| Saroueth Yoeum, Interpreter & Cambodian Community Outreach Coordinator at Charlton Memorial Hospital. |
A Conversation with Saroueth Yoeum, Interpreter & Cambodian Community Outreach Coordinator
Saroueth
Yoeum's life has been somewhat of an odyssey. Having left war-torn
Cambodia in the late 1970s, Yoeum spent six years in a refugee
camp in Thailand where he studied nursing and English. He also
lived briefly in the Philippines before immigrating to Fall River
in 1986. He has worked at Bristol Community College as an adult
learning assistant coordinator and at the Fall River office of
the Massachusetts Department of Employment and Training. Currently,
he serves as translator and outreach coordinator for the Cambodian
community at Charlton Memorial Hospital. The position was funded
through a one-year federal grant received by the Cambodian Community
Center and is intended to help Cambodian refugees on odysseys
of their own.
How long have you been at Southcoast?
Since July.
What do you do?
Most of what I do is outreach to the Cambodian
community. Many people in the community don't know much English,
so I let them know that I am at Charlton to help them get services
here. It helps people feel more at ease with coming here. I also
try to educate them on issues that affect their health.
How do you do outreach?
There are a couple of crucial agencies that
I work with--the Cambodian Community Center and the Housing Authority.
The center is really the focal point for the Cambodian community.
People can get services and educational information there. Also,
there's an economic development area with a grocery store, Laundromat,
hair salon, café and other businesses, so a lot of people
gather there.
I also speak on the radio on WHTB 1400 AM on the first Sunday of every month, from 3 to 4 p.m., to talk about health issues that are important to the Cambodian community.
What are the biggest challenges
the Cambodian community faces in seeking health care?
Of course there is the language barrier.
But cultural issues also have a big impact. When Cambodian immigrants
see all the modern equipment we use here, they are shocked. Back
home they don't see that kind of equipment. Also, when a doctor
tries to describe a procedure, the information can be overwhelming.
They are not equipped to make decisions like that. In our culture,
we are used to doctors making these decisions. People don't want
to voice their opinions.
In Cambodia, surgery is a last resort and usually the survival rate is not good. So if a doctor recommends surgery, it can be very disturbing.
There is also a language barrier when it comes to medical terminology. Some very technical medical terms are hard for people to understand. What might be four syllables in English could turn into 15 syllables in Khmer (the language of the Cambodian people). That can be very overwhelming, so I have to try to translate the ideas in simple terms instead of using technical terminology.
Why is it important for you to
do this work?
I want to help people get the health care
they need. When I came here in the late 1980s, my father-in-law
had kidney failure. We were taking him to East Providence for
dialysis and I saw how hard it was. Language is a big issue.
And in our culture, we hesitate to interrupt and feel foolish
if we ask too many questions. When I am there, people feel more
at ease. They don't seem to struggle as much.
How big is the Cambodian community
in Fall River?
It's around 6,000 people now, but it is
growing. People are moving here from Boston, Revere and even
as far as California and Colorado.
Why is that?
Fall River is a multilingual city and we
just sort of fit together. It's a safe place for families and
kids and there is very little violence. These things are what's
most important to Cambodian people.
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