moved with me
(07:04):
when they entered into theuniversity and then I'm the only
daughter.
Oh, yeah, because I have twoyoungest brothers.
Two brothers, yeah, but they'rethe only girls.
So they were sad really.
Yeah, they miss me a lot and atthat time when we moved, 28
years ago, 20 years and a halfto communicate by phone was very
(07:26):
expensive and the salary thatmy husband as a resident was
very, very low and, yeah, wedon't have much money.
So it was kind of a verydifficult time but we survived.
You mean it?
Yeah, we survived.
Yeah, we made it.
What state did you move tofirst?
First, it was Peoria inIllinois.
(07:47):
Oh wow.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
He was doing his internship there in internal
medicine.
Actually, he proposed therebecause when I was doing my
social service we were datingand I came with my mom to visit
him.
Of course my mom has to comewith me.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
She didn't let me to come by myself.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
So she came with me.
We spent like maybe a weekthere in Peoria and he proposed
it was very, very romantic.
And then three months later wegot married and then I came here
.
The second I stayed we movedwas Michigan and Felipe.
He was born there After threeyears of marriage.
(08:28):
Then we moved to Atlanta andFederico were born there.
When Federico was eight days old, we moved back to Costa Rica
because for good, because wehave a J1 visa my husband.
So when he was done with histraining, he has more choices.
We could be applied for anothervisa, but we don't want to do
(08:50):
that.
We want to return to our homecountry.
So he was eight days old.
Actually, he went back withoutpassport because it was before
911.
So not only with a card sayingthat he was born in Georgia and
we were in his parents and, ofcourse, a month later we took
(09:10):
his passport in the embassy.
So no problem at all.
We spent four years there.
I did my residency in psychiatry.
So when you went back after youthat's the idea I did
psychiatry there for four years.
After I finished my residency,I had a topic pregnancy which
(09:32):
was erupted and I lost a lot ofblood inside of my abdomen and I
was in shock.
I was thinking that I survivedthat.
After that, I decided to take abreak of my professionally, so
I decided to take care of my twokids at a time.
Felipe was five, federico wasfour because it was the year
(09:53):
that they spent doing theirresidency there.
My husband got offered toreturn to the United States, so
we came back, how did you feel?
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Okay, so now we're going back to the US.
What were your initialInitially?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I was sad.
I was really, really sadbecause I want to serve my
community, I want to work there,but because I had that moment
of almost dying, because it wasreally, really an emergency For
minutes I will die.
I say, okay, I have anotherchance to leave to be with my
(10:33):
family, so I'm gonna take abreak.
Let's go to go back to theUnited States for two years.
Let's go just for two years andjust for them, because they
were born here in the UnitedStates, they didn't know English
at that time.
Actually, they went to theGerman school in Costa Rica, so
they don't know any English atthat time.
So I said it's an opportunityfor us and for them to learn
(10:57):
English.
Let's go just for two years.
So we went to Ohio and I hadonly one, two, but I got
pregnant with Fernando in Ohio.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
That was good yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
I think it was this indication that I need to.
It is for something.
Something happened.
The things happened for areason.
When we were in Ohio, we built ahouse and we were settled.
I said, okay, I like to raise afamily, to be with my family,
even though I was studying myown things about medicine, but I
(11:42):
prioritized my family.
And then my husband got anoffer from Mayo Clinic and I
said no way.
No way because I went to returnit to Costa Rica.
I then went to go far northmore snow, cold and he got an
offer for email, I say, and hesaid I wanna go just to see what
(12:06):
this looked like.
I know we already knowRochessera at that time because
we went to visit before when wewere newly wets.
He went, he came here and hecalled me and said I love it.
He loved it, of course, and oneof my best friend.
I was standing here and I saidwell, you have to be where your
(12:29):
husband is going to be happy.
Yes, because you don't wantyour husband to be unhappy with
everything.
And he was happy in Ohio.
I don't say that he was badLooking or hearing his voice
when he came here.
He was all over the wholedifferent level.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah, so I said okay.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
So we came here to say, oh my gosh, how, how, ohio
was nice, was 40 million peopleand here was very small.
What about?
My mom came with us to see theplace.
I and my mom she was likeencouraged Rafa, this is an
opportunity for you to grow, tolearn to give the service.
(13:15):
She was with him and she triedto persuade him, to persuade him
yes, to say yes.
Well, ended up here.
Okay, we moved from Ohio again.
So this is like our 10th movesince we got married.
Since we got married, itdoesn't count when I was born,
(13:37):
so I'm not gonna be moving.
So when we arrived here, I loveit, I like it, I like it very
much.
But Felipe and Federico weredriving in the neighborhood
Actually, we'll leave across thestreet there For the four
months while we were buildingthis house, and here they were
biking and Fernando, he was ayear old and he was looking
(14:00):
through them to the window.
I said, oh my God, Felipe wasnine, federico was eight.
I said this is a big difference.
I think I have to have anotherbaby.
I said what did he say?
And then I got pregnant.
So the first child in Minnesota, when he was a year old, I said
(14:21):
, oh my gosh God, I did For them, but what about me?
Professionally?
I was like I have to do.
When he was a year old, I haveto do something with my life
because they are growing up,that's what we were talking
about.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
They're just gonna be grown up.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
What about me?
So I was my friend.
She's a very, very I see.
She's in my brain all the time.
I remember her because she toldme about the standard clinic.
So I say, okay, I can volunteerthere perfectly.
It's 20 miles from here.
It's not every day but it'svery often, so I can give away
(15:07):
something about me to thecommunity.
It is a totally volunteer job.
So, I decided I went there, Ireconnect, because this is the
thing I wanted to do work withthe community.
So I was so happy.
And these populations are veryvulnerable and they come in the
(15:27):
majority from Mexico's and SouthAmerica.
So I held there and submittedfor 10 years.
What do?
Speaker 1 (15:34):
you find to be some of the biggest challenges that
you've experienced with patientswho move into Dodge Center.
What different things have youdone to bridge or ease them into
community there as far ashealth goes?
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I can tell more that this I'm doing right now.
We're focusing education.
We need to educate thiscommunity about health, prevent
many illness or deal with theillness that do they have now.
And also we do programs likeour workshop for 10 years where
(16:15):
they can express their emotionsto heart.
This is one of the programsthat we have.
Also, we implement thecommunity garden.
This was an inspiration forFelipe.
Felipe was doing one of hispostgraduate.
He was doing assignment aboutinterview people in New York who
has a community garden, whatthe impacts, how the impact
(16:38):
their life and the community.
So he was talking about maybeeight months before and I was
preparing the agenda for theboard meeting and I came to my
mind I want to propose them tosee if we can do a community
garden.
Our clinic is so concrete, wedon't have any space and we
don't have money because it's anon-profit clinic, so our budget
(17:00):
is too short.
So I proposed that the idea wasgreat and the community garden
has been a success because weconnect with the community.
They feel they belong tosomething.
They are doing physicalactivities, we're doing
mindfulness, yoga, we aretalking about nutritious food,
(17:21):
how to eat healthy.
How important is it, togetherwith the family, talking with
the members of the family wherethey're eating, talking about
eating, mindfulness.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
So that program is a holistic form to see the
patients and you can learn morefrom them besides going to the
exam room and I think what'sinteresting is earlier in our
conversation you were talkingabout how, when our children are
younger and we plant seeds, Ifind it interesting how the
(17:53):
community garden you're plantingseeds, but you're allowing the
people to feel empowered andyou're planting seeds within
them now that they are going tobe able to pass on to future
generations.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Exactly exactly because this only all people go
to the garden.
They go with the children, theygo into the park, they come
with a stroller to the communitygarden because in the touch
center it's not much things todo.
Sometimes the transportation isvery difficult for them, the
(18:29):
language barrier is difficult,but have a community where they
can gather in.
Actually, we put like a bench,the friendship bench, which is
not in my, it was not my idea,but this is in some box in
Bahuia.
This doctor, zachary, he did astudy that the friendship bench
(18:51):
you gathering women to talkabout the issues, about the
powers, about financial problems, issues with the kids.
So they talk about it and theyget empowered about that.
So I read about this article.
I say, well, we're going to dosimilar in that community garden
.
So, besides that communitygarden, we have the benchmark
(19:13):
that people get gathering therejust to do it's with any
professional guidance.
But having that option to sitthere talking about anything,
they can release their stress,they can.
Maybe they can hear somebody.
What can they could do in thesame situation that they have.
So it's kind of it's a learningprocess.
(19:34):
There's been a lot of positivesides having the community
garden and we have anotherproject in the center clinic.
We also have a grant coming fromthe state to provide services
for people, for kids, that theyhaving sexual relationships and
they don't want their friends.
(19:54):
So we do educate them how toprevent or if they have STI
sexual transmitted disease, weprovide treatment because
sometimes they don't know whereto go.
Come on, so we provide that,for we educate.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I like it because it becomes a safe space, yeah, and
it brings the whole communitytogether.
They feel like number one.
People have taken an activeinterest in us.
We matter.
And not only do we matter, butour children matter.
And again it goes back to thewhole educating of a community,
(20:29):
because once we are all educated, wonderful things can happen.
You feel like you are empoweredempowered to be better than you
were yesterday, empoweringgenerations who are to come.
And that's what it's about, andwhat I find so inspiring about
what you're doing is you'vetaken your experience that
(20:53):
you've had growing up and you'vegiven it freely to a whole
nother generation of people,yeah, so that they can see the
possibilities of what their lifecan offer Exactly.
I just think it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
I feel so grateful to have this opportunity to serve.
Of course, it's not only me, ofcourse.
I mean it's a whole group.
There's a lot of people who areworking in his program but if
you listen to that, some of themhave a very tragic family
history so they're lonely here.
(21:33):
They come here for a dream, forgetting better, for providing
food to the table to theirfamilies.
So this is a very complicatedsituation, very complicated.
Meanwhile they have to havesupport from someone, from some
entity.
The extended clinic is.
(21:54):
The community of the DutchCenter is providing them that at
least one resource, one littlething in the whole universe, is
a grain, but just is a little.
But doing something, somechanges.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
And in the community in the whole.
It's in the system actually,because if that community is
healthy, the surroundings arehealthier too, exactly Because
of flourish.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yeah, and I also think too that this world, like
you said, they come here withdreams and aspirations, just
like all of us have dreams andaspirations, and this world
belongs to all of us.
It doesn't just belong to justone select group of the
population.
None of us should be left alone.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Exactly, exactly.
It's emotionally and physically.
They need us.
They need the community tosupport them.
They are here and, as myself, Ihave to give them something.
It's small, it's nothing incomparison that I think I can do
more, but at least this grainis going to make one change in
(23:06):
one life, just important for me.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
That's very fulfilled , I think all of the healthcare
professionals and the peoplewithin the community.
You're providing this community, though, with hope, and that is
everything.
You have planted a seed of hope, a hope that their life can be
better, a hope that theirchildren's life can be better.
(23:29):
Exactly, and it's like that'severything.
That's huge, because withouthope we just give up and we
don't want to try.
But if you have that one seedof hope, that makes a big
difference.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Make a big difference Exactly.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
You have so much knowledge and just the way that
you speak about what you do, youhave so much passion For what
you do.
It's ignited Something, even inmy heart.
Like each of us, we could takea little bit and it may not seem
like much, but if we can offera helping hand to someone in
need, just a small part goesalong the way.
(24:07):
I'd like to ask you a fewquestions.
But mental health has gainedmore recognition in recent years
, and how does your backgroundin psychiatry influence your
approach?
How do you go about speakingwith those within the community
and your work at the centerclinic?
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Mental health is a very important part of the
well-being you have to be.
To have health you have to havebalance mentally, physically
and emotionally.
When I only started with thepandemic, when I did a
certification community healthworker, I was doing that study
(24:50):
for two years in RCTC so thecenter clinic gave me the
scholarship to pursue that.
When I was doing that and theCOVID hit I said well, I was at
home and I say I have to dosomething for the community.
But this time I tried to do itfrom Costa Rica.
(25:13):
So I hit in touch with one ofmy friends, jesus, a
psychologist, and they need aworkshop to prepare
psychologists to respond phonecalls when people have some
mental issues.
So I did this Was a verysuccess.
And then another organizationinvited me to talk about mental
(25:35):
health in pandemic.
So I did several conferences byZoom.
So that gave me a power.
I learned that there's so manyI was facing that the people was
in need to do for mental healtheducation or how to deal with
that.
So I implement in Dutch centerthat part as a community health
(25:57):
worker I can coach the personabout I talk about mindfulness,
how to have a gratitude, how todo relaxation techniques,
breathing techniques.
So that helped to for stress,to avoid chronic anxiety or
depression.
So that is a little step that'sgoing to help the community to
(26:21):
recognize symptoms about anxietyor depression and then they can
deal with that or recognizethat they are really depressed
and they can seek for help.
And that's the way that Iimplement my knowledge about
mental health into the community.
(26:41):
So when I see the necessity ofthat, I realize I need to do
also something for my communityin Costa Rica.
So I decided to go to provide myservices as a psychiatry in
Costa Rica because I have thelicense there.
You still kept the license.
I keep the license in CostaRica.
I go every two months to seepatients that we are really in
(27:03):
need because in that area what Ihold, this very few
psychiatrists I will say onlytwo for the big big population.
So I provide my services assmall as only once every two
months that I go there.
But I see the whole week.
I see the whole week patientsand I can follow up them by soon
(27:25):
and if they have some issues Ican make a phone call, or by
soon If they have some distressor crisis at the moment.
But usually they wait for me.
But if you don't have crisis,they can go to the social
services, the hospital there.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Wow, you have provided a communication piece
for these patients.
You are educating them so thatthey can also recognize the
symptoms within each other.
And you've given themempowerment to take action, to
take action about what they arefeeling Exactly.
I just think it goes back towho we are meant to be and who
(28:05):
we are called to be in this lifeand I was speaking to another
guest that I had and there are alot of times where we say we
want to do more, but you havetaken the I want to do more and
you've put it into actionBecause, again, there are a lot
of people who can talk about it.
I look at you and I'm like whata gift that you willingly share
(28:28):
with other people.
And a lot of times you know wehave those gifts and maybe
someone might think, oh, youknow, it's too much work, it's
too much.
You give back because it's yourcalling.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Yeah, I think my calling is I have to give back a
little bit to the population,to the human beings.
Yeah, I mean, it's going to beso.
Playing life, doing nothing,just stay at home Mostly my kids
are already growing up half ofthem but I can't imagine live
(29:06):
without doing nothing to thehumans I need to provide, to
help in somehow.
Just listen I think I'm a goodlistener and now I'm talking a
lot, but I just listen to thepeople.
I think this is this.
(29:27):
Is you make change in that?
Speaker 1 (29:29):
person.
I agree, and as I'm justlistening to you, you know, dear
listeners, you can see whythere are certain people that I
gravitate towards and you justhave such a giving spirit.
No-transcript, just sittinghere, just to be in your
presence, honestly like, makesme want to well up with tears,
(29:51):
because I feel the compassionateheart in which you have and
what you give them, and I knowsitting in your presence it
makes their life a hundred timesbetter.
Like what?
Speaker 2 (30:03):
a gift.
I thank you for saying that,but really I feel that this is a
blessing for me to have theopportunity to serve, because I
enjoy it.
I really taking care of thepatients or the person that I
talk.
I can call them every day, ofcourse, but at least I think of
(30:25):
them every day when they talk tome about some situation.
I carry on that issues and Iwill pray for them.
I hope that everything's gonnabe okay.
Sometimes I just text are youokay, how is the medication
going?
How do you feel?
I always keep track of thembecause it's feel like I have to
(30:47):
.
As long as I hear something isgoing on for them, I try to help
, at least listen and guide them.
I can't say you have to do thisand that.
No, I mean just listen to them.
I feel this.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
The spirit calls and you listen.
That's what the spirit callsand you listen and you answer.
Because there are a lot oftimes I think we hear the voice
within us.
I always say it's the spiritthat calls and a lot of times we
can push that voice down, justopen your heart and say, okay,
(31:26):
today, what purpose could I havefor today?
Speaker 2 (31:30):
What can I do for human beings today?
Just think about that and youlet your heart to move Positive
and tendon.
Yeah, yes, just one day at atime.
Just do something, just alittle.
Just start with that.
I encourage the people dovolunteering job because that
(31:53):
give you you feel like a, youfeel happy.
Actually, it's a trulyhappiness.
The serotonin levels increasewhen you do volunteering and
you're giving away something foryou your time, your talent,
your wherever you can offer, andyou are giving away that.
(32:16):
And then you feel satisfiedbecause you are doing something
for the community, for the forcommunities, and then your
self-steams get better becauseyou say, okay, I did something.
Yeah, that's give you happiness.
Yeah yeah, because it's yourtime.
You are donated your time,that's it.
(32:38):
Yeah, it's nothing like that.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Because when you receive salary for that, yeah,
okay, it's you have to, but whenit's volunteer, it's your
passion, that's it.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
And I think that's a growing theme that I've come
across in the last couple ofmonths is what is your passion,
what calls you, what makes youwake up every single day saying
that I can do more?
When you listen and you'retruthful to that inner voice, it
can do nothing but fulfill you.
(33:11):
Because you're giving a gift tosomeone else, can you share a
success story that someoneshared with you?
Speaker 2 (33:20):
by being in this program, we met very incredible
person who wants to donate theirtime.
But I'm caring and it's amazinghow the people I just met a
medical student and he came herelike a month ago to study
medicine here and he's fromSouth and he has the passion to
(33:46):
volunteer.
He wants to work with the LGBTQgroup and we don't have that
much people that are interestedin working with that.
So I say, okay, perfect, let'sdo together, let's work.
We are a small step, but we areforming some two programs to
(34:09):
support this group because theydon't have much in that area, so
we are doing so.
In that process I am meetingdifferent people who are calling
from to donate their time,their talents to the community,
and many others volunteers thatI can name off.
I learned from them that theirpassion, they are very
(34:32):
contagious.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
And it brings me back to what you had said earlier
about your son, who started acommunity garden where he was,
and then you remembered that.
So when you were in yourmeeting and you were talking and
you were like, okay, becauseeach of us, we help each other
and all of these differentpeople that you're meeting,
(34:57):
somehow the pieces of the puzzle, even if we can't see it at the
time, it's all the piecesgetting put together in this
huge big puzzle and it's makinga remarkable story.
Exactly, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, if you see from this after you put
it, that's it yeah, but when theprocess, I can't see that, but
I just get the idea.
And then I've talked withsomebody.
Actually, the money that theybecause we didn't have budget
for that the money was comingfrom, I mean U of M extension,
(35:33):
which is a group that helped thecommunity in some how, but they
wanted to do a community garden, but they don't have the lot.
And I have the lot because Italked with someone who was
gonna provide the lot but wedon't have the money.
So we like a pandering, it'slike my God, it's coming from
heaven, because they provide themoney.
(35:54):
They want to do it but theydon't have.
So all together, so it's yeah,it's great.
How about the bench?
It's interesting because I wantto do the French bench but the
benches are expensive.
We don't have money to buy thatone and I want to put a nice
bench.
I was looking, maybe, in thegarage sale.
I was looking garage sale andthen I was looking for a rock to
(36:19):
hold on a board.
That was we were doing for thecommunity.
I was looking for a big rockand then I went back in the
clinic and was on the corner.
It was a bench.
It was a bench there withoutfoot, one foot, only three foot.
But that's okay.
I grabbed it.
I said this is the, because Iwas praying for the bench.
(36:42):
And I found it around thecorner, just in the where the
old stuff was there, and it wasthis is something.
So I grabbed it, I put it in mythroat, I put it in the garden.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
That's fantastic.
That's fantastic and I alwayssay to the universe knows your
heart, the universe will alwayscome through, I would have loved
to see your face that day thatyou walked around the corner and
the bench was there.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
I took a picture, say this is, that's it.
And actually because thatdoesn't have one leg, so I put
it to one trunk, I put it there.
In the in the.
So I mean, if you go to, to ourFacebook, you can see the bench
and you see the leg.
I mean with a trunk.
It's very interesting, very fun.
(37:33):
So did you find the rock?
I found the rock too.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
Oh, yay, yes.
That is that is fantastic.
That is fantastic.
I would ask you this questionis how do cultural factors
influence healthcare decisionswithin the Latino community and
how do you address thosecultural sensitivity in your
(37:56):
work?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
It's because we share , even though we are different
for different countries, but weshare the same language and then
some traditions so we can shareall my backgrounds, identify
with this community here in inDutch center.
As a psychiatrist, I know somecultural issues that they are
(38:20):
facing.
I can understand what they arefacing.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
Thank you for thank you for sharing that the center
clinic is a prominent part ofyour career now, so can you tell
us more about the clinic'smission and the services it
provides within the community?
Speaker 2 (38:39):
The center clinic is a non-profit clinic which is
starting 2004.
It started, I think, with asmall amount of patients
providing family planning andalso treat them for STI.
The patients grows and then thefamily medicine doctor from
(39:01):
Mayo Clinic they start arotation there to provide
primary care.
So they volunteering, theydonate their time after works
hours in the clinic so they gothere.
And these People areunderserved.
They don't have insurance.
If Some of them have insurance,they don't.
(39:21):
They have a language barrier sothey prefer seeing somebody the
local, locally, can see themand they don't know where to go.
Yeah, it would.
If they don't have insurance,they don't know where to go.
So we provide the basic primarycare.
If, if we can go further, wecan Make Inter-consult with the
(39:47):
Mayo physicians or any otherhomestead or any other Services.
But we accept the nations and weimplemented different programs
in the community.
We do outreach, do a lot ofeducation.
We have a program that callshealthy mind health devices.
(40:08):
We provide education to thecommunity.
Go through soon.
Education is important, as Imentioned before, for prevent or
recognize different entities ordifferent mass illness.
And Also we we are having aproject to open a dental dental
clinic.
We apply to the ground, becauseit's not dental clinic in that
(40:31):
area is Is that is a publichealth issue too?
Yeah, because if you have yourmouth healthy, you can have a
lot of illness or many thingscoming on after that.
This is a big project and weare thinking maybe at the end of
the year we're gonna have a bigannouncement about that.
I'm very excited about it andwe have a space at the clinic
(40:53):
and maybe in the back we canopen up A dental clinic there.
But this is a small step is onthe table and I'm Determinated
to have that at some point, yeahif we as a community would like
to help you in some way.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Is there Facebook page or is?
Speaker 2 (41:12):
there, there is a web page.
Is the center clinic that orOkay?
And also you can look inFacebook.
It's the center clinic and youcan volunteer in anything you
decide, because we are open toanything.
Yeah, we have there, as Imentioned, at the family
medicine doctor, the medicalstudents, now the pharmaceutical
(41:34):
Program from Mayo.
They want to Donate their time.
So we're growing.
We are growing, yeah, but we atsome point we need some more
money to expand our services.
But yeah, we are we're doingwhatever that we can't now we're
full hands, but happy.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Wow, that's happy to provide the services.
Thank you, thank you forsharing that E and I would say
you know.
Looking ahead, what are yourgoals, what are your aspirations
for your work in communityhealth?
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Hmm, I would like to have a bigger clinic and to to
provide more Services, becausewe will have a clinic night
which only see maybe all eightpatients, ten patients, that
clinic night.
I want to have the capacity toprovide the services to more
people because this is thisreally a small amount?
It's only the clinic night, butwe accept walkings every day.
(42:30):
Well, not every day, because weopen only three days a week,
but the days that we are open weare accepted walkings and I
want to see the community gettogether as state, tight,
support each other and and howthe, the.
As soon as they are here, theythey have to Feel that they
(42:55):
belong to, they are belong tosomething, not they are in the
air, feel that they have asupport For, for the
surroundings.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
Thank you for sharing the intention that you put out
today by you speaking it.
I know that this is gonnadefinitely happen, because I
think, when it comes to all ofus, we all want to feel we
belong to something bigger and,with that being said, I want to
know a.
As a mother of four, how do youfind balance in your roles as a
(43:29):
parent, a healthcareprofessional and the community
leader, and what advice do youhave for other working mothers?
Speaker 2 (43:36):
I think the first thing that you have to do is
believe in yourself, love yourfamily and Knowing that, when do
you have that settle, you havethat in place Give away
something that you can't do it,something that a way that you're
, you feel like you can't shareWith the rest of the community.
(44:00):
It is hard to find balance, butotherwise you Won't be happy.
I think, because if you giveaway something besides your
family and yourself, it's acompliment.
But you need to find that, thatbalance, that that balance.
(44:20):
You have to take care of you,your, your mind, your body, your
family and then the community,because these three things is
gonna mold you and keep you moveforward.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
And I Thank you for sharing that.
I I just have latched on tothat and and I sometimes, when
I'm in these interviews, I closemy eyes and it Reminds me of
something that you have saidearlier and I think about the
three things that you just saidand I go back to your childhood,
(44:58):
of how you first saw thiswithin your parents, of them
giving Themselves a way to theircommunity, to bring up the
community, to build thecommunity.
And you, as a young girl,seeing this has shaped your life
and shaped the trajectory,because you didn't know Any
(45:18):
different.
You know this is who you are,this is who you were destined to
be, and it shows in the waythat your parents Live their
life and have lived their life,and it shows the gift that they
have instilled in you.
And again, this gift that wasinstilled in you, even if Some
(45:43):
of the community has not hadthat gift, they now have that
gift through you and it's Prettyspecial, my friend.
Speaker 2 (45:53):
Oh, thank you.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you for saying that.
Speaker 1 (45:56):
Yeah, thank you and I would like to ask you is there
any question you wished I wouldhave asked you.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
If I have some talent .
Yes, darling but the sad thingis, I don't have any music
talent.
Thank God, you didn't ask that.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
But your family makes up for that.
I just want to thank mybeautiful friend in it for being
here and sharing her story.
It's truly been a privilege anda pleasure to chat with you.
(46:42):
Enid's path from Costa Rica toher impactful role as CEO of the
center clinic in Minnesota isNothing short of amazing.
Her and her team provide anexceptional Service to the
community.
That is not just within thecommunity, it becomes
far-reaching because everybodybecomes touched by you and your
(47:05):
team's generosity.
Enid's very work explores theprofound influence of her
psychiatric background and thecompelling narratives that have
shaped her purposeful journey.
Her commitment to mental healthadvocacy is not just
commendable, it's a wonderfulinspiration.
(47:26):
I have a profound appreciationfor you and your power of
empathy and service in the realmof health care.
Your enduring dedicationreminds me that within each and
every one of us lies thepotential to make a positive
impact in our world and in thelives of others, especially
(47:50):
within our community, and I willdefinitely carry Forward the
lessons that I've learned fromyou today, and I think I I told
you that earlier.
There are a lot of things thathave resonated deep within my
spirit, dear listeners, throughEnid's story and what she has
shared with us today.
Together, we can all go forwardcreating a transformative
(48:13):
change within our world and ourcommunities and beyond.
This is fueled by an unwaveringbelief and hope that, like my
friend Enid, we too can be greatagents of hope Within the world
.
So thank you, e, I appreciateyou and I love you, my friend,
(48:34):
and thank you for what you dowithin our community.
Speaker 2 (48:38):
No, thank you.
I love you too, and thank youfor this opportunity to have
this chatting with you and yourpodcast, and good luck with
everything.
And you are my hero.
Oh yeah, I admire you.
You are an excellent person,wonderful person, wonderful soul
.
I I'm so happy to call you myfriend.
(49:01):
I'm an honor for me to get toknow you.
Speaker 1 (49:06):
Thank you, my friend.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (49:08):
I am glad that God has crossed our paths and you
are touching many souls withthis podcast and with your, your
life.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
You are you are, you have a light.
Good afternoon and welcome to everybody.
The podcast which sharesstories that highlight people in
life, that make the world aninteresting place, which
ultimately ties us all togetherin unique and wonderful ways.
And who am I, you might ask.
I would be the headwrappedsocialite Weith mom,
(00:23):
micro-influencer in the fashionand etiquette world.
But on this podcast I will beintroducing you to some people
who I've had the opportunity tomeet along my journey, who have
helped enrich me in my life inbeautiful ways and who I hope
will do the same in your life.
(00:44):
Today, dear listeners, Iintroduce you to my friend Enid,
a remarkable soul who iscompassionate, a woman who is
definitely an inspiration tomany, an advocate to those
within our community who areoften underserved.
She is a devoted wife, motherof four, a former psychiatrist
(01:05):
and now CEO of the Center Clinic, which is nestled in Dodge
Center, minnesota.
Her involvement inorganizations like the Rochester
Healthy Community Partnership,cuida Tu Mente and La Nueva
Esperanza is a testament to hercommitment to elevating the
health of the Latino community.
(01:25):
I'm excited for today'sconversation, prepared to be
moved, inspired and remindedthat the art of healing knows no
bounds.
So, dear listeners, I wouldlike to introduce you to my
friend Enid, who Iaffectionately refer to as E?
E.
(01:45):
Thank you for being here ontoday's episode.
Can you tell the listeners alittle bit about who you are?
Oh?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Trina, what a nice introduction.
Very kind, make me veryemotional for your kindness.
It's a pleasure for me to sithere talking with you, have a
discussion.
How about life?
Well, I'm Enid Campos.
I am a wife, a mother of fourboys.
(02:15):
I was raised and born in CostaRica, in the rural area.
I am the oldest of threesiblings.
My parents they were a teacher.
I was the only child for threeyears and a half.
My mom she graduated when I wasborn as a teacher.
My dad is already.
He was a teacher but they wentto the remote area for teaching.
(02:37):
It was very interesting thatthey were in the village and my
mom was in one village, my dadwas in another village.
So I stayed with my mom and mydad came up every three days.
My mom was a teacher for thesixth grade and we live in that
school.
We have to travel by horse toget to the bigger city which is
(03:01):
Nicoya.
Coja is now one of the bluezones.
I don't know if you hear aboutit.
Please tell us more.
The blue zones are the fiveregions in the world that people
live longer.
Nicoya is one of that in CostaRica.
We were living around thatvillage for one year.
(03:23):
And then my mom.
She said I can't live anymorehere because it's so difficult
to get here.
She ended up asking my grandpa,who was a musician, but he had
a lot of connections with thepoliticians.
So she asked please, daddy,help me with finding another
school closer to the city whereher family was.
(03:46):
We move again I'm telling youthat we move different areas in
Guanagaste at that time and thenwe move again to another bigger
city, and so on.
When I finished my high school,when I was entering to the
university, my parents decidedto move to the capital.
(04:06):
We start from the village andthen a little bit bigger and
then we went to the capital forme to study medicine.
There I met my husband when Iwas doing the internship.
My husband was doing theresidency and then he was
applying to come to the UnitedStates for training.
(04:27):
At that time we were dating butI had to do my social service,
which I went to another ruralarea which wasn't a hospital but
only with maybe 25 beds.
We have to deliver babies, wehave to do small surgeries,
little things, but it was a verygood practice for us, for the
(04:53):
new medical practitioners.
Once a week we need to providea service as a physician to the
remote area, by horse too.
They don't have clinic thelittle room that we have in the
school we examine the patientsthere with the pap smear simple
things for the kids which arekept kids blood pressure etc.
(05:14):
But that gave me a differentpart of the world, even though I
was facing poverty since I wasgrowing up.
But there being in charge ofthe health of that community was
a big responsibility.
I have to do something in mylife at some point.
(05:39):
When I finished my socialservice, my husband he was here,
but we were engaged.
We got married.
He went to Costa Rica becausehe was doing his training, so we
got married there the next day.
We went for honeymoon for fivedays and then we came to the
United States to live here, andzero English, I mean just the
(06:02):
colors, and say hello and that'sit.
And then the same thing, butthe thing I did with my parents
when I was growing up movingdifferent cities.
So with my husband we moveddifferent states.
Every child was born indifferent states, four of them.
The last one was born here inArizona.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Wow, when you tell the story, I think about what
you shared with us, about yourlife, and how everything that we
experienced kind of prepares usfor something else.
Exactly, you moved so much whenyou were younger and it was
just something you had to do.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, no choice.
And then I get married and thesame thing, and I think that's
why I'm very adaptive fordifferent changes and different
things I like to do.
I struggle, as everybody, butfor my parents it was very sad
for me to go.
Yeah, yeah, because I gotmarried that day, the 28th, and
then the 29th I was flying awayfrom them and they moved with me
(07:04):
when they entered into theuniversity and then I'm the only
daughter.
Oh, yeah, because I have twoyoungest brothers.
Two brothers, yeah, but they'rethe only girls.
So they were sad really.
Yeah, they miss me a lot and atthat time when we moved, 28
years ago, 20 years and a halfto communicate by phone was very
(07:26):
expensive and the salary thatmy husband as a resident was
very, very low and, yeah, wedon't have much money.
So it was kind of a verydifficult time but we survived.
You mean it?
Yeah, we survived.
Yeah, we made it.
What state did you move tofirst?
First, it was Peoria inIllinois.
(07:47):
Oh wow.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
He was doing his internship there in internal
medicine.
Actually, he proposed therebecause when I was doing my
social service we were datingand I came with my mom to visit
him.
Of course my mom has to comewith me.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
She didn't let me to come by myself.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
So she came with me.
We spent like maybe a weekthere in Peoria and he proposed
it was very, very romantic.
And then three months later wegot married and then I came here
.
The second I stayed we movedwas Michigan and Felipe.
He was born there After threeyears of marriage.
(08:28):
Then we moved to Atlanta andFederico were born there.
When Federico was eight days old, we moved back to Costa Rica
because for good, because wehave a J1 visa my husband.
So when he was done with histraining, he has more choices.
We could be applied for anothervisa, but we don't want to do
(08:50):
that.
We want to return to our homecountry.
So he was eight days old.
Actually, he went back withoutpassport because it was before
911.
So not only with a card sayingthat he was born in Georgia and
we were in his parents and, ofcourse, a month later we took
(09:10):
his passport in the embassy.
So no problem at all.
We spent four years there.
I did my residency in psychiatry.
So when you went back after youthat's the idea I did
psychiatry there for four years.
After I finished my residency,I had a topic pregnancy which
(09:32):
was erupted and I lost a lot ofblood inside of my abdomen and I
was in shock.
I was thinking that I survivedthat.
After that, I decided to take abreak of my professionally, so
I decided to take care of my twokids at a time.
Felipe was five, federico wasfour because it was the year
(09:53):
that they spent doing theirresidency there.
My husband got offered toreturn to the United States, so
we came back, how did you feel?
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Okay, so now we're going back to the US.
What were your initialInitially?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I was sad.
I was really, really sadbecause I want to serve my
community, I want to work there,but because I had that moment
of almost dying, because it wasreally, really an emergency For
minutes I will die.
I say, okay, I have anotherchance to leave to be with my
(10:33):
family, so I'm gonna take abreak.
Let's go to go back to theUnited States for two years.
Let's go just for two years andjust for them, because they
were born here in the UnitedStates, they didn't know English
at that time.
Actually, they went to theGerman school in Costa Rica, so
they don't know any English atthat time.
So I said it's an opportunityfor us and for them to learn
(10:57):
English.
Let's go just for two years.
So we went to Ohio and I hadonly one, two, but I got
pregnant with Fernando in Ohio.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
That was good yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
I think it was this indication that I need to.
It is for something.
Something happened.
The things happened for areason.
When we were in Ohio, we built ahouse and we were settled.
I said, okay, I like to raise afamily, to be with my family,
even though I was studying myown things about medicine, but I
(11:42):
prioritized my family.
And then my husband got anoffer from Mayo Clinic and I
said no way.
No way because I went to returnit to Costa Rica.
I then went to go far northmore snow, cold and he got an
offer for email, I say, and hesaid I wanna go just to see what
(12:06):
this looked like.
I know we already knowRochessera at that time because
we went to visit before when wewere newly wets.
He went, he came here and hecalled me and said I love it.
He loved it, of course, and oneof my best friend.
I was standing here and I saidwell, you have to be where your
(12:29):
husband is going to be happy.
Yes, because you don't wantyour husband to be unhappy with
everything.
And he was happy in Ohio.
I don't say that he was badLooking or hearing his voice
when he came here.
He was all over the wholedifferent level.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah, so I said okay.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
So we came here to say, oh my gosh, how, how, ohio
was nice, was 40 million peopleand here was very small.
What about?
My mom came with us to see theplace.
I and my mom she was likeencouraged Rafa, this is an
opportunity for you to grow, tolearn to give the service.
(13:15):
She was with him and she triedto persuade him, to persuade him
yes, to say yes.
Well, ended up here.
Okay, we moved from Ohio again.
So this is like our 10th movesince we got married.
Since we got married, itdoesn't count when I was born,
(13:37):
so I'm not gonna be moving.
So when we arrived here, I loveit, I like it, I like it very
much.
But Felipe and Federico weredriving in the neighborhood
Actually, we'll leave across thestreet there For the four
months while we were buildingthis house, and here they were
biking and Fernando, he was ayear old and he was looking
(14:00):
through them to the window.
I said, oh my God, Felipe wasnine, federico was eight.
I said this is a big difference.
I think I have to have anotherbaby.
I said what did he say?
And then I got pregnant.
So the first child in Minnesota, when he was a year old, I said
(14:21):
, oh my gosh God, I did For them, but what about me?
Professionally?
I was like I have to do.
When he was a year old, I haveto do something with my life
because they are growing up,that's what we were talking
about.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
They're just gonna be grown up.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
What about me?
So I was my friend.
She's a very, very I see.
She's in my brain all the time.
I remember her because she toldme about the standard clinic.
So I say, okay, I can volunteerthere perfectly.
It's 20 miles from here.
It's not every day but it'svery often, so I can give away
(15:07):
something about me to thecommunity.
It is a totally volunteer job.
So, I decided I went there, Ireconnect, because this is the
thing I wanted to do work withthe community.
So I was so happy.
And these populations are veryvulnerable and they come in the
(15:27):
majority from Mexico's and SouthAmerica.
So I held there and submittedfor 10 years.
What do?
Speaker 1 (15:34):
you find to be some of the biggest challenges that
you've experienced with patientswho move into Dodge Center.
What different things have youdone to bridge or ease them into
community there as far ashealth goes?
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I can tell more that this I'm doing right now.
We're focusing education.
We need to educate thiscommunity about health, prevent
many illness or deal with theillness that do they have now.
And also we do programs likeour workshop for 10 years where
(16:15):
they can express their emotionsto heart.
This is one of the programsthat we have.
Also, we implement thecommunity garden.
This was an inspiration forFelipe.
Felipe was doing one of hispostgraduate.
He was doing assignment aboutinterview people in New York who
has a community garden, whatthe impacts, how the impact
(16:38):
their life and the community.
So he was talking about maybeeight months before and I was
preparing the agenda for theboard meeting and I came to my
mind I want to propose them tosee if we can do a community
garden.
Our clinic is so concrete, wedon't have any space and we
don't have money because it's anon-profit clinic, so our budget
(17:00):
is too short.
So I proposed that the idea wasgreat and the community garden
has been a success because weconnect with the community.
They feel they belong tosomething.
They are doing physicalactivities, we're doing
mindfulness, yoga, we aretalking about nutritious food,
(17:21):
how to eat healthy.
How important is it, togetherwith the family, talking with
the members of the family wherethey're eating, talking about
eating, mindfulness.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
So that program is a holistic form to see the
patients and you can learn morefrom them besides going to the
exam room and I think what'sinteresting is earlier in our
conversation you were talkingabout how, when our children are
younger and we plant seeds, Ifind it interesting how the
(17:53):
community garden you're plantingseeds, but you're allowing the
people to feel empowered andyou're planting seeds within
them now that they are going tobe able to pass on to future
generations.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Exactly exactly because this only all people go
to the garden.
They go with the children, theygo into the park, they come
with a stroller to the communitygarden because in the touch
center it's not much things todo.
Sometimes the transportation isvery difficult for them, the
(18:29):
language barrier is difficult,but have a community where they
can gather in.
Actually, we put like a bench,the friendship bench, which is
not in my, it was not my idea,but this is in some box in
Bahuia.
This doctor, zachary, he did astudy that the friendship bench
(18:51):
you gathering women to talkabout the issues, about the
powers, about financial problems, issues with the kids.
So they talk about it and theyget empowered about that.
So I read about this article.
I say, well, we're going to dosimilar in that community garden
.
So, besides that communitygarden, we have the benchmark
(19:13):
that people get gathering therejust to do it's with any
professional guidance.
But having that option to sitthere talking about anything,
they can release their stress,they can.
Maybe they can hear somebody.
What can they could do in thesame situation that they have.
So it's kind of it's a learningprocess.
(19:34):
There's been a lot of positivesides having the community
garden and we have anotherproject in the center clinic.
We also have a grant coming fromthe state to provide services
for people, for kids, that theyhaving sexual relationships and
they don't want their friends.
(19:54):
So we do educate them how toprevent or if they have STI
sexual transmitted disease, weprovide treatment because
sometimes they don't know whereto go.
Come on, so we provide that,for we educate.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I like it because it becomes a safe space, yeah, and
it brings the whole communitytogether.
They feel like number one.
People have taken an activeinterest in us.
We matter.
And not only do we matter, butour children matter.
And again it goes back to thewhole educating of a community,
(20:29):
because once we are all educated, wonderful things can happen.
You feel like you are empoweredempowered to be better than you
were yesterday, empoweringgenerations who are to come.
And that's what it's about, andwhat I find so inspiring about
what you're doing is you'vetaken your experience that
(20:53):
you've had growing up and you'vegiven it freely to a whole
nother generation of people,yeah, so that they can see the
possibilities of what their lifecan offer Exactly.
I just think it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
I feel so grateful to have this opportunity to serve.
Of course, it's not only me, ofcourse.
I mean it's a whole group.
There's a lot of people who areworking in his program but if
you listen to that, some of themhave a very tragic family
history so they're lonely here.
(21:33):
They come here for a dream, forgetting better, for providing
food to the table to theirfamilies.
So this is a very complicatedsituation, very complicated.
Meanwhile they have to havesupport from someone, from some
entity.
The extended clinic is.
(21:54):
The community of the DutchCenter is providing them that at
least one resource, one littlething in the whole universe, is
a grain, but just is a little.
But doing something, somechanges.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
And in the community in the whole.
It's in the system actually,because if that community is
healthy, the surroundings arehealthier too, exactly Because
of flourish.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yeah, and I also think too that this world, like
you said, they come here withdreams and aspirations, just
like all of us have dreams andaspirations, and this world
belongs to all of us.
It doesn't just belong to justone select group of the
population.
None of us should be left alone.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Exactly, exactly.
It's emotionally and physically.
They need us.
They need the community tosupport them.
They are here and, as myself, Ihave to give them something.
It's small, it's nothing incomparison that I think I can do
more, but at least this grainis going to make one change in
(23:06):
one life, just important for me.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
That's very fulfilled , I think all of the healthcare
professionals and the peoplewithin the community.
You're providing this community, though, with hope, and that is
everything.
You have planted a seed of hope, a hope that their life can be
better, a hope that theirchildren's life can be better.
(23:29):
Exactly, and it's like that'severything.
That's huge, because withouthope we just give up and we
don't want to try.
But if you have that one seedof hope, that makes a big
difference.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Make a big difference Exactly.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
You have so much knowledge and just the way that
you speak about what you do, youhave so much passion For what
you do.
It's ignited Something, even inmy heart.
Like each of us, we could takea little bit and it may not seem
like much, but if we can offera helping hand to someone in
need, just a small part goesalong the way.
(24:07):
I'd like to ask you a fewquestions.
But mental health has gainedmore recognition in recent years
, and how does your backgroundin psychiatry influence your
approach?
How do you go about speakingwith those within the community
and your work at the centerclinic?
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Mental health is a very important part of the
well-being you have to be.
To have health you have to havebalance mentally, physically
and emotionally.
When I only started with thepandemic, when I did a
certification community healthworker, I was doing that study
(24:50):
for two years in RCTC so thecenter clinic gave me the
scholarship to pursue that.
When I was doing that and theCOVID hit I said well, I was at
home and I say I have to dosomething for the community.
But this time I tried to do itfrom Costa Rica.
(25:13):
So I hit in touch with one ofmy friends, jesus, a
psychologist, and they need aworkshop to prepare
psychologists to respond phonecalls when people have some
mental issues.
So I did this Was a verysuccess.
And then another organizationinvited me to talk about mental
(25:35):
health in pandemic.
So I did several conferences byZoom.
So that gave me a power.
I learned that there's so manyI was facing that the people was
in need to do for mental healtheducation or how to deal with
that.
So I implement in Dutch centerthat part as a community health
(25:57):
worker I can coach the personabout I talk about mindfulness,
how to have a gratitude, how todo relaxation techniques,
breathing techniques.
So that helped to for stress,to avoid chronic anxiety or
depression.
So that is a little step that'sgoing to help the community to
(26:21):
recognize symptoms about anxietyor depression and then they can
deal with that or recognizethat they are really depressed
and they can seek for help.
And that's the way that Iimplement my knowledge about
mental health into the community.
(26:41):
So when I see the necessity ofthat, I realize I need to do
also something for my communityin Costa Rica.
So I decided to go to provide myservices as a psychiatry in
Costa Rica because I have thelicense there.
You still kept the license.
I keep the license in CostaRica.
I go every two months to seepatients that we are really in
(27:03):
need because in that area what Ihold, this very few
psychiatrists I will say onlytwo for the big big population.
So I provide my services assmall as only once every two
months that I go there.
But I see the whole week.
I see the whole week patientsand I can follow up them by soon
(27:25):
and if they have some issues Ican make a phone call, or by
soon If they have some distressor crisis at the moment.
But usually they wait for me.
But if you don't have crisis,they can go to the social
services, the hospital there.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Wow, you have provided a communication piece
for these patients.
You are educating them so thatthey can also recognize the
symptoms within each other.
And you've given themempowerment to take action, to
take action about what they arefeeling Exactly.
I just think it goes back towho we are meant to be and who
(28:05):
we are called to be in this lifeand I was speaking to another
guest that I had and there are alot of times where we say we
want to do more, but you havetaken the I want to do more and
you've put it into actionBecause, again, there are a lot
of people who can talk about it.
I look at you and I'm like whata gift that you willingly share
(28:28):
with other people.
And a lot of times you know wehave those gifts and maybe
someone might think, oh, youknow, it's too much work, it's
too much.
You give back because it's yourcalling.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Yeah, I think my calling is I have to give back a
little bit to the population,to the human beings.
Yeah, I mean, it's going to beso.
Playing life, doing nothing,just stay at home Mostly my kids
are already growing up half ofthem but I can't imagine live
(29:06):
without doing nothing to thehumans I need to provide, to
help in somehow.
Just listen I think I'm a goodlistener and now I'm talking a
lot, but I just listen to thepeople.
I think this is this.
(29:27):
Is you make change in that?
Speaker 1 (29:29):
person.
I agree, and as I'm justlistening to you, you know, dear
listeners, you can see whythere are certain people that I
gravitate towards and you justhave such a giving spirit.
No-transcript, just sittinghere, just to be in your
presence, honestly like, makesme want to well up with tears,
(29:51):
because I feel the compassionateheart in which you have and
what you give them, and I knowsitting in your presence it
makes their life a hundred timesbetter.
Like what?
Speaker 2 (30:03):
a gift.
I thank you for saying that,but really I feel that this is a
blessing for me to have theopportunity to serve, because I
enjoy it.
I really taking care of thepatients or the person that I
talk.
I can call them every day, ofcourse, but at least I think of
(30:25):
them every day when they talk tome about some situation.
I carry on that issues and Iwill pray for them.
I hope that everything's gonnabe okay.
Sometimes I just text are youokay, how is the medication
going?
How do you feel?
I always keep track of thembecause it's feel like I have to
(30:47):
.
As long as I hear something isgoing on for them, I try to help
, at least listen and guide them.
I can't say you have to do thisand that.
No, I mean just listen to them.
I feel this.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
The spirit calls and you listen.
That's what the spirit callsand you listen and you answer.
Because there are a lot oftimes I think we hear the voice
within us.
I always say it's the spiritthat calls and a lot of times we
can push that voice down, justopen your heart and say, okay,
(31:26):
today, what purpose could I havefor today?
Speaker 2 (31:30):
What can I do for human beings today?
Just think about that and youlet your heart to move Positive
and tendon.
Yeah, yes, just one day at atime.
Just do something, just alittle.
Just start with that.
I encourage the people dovolunteering job because that
(31:53):
give you you feel like a, youfeel happy.
Actually, it's a trulyhappiness.
The serotonin levels increasewhen you do volunteering and
you're giving away something foryou your time, your talent,
your wherever you can offer, andyou are giving away that.
(32:16):
And then you feel satisfiedbecause you are doing something
for the community, for the forcommunities, and then your
self-steams get better becauseyou say, okay, I did something.
Yeah, that's give you happiness.
Yeah yeah, because it's yourtime.
You are donated your time,that's it.
(32:38):
Yeah, it's nothing like that.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Because when you receive salary for that, yeah,
okay, it's you have to, but whenit's volunteer, it's your
passion, that's it.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
And I think that's a growing theme that I've come
across in the last couple ofmonths is what is your passion,
what calls you, what makes youwake up every single day saying
that I can do more?
When you listen and you'retruthful to that inner voice, it
can do nothing but fulfill you.
(33:11):
Because you're giving a gift tosomeone else, can you share a
success story that someoneshared with you?
Speaker 2 (33:20):
by being in this program, we met very incredible
person who wants to donate theirtime.
But I'm caring and it's amazinghow the people I just met a
medical student and he came herelike a month ago to study
medicine here and he's fromSouth and he has the passion to
(33:46):
volunteer.
He wants to work with the LGBTQgroup and we don't have that
much people that are interestedin working with that.
So I say, okay, perfect, let'sdo together, let's work.
We are a small step, but we areforming some two programs to
(34:09):
support this group because theydon't have much in that area, so
we are doing so.
In that process I am meetingdifferent people who are calling
from to donate their time,their talents to the community,
and many others volunteers thatI can name off.
I learned from them that theirpassion, they are very
(34:32):
contagious.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
And it brings me back to what you had said earlier
about your son, who started acommunity garden where he was,
and then you remembered that.
So when you were in yourmeeting and you were talking and
you were like, okay, becauseeach of us, we help each other
and all of these differentpeople that you're meeting,
(34:57):
somehow the pieces of the puzzle, even if we can't see it at the
time, it's all the piecesgetting put together in this
huge big puzzle and it's makinga remarkable story.
Exactly, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, if you see from this after you put
it, that's it yeah, but when theprocess, I can't see that, but
I just get the idea.
And then I've talked withsomebody.
Actually, the money that theybecause we didn't have budget
for that the money was comingfrom, I mean U of M extension,
(35:33):
which is a group that helped thecommunity in some how, but they
wanted to do a community garden, but they don't have the lot.
And I have the lot because Italked with someone who was
gonna provide the lot but wedon't have the money.
So we like a pandering, it'slike my God, it's coming from
heaven, because they provide themoney.
(35:54):
They want to do it but theydon't have.
So all together, so it's yeah,it's great.
How about the bench?
It's interesting because I wantto do the French bench but the
benches are expensive.
We don't have money to buy thatone and I want to put a nice
bench.
I was looking, maybe, in thegarage sale.
I was looking garage sale andthen I was looking for a rock to
(36:19):
hold on a board.
That was we were doing for thecommunity.
I was looking for a big rockand then I went back in the
clinic and was on the corner.
It was a bench.
It was a bench there withoutfoot, one foot, only three foot.
But that's okay.
I grabbed it.
I said this is the, because Iwas praying for the bench.
(36:42):
And I found it around thecorner, just in the where the
old stuff was there, and it wasthis is something.
So I grabbed it, I put it in mythroat, I put it in the garden.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
That's fantastic.
That's fantastic and I alwayssay to the universe knows your
heart, the universe will alwayscome through, I would have loved
to see your face that day thatyou walked around the corner and
the bench was there.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
I took a picture, say this is, that's it.
And actually because thatdoesn't have one leg, so I put
it to one trunk, I put it there.
In the in the.
So I mean, if you go to, to ourFacebook, you can see the bench
and you see the leg.
I mean with a trunk.
It's very interesting, very fun.
(37:33):
So did you find the rock?
I found the rock too.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
Oh, yay, yes.
That is that is fantastic.
That is fantastic.
I would ask you this questionis how do cultural factors
influence healthcare decisionswithin the Latino community and
how do you address thosecultural sensitivity in your
(37:56):
work?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
It's because we share , even though we are different
for different countries, but weshare the same language and then
some traditions so we can shareall my backgrounds, identify
with this community here in inDutch center.
As a psychiatrist, I know somecultural issues that they are
(38:20):
facing.
I can understand what they arefacing.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
Thank you for thank you for sharing that the center
clinic is a prominent part ofyour career now, so can you tell
us more about the clinic'smission and the services it
provides within the community?
Speaker 2 (38:39):
The center clinic is a non-profit clinic which is
starting 2004.
It started, I think, with asmall amount of patients
providing family planning andalso treat them for STI.
The patients grows and then thefamily medicine doctor from
(39:01):
Mayo Clinic they start arotation there to provide
primary care.
So they volunteering, theydonate their time after works
hours in the clinic so they gothere.
And these People areunderserved.
They don't have insurance.
If Some of them have insurance,they don't.
(39:21):
They have a language barrier sothey prefer seeing somebody the
local, locally, can see themand they don't know where to go.
Yeah, it would.
If they don't have insurance,they don't know where to go.
So we provide the basic primarycare.
If, if we can go further, wecan Make Inter-consult with the
(39:47):
Mayo physicians or any otherhomestead or any other Services.
But we accept the nations and weimplemented different programs
in the community.
We do outreach, do a lot ofeducation.
We have a program that callshealthy mind health devices.
(40:08):
We provide education to thecommunity.
Go through soon.
Education is important, as Imentioned before, for prevent or
recognize different entities ordifferent mass illness.
And Also we we are having aproject to open a dental dental
clinic.
We apply to the ground, becauseit's not dental clinic in that
(40:31):
area is Is that is a publichealth issue too?
Yeah, because if you have yourmouth healthy, you can have a
lot of illness or many thingscoming on after that.
This is a big project and weare thinking maybe at the end of
the year we're gonna have a bigannouncement about that.
I'm very excited about it andwe have a space at the clinic
(40:53):
and maybe in the back we canopen up A dental clinic there.
But this is a small step is onthe table and I'm Determinated
to have that at some point, yeahif we as a community would like
to help you in some way.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Is there Facebook page or is?
Speaker 2 (41:12):
there, there is a web page.
Is the center clinic that orOkay?
And also you can look inFacebook.
It's the center clinic and youcan volunteer in anything you
decide, because we are open toanything.
Yeah, we have there, as Imentioned, at the family
medicine doctor, the medicalstudents, now the pharmaceutical
(41:34):
Program from Mayo.
They want to Donate their time.
So we're growing.
We are growing, yeah, but we atsome point we need some more
money to expand our services.
But yeah, we are we're doingwhatever that we can't now we're
full hands, but happy.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Wow, that's happy to provide the services.
Thank you, thank you forsharing that E and I would say
you know.
Looking ahead, what are yourgoals, what are your aspirations
for your work in communityhealth?
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Hmm, I would like to have a bigger clinic and to to
provide more Services, becausewe will have a clinic night
which only see maybe all eightpatients, ten patients, that
clinic night.
I want to have the capacity toprovide the services to more
people because this is thisreally a small amount?
It's only the clinic night, butwe accept walkings every day.
(42:30):
Well, not every day, because weopen only three days a week,
but the days that we are open weare accepted walkings and I
want to see the community gettogether as state, tight,
support each other and and howthe, the.
As soon as they are here, theythey have to Feel that they
(42:55):
belong to, they are belong tosomething, not they are in the
air, feel that they have asupport For, for the
surroundings.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
Thank you for sharing the intention that you put out
today by you speaking it.
I know that this is gonnadefinitely happen, because I
think, when it comes to all ofus, we all want to feel we
belong to something bigger and,with that being said, I want to
know a.
As a mother of four, how do youfind balance in your roles as a
(43:29):
parent, a healthcareprofessional and the community
leader, and what advice do youhave for other working mothers?
Speaker 2 (43:36):
I think the first thing that you have to do is
believe in yourself, love yourfamily and Knowing that, when do
you have that settle, you havethat in place Give away
something that you can't do it,something that a way that you're
, you feel like you can't shareWith the rest of the community.
(44:00):
It is hard to find balance, butotherwise you Won't be happy.
I think, because if you giveaway something besides your
family and yourself, it's acompliment.
But you need to find that, thatbalance, that that balance.
(44:20):
You have to take care of you,your, your mind, your body, your
family and then the community,because these three things is
gonna mold you and keep you moveforward.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
And I Thank you for sharing that.
I I just have latched on tothat and and I sometimes, when
I'm in these interviews, I closemy eyes and it Reminds me of
something that you have saidearlier and I think about the
three things that you just saidand I go back to your childhood,
(44:58):
of how you first saw thiswithin your parents, of them
giving Themselves a way to theircommunity, to bring up the
community, to build thecommunity.
And you, as a young girl,seeing this has shaped your life
and shaped the trajectory,because you didn't know Any
(45:18):
different.
You know this is who you are,this is who you were destined to
be, and it shows in the waythat your parents Live their
life and have lived their life,and it shows the gift that they
have instilled in you.
And again, this gift that wasinstilled in you, even if Some
(45:43):
of the community has not hadthat gift, they now have that
gift through you and it's Prettyspecial, my friend.
Speaker 2 (45:53):
Oh, thank you.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you for saying that.
Speaker 1 (45:56):
Yeah, thank you and I would like to ask you is there
any question you wished I wouldhave asked you.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
If I have some talent .
Yes, darling but the sad thingis, I don't have any music
talent.
Thank God, you didn't ask that.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
But your family makes up for that.
I just want to thank mybeautiful friend in it for being
here and sharing her story.
It's truly been a privilege anda pleasure to chat with you.
(46:42):
Enid's path from Costa Rica toher impactful role as CEO of the
center clinic in Minnesota isNothing short of amazing.
Her and her team provide anexceptional Service to the
community.
That is not just within thecommunity, it becomes
far-reaching because everybodybecomes touched by you and your
(47:05):
team's generosity.
Enid's very work explores theprofound influence of her
psychiatric background and thecompelling narratives that have
shaped her purposeful journey.
Her commitment to mental healthadvocacy is not just
commendable, it's a wonderfulinspiration.
(47:26):
I have a profound appreciationfor you and your power of
empathy and service in the realmof health care.
Your enduring dedicationreminds me that within each and
every one of us lies thepotential to make a positive
impact in our world and in thelives of others, especially
(47:50):
within our community, and I willdefinitely carry Forward the
lessons that I've learned fromyou today, and I think I I told
you that earlier.
There are a lot of things thathave resonated deep within my
spirit, dear listeners, throughEnid's story and what she has
shared with us today.
Together, we can all go forwardcreating a transformative
(48:13):
change within our world and ourcommunities and beyond.
This is fueled by an unwaveringbelief and hope that, like my
friend Enid, we too can be greatagents of hope Within the world
.
So thank you, e, I appreciateyou and I love you, my friend,
(48:34):
and thank you for what you dowithin our community.
Speaker 2 (48:38):
No, thank you.
I love you too, and thank youfor this opportunity to have
this chatting with you and yourpodcast, and good luck with
everything.
And you are my hero.
Oh yeah, I admire you.
You are an excellent person,wonderful person, wonderful soul
.
I I'm so happy to call you myfriend.
(49:01):
I'm an honor for me to get toknow you.
Speaker 1 (49:06):
Thank you, my friend.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (49:08):
I am glad that God has crossed our paths and you
are touching many souls withthis podcast and with your, your
life.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
You are you are, you have a light.
Popular Podcasts
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.