Sí, se puede.
Hi everyone! I have officially started my internship work placement with the United Farm Workers Union (UFW), I am working as an intern for their policy and legislative team. This week I started with two congressional visits to the Capitol, where Diego Lopez, with the UFW foundation, introduced the Asuncion Valdivia: heat, illness, death prevention bill to congressional members. The purpose of these meetings was to try and gain the co-sponsorship of these congressmen to back the Asuncion Valdivia Act, which would put a mandate on farm employers enforced by OSHA to supply their workers with the right equipment and supplies they need to complete work on these hot summer days.
On Tuesday, June 18th, 2024, we were back in the Rayburn House building, where we had four meetings with staff of congressmembers. We were successful in securing two potential verbal co-sponsorships whose staff mentioned that their congressmember would have no problem potentially sponsoring this bill on Tuesday. Later that evening I was pulled away by a planned event with the Power Station DC Radio/Podcast hosted by Anne Pasmanick that was pre-arranged for Berenice and myself to be a part of, where we were able to showcase our stories, where we are from, and what we are doing in DC, as well as some other fun and interesting questions we were asked. I had a great time, as it was a way that I could reach out to those back home and give them something to listen to if they were having a bad day.
On Wednesday, I was off for Juneteenth, so I used it as a rest day. I didn’t do much, just went for a nice walk around my neighborhood to get some sun in. On Thursday, I spent most of the day creating and organizing a spreadsheet with information and follow up notes we need for the staffers of the six representatives we met with on Monday and Tuesday.
Over the weekend, I got a little ill with a stomach bug, but it didn’t stop my workflow. I was able to not only get advanced in the work that I have this upcoming week, but I also had a chance to get caught up on House of Cards, and it was a way for me to de-stress after the long work week. I am enjoying my time here in DC, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for this upcoming week!