Reporting

Elizabeth Varin wrote this story for the Imperial Valley Press as a 2011-12 California Endowment Health Journalism Fellow.

<p>Think about this: More than 200,000 West Virginians have contracted a disease that kills people. About 69,000 of them don't know they have it.</p>

<p>Glenda has no insurance. She makes $350 every two weeks. If she were diabetic, she could get insulin free through the clinic if she needed it, but not the diabetic finger sticks and testing strips, which cost about $45. "I can't afford to get diabetes," she said.</p>

<p>For four hours, Bill Hall used to lie on a padded vinyl recliner, one arm stretched out, two thick needles sticking out of it. One needle drained the blood from his body. The other put it back.</p>

<p>Fifty-four-year-old Everette Ray Roberts was one of an estimated 69,000 West Virginians who have diabetes, but don't know it.</p>

Photographer Omar Robles and I witnessed many emotions during our recent trip to Beardstown in central Illinois. However, an emotion seemed to underpin many of the interactions we had with the residents there: fear.

<p>When Redskins tight end Chris Cooley swung by Orr Elementary School in Anacostia last Thursday, he explained to the 100 kids circled around him that he'd already exercised that day. "So hopefully I can keep up with you," he said. Fat chance of that.</p>

<p><span>As Cambodian-Americans and children of refugees, Sin and Em carry a difficult legacy. Thei</span><span>r families display many classic symptoms of PTSD. <br /></span></p>

<p>Nearly 40 years later, Cambodian refugees who can bear telling their stories recall atrocities in vivid detail, with an immediacy that is palpable.</p>