Kiki Barnes wanted to get a first-hand look at what life is like for rural farmworkers.
The Trinity senior applied to participate in the Into The Fields program, which pairs college students with agencies that aid farmworkers in North and South Carolina. As of early August, Barnes will have spent a total of 10 weeks working as a health outreach worker for the South Carolina Migrant Health Program.
This year, 33 college students participated in the program, which is in its third year. In addition to Barnes, Trinity senior Heavin Bortz and Amy Fauver, Trinity '95, also participated in the program.
The goal of Into The Fields is to allow students to gain a practical internship in an area of interest, said Chris Sims, documentary projects coordinator for Student Action With Farmworkers, which administers the program.
Barnes, a biological anthropology and anatomy major, said that she was interested in public health and plans on pursuing advanced degrees in public health after she graduates. The program has allowed her to immerse herself in the field, she said. "I wanted to plunge head-on into public health," Barnes said.
Another major goal of the program is to expose students to some of the realities of farmworker life that they may not normally see, Sims said.
"[The program] allows students to discover another North Carolina from what they're familiar with on campus," he said.
Barnes said that the program has enabled her to escape some of the isolation she experiences at the University.
"In your time here, you get exposed to a lot of things, but you don't see everyone. Duke's very isolated from the outside world." Her work has allowed her to see through some of the negative stereotypes concerning rural farmworkers' lifestyles, Barnes said.
Farmworkers in South Carolina confront much greater difficulty in obtaining health care than farmworkers in North Carolina because of lower funding levels and negative attitudes towards farmworkers, Barnes said. Nevertheless, she said that the farmworkers deserve to receive care.
"Everyone, regardless of their background, deserves to receive basic health care," Barnes said.
Farmworkers with whom she has worked have been particularly grateful.
"They're glad to have someone who doesn't treat them like second-class citizens," Barnes said.
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