Say the word "healthcare" in the migrant agricultural community of Nyssa, Oregon and chances are you'll soon hear stories about the healing powers of Eva Castellanos, a local curandera, or healer. Castellanos' traditional remedies employ herbs, massage and prayer...at a time when CAT-scans and M.R.I.s are often the healing method of choice for much of society. Faith healers and herbalists have long used prayers and plants in an effort to help patients, although medical science has never conclusively shown these practices to be helpful; and some cases herbs have been shown to be harmful. The Western Folklife Center's Hal Cannon visited Castellanos and found that whether or not her practices have scientific merit, her patients have faith in her power to heal.

Say the word "healthcare" in the migrant agricultural community of Nyssa, Oregon and chances are you'll soon hear stories about the healing powers of Eva Castellanos, a local curandera, or healer. Castellanos' traditional remedies employ herbs, massage and prayer...at a time when CAT-scans and M.R.I.s are often the healing method of choice for much of society. Faith healers and herbalists have long used prayers and plants in an effort to help patients, although medical science has never conclusively shown these practices to be helpful; and some cases herbs have been shown to be harmful. The Western Folklife Center's Hal Cannon visited Castellanos and found that whether or not her practices have scientific merit, her patients have faith in her power to heal.