Catalina Friesen is a passionate community based personal support worker and connect. In episode 4, she works creatively around public health barriers faced by more than 700 Low German-speaking Mennonites in southwestern Ontario. Unfortunately, the region is now in the throes of a large measles outbreak. Friesen’s contributions are key to serving the health care needs of a tight-knit, multi-generational community that has called the region home for nearly 75 years. About 60,000 Low German-speaking Mennonites live in southwestern Ontario. Most of them have traveled back and forth from Mexico to do seasonal agricultural work since the 1950s, bringing culture, history and health collide into the forefront.
Our ongoing measles outbreak which has infected over 2000 people across Ontario. It is of great concern to public health officials, as it indicates a growing trend in unvaccinated communities. Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore said that the loss of an infant life from measles is a tragedy. It is believed the infant contracted the virus from an unvaccinated mother. This outbreak has been particularly devastating to Anabaptist communities, including Mennonites and Amish, mostly because of under-immunization and exposure patterns inherent in these communities.
Dr. Ninh Tran, head of the Southwestern Public Health unit, has delivered weekly updates on the outbreak. He deeply resents having to answer questions about the unvaccinated Mennonites at his pressers. “Why name any specific groups when it’s not entirely representative of that group anyways?” Tran remarked, emphasizing the need for a more nuanced understanding of the health crisis.
Friesen estimates that only 50% to 60% of individuals she can help are vaccinated. Michelle Brenneman, the executive director of the Winnipeg-based Mennonite Central Committee Ontario, tells me that this number might be conservative. She doesn’t rule it out, but she accepts the potential. Adding factors related to the nature Mennonites’ historical context their relationship with government institutions plays an important role in shaping Low German-speaking Mennonites’ fear of vaccination campaigns.
In the 1920s, tens of thousands of Low German-Speaking Mennonites departed Mexico and other South American countries. They had come back into Canada in the 1950s to take advantage of improved economic prospects. Their migration narrative intertwines a rich legacy of accords with other state and federal governments. These accords gave them the tools to protect their educational independence and maintain their cultural traditions. This legacy has cultivated a deep-seated suspicion of public health orders.
Friesen noted, “Knowing what I’ve explained about the migration and the government taking back what they had promised, there is a lot of mistrust with the government as a whole.” She explained that historical injustices have bred distrust in public health measures.
Amanda Sawatzky, an immigrant community advocate, seconded Friesen’s support. “To be clear, many, many, many, many Mennonites are vaccinated. Let’s not continue this narrative that this population group as a whole is not vaccinated,” she stated. Like any cultural group, assumptions made about Mennonites are picked up from old stereotypes, said Sawatzky. So there’s this assumption that the Mennonites that people often read about in the media are these horse-and-buggy-driving Mennonites. Low German-speaking Mennonites do not travel with one horse and one buggy at any time, anywhere. They drive cars,” she clarified.
Even with modernity at their doorstep, some in the community continue to struggle with stigmatization. Friesen explained that outside perceptions can lead to feelings of alienation: “It’s the stigmatism of – ‘You’re not from here. We don’t like you.’” This marginalization can make it difficult to communicate the value of public health measures.
The outbreak has spotlighted the necessity of considering cultural nuances when rolling out strategies to promote health. This was especially concerning, since as Dr. Kieran Moore said, any unvaccinated community should expect a surge in cases. Yet some Anabaptist communities are suffering the worst of this problem due to their lower immunization rates and recent measles outbreaks in some regions.
In response to the crisis, Friesen has guided approximately 200 individuals through the current outbreak by translating health information and test results. Her efforts highlight the importance of culturally relevant, community-centered, and culturally sensitive frameworks for public health communications.
Dr. Tran knew from her public health experience that pointing fingers at certain communities during an outbreak is always an appealing option. He noted that those measures don’t really tell the whole story. “It’s always nice to finger point at someone, but it’s not necessarily the reality. We’re seeing cases everywhere and in different groups, and really the main thing is vaccination,” he said.
Public health officials are doing everything they can to contain the measles outbreak. They urgently call for vaccination as a critical tool to curb its further spread. “It spreads because people are not vaccinated. If it’s going to spread further … it’s not going to be because of the Mennonites,” Sawatzky stated. “It is going to be because there are other groups of unvaccinated people in the population.”
