Art, Activism, and Disease Prevention on the U.S.-Mexico Border

Nuestra Casa Project (El Paso-Cd. Juarez Chapter)
In the December 2013 issue of Reflections: A Journal of Public Rhetoric, Civic Writing and Service Learning, Guillermina Gina Núñez and Eva Moya have a forthcoming article on an art installation that raises awareness and draws attention to both TB and HIV along the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez border. The video below provides a brief overview of the project and history of the art installation. 

Update: I found another embed code for this video!

From the Reflections Facebook page:

“Public Art, Service-Learning, and Critical Reflection: Nuestra Casa as a Case Study of Tuberculosis Awareness on the U.S-Mexico Border.” by Guillermina Gina Núñez and Eva Moya (UTEP)

Abstract

This case study describes the Nuestra Casa (Our Home) Initiative, an advocacy, communication, and social mobilization strategy to increase tuberculosis (TB) awareness that was a public art exhibition hosted at the University of Texas at El Paso. This work describes this multi-disciplinary initiative that cuts across academic boundaries to engage faculty, students, and community members in service learning and community engagement efforts. Nuestra Casa reached diverse audiences, including school children, farm workers, promotoras (health promoters), university students, educators, persons affected by TB, and public health officials in Mexico and in the United States through education, critical reflection, and a call to action.

(from Nuestra Casa "Photo Stories" By Damien Schumann)

From the "Project History":
"The genesis of the project stems from the need to reinforce advocacy, communication, and social mobilization efforts for the prevention and control of TB in Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Because communities and the persons affected by TB must be involved and their real-life situation addressed if efforts to combat the disease are to be effective, the project’s developers pushed themselves to adopt a novel approach: “The Shack” installation."

Learn more about the Nuestra Casa Installation:
http://nuestracasainitiative.net/installation.html

Visit Reflections Journal at: http://reflectionsjournal.net/