6 things that make El Paso’s Rubin Center an exceptional art space

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A faint sound of a motor engine rumbles in your ear as you enter the building. When you look to your right, high above the ground, there’s a video of a couple of people floating in air and you automatically feel like you’re in space. The flying, the colors, and the vast, clean space make “Territory of the Imagination,” the Rubin Center’s exhibition and the celebration for it’s 10th anniversary, entertainingly futuristic. “In our tenth anniversary we wanted to think about where we were at and so in a playful way, we are looking towards the future. These are all futuristic topics and imagery,” Kerry Doyle, managing director, said.

New guide spells out health risks, options for women on the border

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EL PASO –Twenty years ago, Maria Elena Ramos Rodriguez faced the difficult task of finding foster homes for four possibly HIV-positive babies born to mothers who were heroin addicts and were already infected with the virus. “Luisa had captivated me the first time our sight met,” said Ramos, 57, director of community projects for Programa Compañeros and a long time Juarez activist who has worked on behalf of women’s health issues on the border.. Related: Health coalitions key to helping high-risk groups, says Mexican community organizer honored by U.S.

There was little chance that Luisa, one of the babies who was a week old and had been rejected from various facilities, would find a home because of widespread fear among potential caregivers who were afraid of contracting the disease. Two decades and many tests later, Luisa is a healthy and HIV-free 20-year-old thanks to Ramos, who accepted her temporarily and eventually adopted her. “I felt so much tenderness when she looked at me for the first time with a wide-open smile.

Many U.S. citizens choosing Mexico for affordable health care again

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A few months before Nadiezdha Dominguez was diagnosed with esophagitis, a medical condition that causes irritation or inflammation of the esophagus, she experienced first hand the stark difference in emergency room care provided in El Paso as opposed to Ciudad Juarez. She concluded that the treatment she received in a Ciudad Juarez emergency room in August was “worlds of difference” better than her experience at an El Paso medical facility in March. The 20-year-old UTEP student who lives with her mother in an area between Fabens and Clint is still paying the $1,350 bill for the hospital services and the doctor’s consultation she received at the El Paso hospital. Although she was diagnosed correctly, she could not afford to pay for her follow-up treatment in El Paso because she is uninsured and prefers to pay the “individual mandate penalty” rather than sign up for health insurance under the U.S. government’s Affordable Care Act. Instead, she crossed the Santa Fe (Paso del Norte) bridge with her mother five months ago and visited a Juarez hospital to get treated.