Martina Lauterbach, Transcript Section 6

Community Health Aide Program Project Jukebox

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KAREN: Back to sort of the health aiding side of things, since that's kind of what we're supposed to talk about --

MARTINA: Right.

KAREN: Do you remember delivering a baby?

MARTINA: Yes.

KAREN: Your first one?

MARTINA: There was two of them I delivered. There was a -- you know, one that I -- the first one I helped deliver because we had to -- the -- like a traditional midwife that, you know, helped, you know, with that delivery. And that went well, you know.

And then the second one that I helped deliver was the -- the Public Health nurse was in the village, you know, at the time. So, you know, her and I, you know, both, you know, both delivered the baby.

KAREN: So you never delivered --

MARTINA: I never had to deliver by myself, thank goodness, because I would not -- I mean, I'm sure I would have been able to because, you know, when -- at our trainings and stuff, you know, we would watch deliveries, you know, in the hospitals, Bethel and here.

KAREN: So did you like being a health aide?

MARTINA: I enjoyed being a health aide. I learned a lot being a health aide. And I respect the health aides today because of that. And you know, just knowing, you know, a lot of work that they do. And you know, they are the first contact that the village people have for their health. So, I mean, you know, they are to be respected. So...

KAREN: And then -- you sort of talked about it a little bit but why you chose to not continue as a health aide.

MARTINA: I guess, you know, I wanted to -- you know, I had to pursue, you know, what my dream or, you know, what I wanted to do, and so that's why.
And, you know, like I said earlier, it probably could have been kind of a burnout, you know, thing for me to be a health aide because that was a lot of work.

KAREN: Yeah.

MARTINA: And you didn't have really a social life. I mean, you did with the village people, but I mean, you know, even though you were -- I mean, you could be visiting somewhere and then they would be looking for you.

And we didn't have phones or CBs, you know, at the time, so people, if they needed a health aide, they would come knocking on your door or, you know, find you somewhere. So...

KAREN: And at the time you were single, you didn't have children or you weren't married?

MARTINA: No, I was single. Uh-hum.

KAREN: Okay.

MARTINA: I met my husband while I was in nursing school.

KAREN: Oh, okay. It's interesting, too, you mention -- you said something about, you know, the men who were the health aides that you worked with at the beginning and they would go out hunting and you had to take care of the village.

MARTINA: Uh-hum (affirmative).

KAREN: It seems like there are more women who have been health aides than men.

MARTINA: I think it's probably because, you know, the men had to go out hunting. I mean, they had to because that was, you know -- we had subsistence living at the time. You know, we didn't have any beef and chicken and that kind of stuff in the stores at the time. You know, when I was --

KAREN: Right.

MARTINA: -- growing up in the village and stuff. And so the men had to go out hunting. I mean, that was, you know, something they had to do.

KAREN: Right.

MARTINA: And I'm sure that's probably why, you know, we have a lot of women, you know, as health aides.

KAREN: Yeah. I hadn't thought of that before. It's -- I'm glad you pointed that out.

MARTINA: Uh-hum (affirmative). And you know, it was hard for men because, you know, it was like all your -- you know, they had to go hunting, like in the fall, you know, for seals or moose, and then wintertime they would have to go out hunting for, you know, rabbits or other winter, you know, subsistence. And then they also had to get wood for the firewood -- you know, for heating the house.

KAREN: Right.

MARTINA: Because we didn't have -- well, a lot of times, you know, we didn't have the oil stove. I mean, there's some people that had it but, you know, you have to pay for that, too. So men had to go out and get fur like meat or, you know, wolf, or wolverine, and sell those to, you know, get money to buy.

KAREN: Right.

MARTINA: Our oil for the stove.

KAREN: So did the doctors come out to the village at all?

MARTINA: Yeah. They did, oh, how often, maybe a couple of times a year. And they would be there in the village for maybe three to four days. And then the Public Health nurse came out about every three months. And the Public Health nurses that, when I was a health aide at the time, used to come from Anchorage.

KAREN: Oh.

MARTINA: They didn't have the Public Health nurses in Bethel. They now -- they now do have Public Health nurses in each service unit.

KAREN: And so how did that work when the doctor came to the village?

MARTINA: We would be -- you know, they -- they did have a nurse that came with them, a travel -- you know, like a doctor or nurse came, you know, from Bethel.

And then before they came, they had a list of, you know, people that they, you know, would have to see for some reason or another. And then I would let these people know. And try and make appointments. It didn't work. So you know, they kind of showed up when they, you know, showed up because we didn't -- they -- time wasn't important, you know, those days.

KAREN: Right.

MARTINA: And I'm not sure, you know, how it is right now. I'm sure a lot of times it's still not the important thing for them. Yeah.

KAREN: It's a different schedule --

MARTINA: Yeah.

KAREN: -- out in the villages, for sure.

MARTINA: In the villages, yeah. Because it's pretty slow. There's a lot of people that just don't work, even now. Because it's hard to find jobs. If you don't have a job in the city office, you know, pretty much don't have a job, I guess. I don't know.