Nursing student Joanna Elshazly assists a patient at the San Antonio Refugee Clinic.
HEALTH AND HEALTH and HOPE HOPE FAR FAR FROM HOME FROM HOME By NATALIE A. GUTIERREZ
Dal Ezekiel Gajmer was 22 when he fled his home in Bhutan, a tiny country in the Himalayas, nestled between China and India. Political unrest and attempts by the government to enforce a single dominant religion and culture there in the early 1990s erupted in conflict and widespread violence among the citizens and Bhutanese Army. Gajmer feared for his life. He, along with more than 100,000 men, women and children, quickly escaped and found shelter nearly 400 miles away in refugee camps in neighboring Nepal. His struggle was long from over, however, as Gajmer never imagined he would live another 21 years in the camp. He missed his family and the comforts of home. But patience, courage and faith fueled Gajmer’s hope for his future and he soon found love at the camp. In 2000 he got married and he and his wife, Mangali, later had a son, Pratik. Still, Gajmer worried about the health and well-being of his new family. Adequate medical facilities and resources were limited in the refugee camps and Mangali suffered from a kidney disorder caused by medications she was administered at the camp. In 2012, Gajmer and his family’s outlook changed for the better when their application for asylum and resettlement in the United States was approved. What was 12 TRIBUTE School of Nursing | The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
even more encouraging was that the Gajmer family landed in San Antonio, considered to be among the nation’s meccas for top-notch health care and biomedical research. Gajmer was confident he would find quality health care in San Antonio for his family. And he did, thanks to an initiative led by the School of Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The San Antonio Refugee Clinic is a partnership among the Schools of Nursing, Medicine and Dentistry and Saint Francis Episcopal Church on Bluemel Drive near the South Texas Medical Center. The clinic is located in the heart of the refugee neighborhood. The Church provides facilities for clinic space and student-run operations, which cater to the growing and diverse refugee population in San Antonio. Julie Novak, D.N.Sc., RN, CPNP, FAANP, FAAN, vice dean and executive director of the UT Nursing Clinical Enterprise (UTNCE), is the School of Nursing liaison to the clinic and provides support through a federal contract. Ruth Berggren, M.D., director of the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics at the UT Health Science Center, currently provides support for clinic vaccines and medications through a grant from the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation. With approximately 5,000 immigrant refugees arriving annually from across the globe in San Antonio, the interprofessional team recognized a need for enhanced care for this population and the opportunity to provide