"Hacer Pueblo": a narrative of community health from Mexico

In the midst of a pandemic that has ravaged the world, especially its most marginalized communities, we have often found ourselves asking where we went wrong and how we could do better at health care. Mandeep Dhillon, emergency physician and community organizer, will share her experience with community health work in one of the regions of Mexico hit hardest by economic oppression and state and paramilitary violence. In doing so, we hope to open up a conversation about how to address the possibilities of collective healing in our territories.

Born in Montreal, Canada to a Punjabi family, Mandeep has spent the past twelve years living and organizing in Mexico. Trained as an emergency physician, she has participated in various movement building efforts over the past two decades, including “No One Is Illegal”, organizing with migrant farmworkers, and in solidarity with Indigenous communities. In the past eight years, this organizing has been particularly focused around the issues of community health and territorial defense.