by Maitri Pamo Gracias a la Vida, que me ha dado tanto. My parents made their own Dream Act when they emigrated here from Guatemala. Through their determination and hard work, they ensured fulfilling lives for their children. Different lives from what my ancestors had. My paternal grandparents were farmers. I know nothing about their Read More

by Maitri Pamo In my last article I offered some thoughts regarding the challenges that face Latino immigrant children as they navigate the intersections between their parent’s native culture and U.S. society. For many immigrant children, the difficulties associated with transition into a new culture can lead to life paths that are exactly the opposite Read More

by Maitri Pamo I was approximately the age that my daughter is now when my parents immigrated here. A toddler, I was no more aware of the bravery and hope in my parents’ decision to come than they were of the difficult roadmap their journey would delineate for our family. Our nuclear unit, bereft of Read More

by Maitri Pamo “The Situation Room,” a photograph that will undoubtedly become an iconic image in the visual history of Barack Obama’s presidency, is a very interesting snapshot of the changing face of US politicians. The significance of the shot was nicely parsed by CNN. Studying the image, I felt encouraged, fortunate.  

by Maitri Pamo A few nights ago, I had an infrequent and pleasant experience. A Latino client presented his Labrador Retriever to the hospital where I work. We were the only Latinos in the facility, and while that has happened before, in this instance we were also the most highly educated people there as well. Read More

by Maitri Pamo Catarina Rivera has been exploring obesity among Latinos. Her articles have inspired questions: what happens to obese people? How do they address the health consequences of obesity? Due to the correlation between poverty and obesity, and the worrisome statistic that 25.3% of Latinos were reported as living below the poverty level as Read More

by Maitri Pamo When I was a child, my family was friends with another family with two girls who were very close in age to my sister and me. We mocked them because they would answer in English when their parents spoke to them in Spanish. We felt that it was a lacuna in their Read More

by Maitri Pamo For a long time, I have found it curious that people say ‘America’ when they refer to the United States. I remember as a child seeing letters to Guatemala, Central America. So as I became increasingly aware of common parlance, it seemed like a peculiar presumption to assign ‘America’ to one country. Read More

by Maitri Pamo It is not uncommon to overlook the importance of seemingly minor symptoms. The occasional cough in an individual or the broken window in a neighborhood may seem trivial.  The all too frequent cases of animal cruelty can also appear to be inconsequential to many.  However, it is clear that those “trivial” events Read More