Encuentros de la Frontera

Week 8 Viviana (Thank you)

2008-08-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

A few words among friends...

i'm back
my new being held up by the hands
of hope and faith
in tucson

i stand on a precipice
a new beginning
something big awaits

leap
no more stalling
it's time

my heart races
something beautiful
to bloom
from my being

i return a different self
a self more able to self-nurture

stronger with my tribe

a new adventure...

Thank you to all of my new friends

Week 5 (Rachel)

2008-07-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

“The lost walkers lay on crisp white sheets, rolled through swinging doors, blinked at confusing lights and masked faces, hospital gowns, the smell of disinfectant and their own strange musky stench. Needles. Liquids. A sign flashed by: This Way Heart Center. People in green inserted electric thermometers in their ears. Hands in rubber gloves. ‘Are we contagious?’ one of them asked, but no one answered.”

This scene from Luis Alberto Urrea’s book, “Devil’s Highway” won’t leave me alone. It’s unsettling. The migrants in this scene are near their death as they are picked up by Border Patrol and brought to the hospital to be treated. The have been in contact with the people of El Norte for only moments and it is already apparent that their presence is not welcome. And not only is it not welcome, but it seems they as individuals are loathed. They have been with my fellow Americans for only moments and they know they are an ostracized people. Where does the hate come from?

“Are we contagious?”

What is that? What is that like to feel? I don’t know what it’s like to live in a country where both the people and government treat me like filth. Knowing everywhere I go those that pass by are looking down on me as if I am somehow their enemy. There is a tangible animosity in their gaze. But I just came here to work. I cannot feed my family in Mexico. We are starving and there is nothing left for us there. What is that? What is that like to feel?

What is it like to live in fear? What is it like to not allow your children to play outside? The Border Patrol could be making the rounds through the neighborhood, and you just can’t risk it. What is it like to have to drive to work separately from your husband because you would rather Border Patrol only deported one of you. What is it like to live in fear?

“Are we contagious?”

Week 7 (Christina)

2008-07-26T00:03:00.000-07:00

Judge: So it is your belief that humanitarian aid is never a crime, Mr. Millis?
Dan: Yes, Your Honor.
Judge: But you do understand that sometimes it is illegal, Mr. Millis.
Dan: Yes, Your Honor.

Amid all the greatness of the United States Judicial System, there comes this statement. In a Federal Courtroom, as Dan Millis testifies for himself in a lawsuit for littering, this blatant flaw in the system arises. Dan, a volunteer for No More Deaths, is being charged with littering on a Federal Fish and Wildlife Reserve. The said litter? Full, sealed, gallon jugs of water. You see, for Dan, saving lives trumps “littering” any day. And this very mindset is what brings us to court on this fine July day. He now faces up to $5,000 in fines or 6 months in jail, at the discretion of the presiding judge. All because, as His Honor made very clear, humanitarian aid is sometimes illegal. Yes, amid all the glory and honor of the United States Judicial System, arrives this twisted form of justice.

Week 7 (Rachel)

2008-07-26T00:02:00.000-07:00

I am back in the courthouse.

This time it’s Dan on trial. He’s one of the coordinators for No More Deaths—the organization based in the borderlands to put an end to the great death toll that the desert takes on those who dare cross it. What is Dan being charged with? Placing gallons of water out for dying migrants is now to be deemed “litter.” What makes this situation even more absurd—if possible—is that when cited for littering, Dan and three other volunteers were actually filling up bags of trash to be packed out of the desert, as per their usual patrol activities. The catch is that this particular water drop was on a wildlife reserve and therefore littering is a serious crime as it damages the precious flora and fauna. This makes for an interesting predicament.

When did the survival of plants and animals become more important than that of human beings? As I sit in the courtroom, listening to the prosecutor and reservation guards argue Dan’s guilt, I have to wonder how important this wildlife reservation is to them. The legalities are frustrating. It is as if the legal system was waiting for its chance to target No More Deaths, to put an end to their humanitarian efforts. Yes, he was placing sealed jugs of purified water out on this reservation—but is this “litter?” I cannot help but see the parallel to how our legal system sees those who volunteers like Dan are trying to help. Do we not see the migrants as litter, just trash cluttering our society that can be treated however we desire? Historically, we bring in workers from Mexico when we need jobs to be filled but the second their presence becomes inconvenient for the “real” Americans…can’t we just get rid of them? Again, I feel like the humanity of the migrants is being pushed aside, they are not individuals with life stories and families to feed, but instead they are THOSE PEOPLE. We group the migrants together and label these brown people as one big nuisance. Why does the media present them like a burden on our society and not instead question why they are risking their lives to come here, dying in the thousands for something better? They are economic refugees and it’s not a pretty picture. No one wants to see the dilapidated and pieced together shacks that line the streets of Nogales. No one wants to hear that the children have to use the bathroom in a sewage pipe at their school. No one wants to see how our economic policies towards Mexico have actually created the surge of migration over the past decade and a half. We sanitize everything here in the United States. It is best to draw a thick line between the two nations, perhaps even build a fifteen foot wall to stave off the invasion. Keep the unwanted out. They are just litter anyway.

Week 7 - Jose

2008-07-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

This week I taught my final CPR/Standard First Aid course at Southside Presbyterian church in Tucson, Arizona. It was an amazing experience to teach individuals who are activists of their community and to give this course in such sacred place - this church has a history of focusing on social justice issues since the 1980’s when the Sanctuary movement began, co-founded by John Fife. The class was full this time. I actually had one student audit the course because I had gone over the limit of 10 students per class session! The class went very well; they asked me a lot of questions about CPR and First Aid, and at the end of the class, they left confident about their newly learned skills. I was really happy for them. After all, this is the main purpose of the class: to make each student who takes the course to feel confident about using these skills that could, one day, save someone’s life. While at times this community service activity seems trivial, I think that little by little it will someday make some kind of impact in the community.

Additionally, I got to visit Sells, Arizona, the capital of the Tohono O’Odham Nation (a Native American group living in the Sonoran Desert of the US southwest and Mexican northwest). A group of us got to see the hospital. I was able to talk to someone who knows about the healthcare system at the Tohono O’Odham Nation and stumbled upon the question about medical/dental care and access. Having previous knowledge that part of the nation is on Mexican soil, I asked this expert: Do Mexican Tohono O’Odham receive the same type of medical/dental care as their US citizen counterparts? I was expecting for the answer to be “Yes” since the US government made a promise that any individual from the nation would receive free medical/dental access and care. Surprisingly, the expert said “The answer is complicated – yes and no.” While the hospital has doctors and nurses that offer medical care, not all specialties are being covered. For instance, there is no one who can perform general surgery and there are no ultra-sound machines in the hospital. In this case, the patient requiring any further medical help not offered in the clinic is referred to a pre-selected hospital in Tucson where the government has agreed to pay for the costs. Everyone in the nation may go through this, but there is a catch. While Mexican Tohono O’Odham people can come to Sells or any of the other three clinics to receive free medical care, they are almost exclusively limited to what is offered at the nation’s clinics. Having Mexican citizenship prevents them from receiving the same benefits that the federal government offers to US citizens. Even though they might have all their relatives living in the US, and they themselves could have been born at a remote area in the outskirts of Arizona and outside of the Tohono O’Odham clinics, the US government would not cover their expenses outside the clinic, say in Tucson, Arizona because they do not have a birth certificate that would prove their US citizenship otherwise. Since medical costs are expensive these days, Mexican Tohono O’Odham will just be able to receive basic medical and dental care.

The interaction between the Mexican and US Tohono O’Odham people parallels the relationship between US and Mexican citizens and border communities that were merely divided by an invisible line. These individuals are part of families that have been separated by laws and regulations that have broken the ebb and flow between both sides. As the Tohono O’Odham put it, “We did not cross the border, the border crossed us.” The same thing has happened to people in other border cities such as in Ciudad Juarez/El Paso and Laredo/Nuevo Laredo. Long-time neighbors are now divided by walls or other physical barrier and this has had noticeable repercussions. Such isolationist policies have divided these individuals into two very distinct communities with different life opportunities, yet with common relationships and universal goals.

Week 6 - Jose

2008-07-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

The highlight of the week [or lack thereof] was my experience at the annual health fair conducted at Sunnyside High School in Tucson. The fair was open for anyone in the community of Tucson and its surrounding areas. Even people from Nogales, Arizona came to the health fair. The event was extensively planned; there were many different groups participating and volunteering at the fair. Employees from El Rio Community Health Center (where I am currently shadowing) were also there. The school had two gyms and a cafeteria that were full of volunteers and people from the surrounding community. There were groups giving away baby car seats, bike helmets, school supplies (by grade levels), doing pregnancy tests, and even conducting physical exams (including taking blood pressures and measuring blood sugar levels).

Having seen the flier from a fellow employee at El Rio Dental Clinic, I came to the health fair to volunteer at the dental clinic. There was practically no space for the dental clinic at the fair – we were doing dental screenings at the boys’ locker rooms since the cafeteria and the two gyms were occupied by different groups. It was really exciting even though we were only doing screenings, not exams. I was charting for Joyce, a retired dental hygienists in the Tucson area, who would look at the patient’s mouth and dictate to me whether the patient had previous treatment, needed treatment, had fillings, had cavities, and had/needed sealants. I helped her communicate to Spanish speaking patients by translating whenever it was needed. She knew the ins and outs of government-sponsored [health and educational] programs such as AXIS, Medicaid, Medicare, and even Head Start.

One Spanish-speaking woman brought her child for a dental screening because he was about to start Head Start and the program had required her to take him for a dental exam. After the screening, she showed us a paper that the dentist had to sign. Since we only had one dentist volunteering at the clinic, he oversaw what we did, but at the end, he decided he could not sign the form. The document asked for a comprehensive dental exam, not a dental screening; the former included x-rays and actual probing with the mirror and explorer while the latter was more glancing at the mouth and teeth to determine whether the child needed a referral to a dentist for immediate dental care (we could not use any instrument because we wanted to treat as many patients as possible, and we did not have sterilization machines at the school). Unfortunately, everyone including Joyce, the dentist, and I sadly saw her leave with her child and the document not signed. Before this, though, Joyce explained to her that Head Start was supposed to have given her a list of pre-selected dentists that Head Start had agreed to pay to cover the costs for the appointment. I imagine that the mother had decided to bring him to this health fair because it was a free dental screening, in an attempt to save some money, but in fact, she had the right and opportunity to take her child for a fuller dental exam. The heartbreaking part was that she did not know this; Head Start did not give her a list of dentist. Now, she had to go back to Head Start, ask for the list, schedule an appointment, and wait until that date to take her child to the dentist. To me it seemed foolish, unnecessary, and unfair that due to the fact that there was not good communication/understanding between the employee from Head Start and this mother, she had to run around the city to correct this problem. I wondered and still wonder today who is to blame for this issue – the mother because she did not speak English and/or because she did not know how this system worked; the Head Start employee for either not speaking Spanish or giving her incomplete information, or someone at a different level, perhaps at the governmental/policy level? Being interested in dentistry and volunteering at this health fair taught me a lot about how government programs work in conjunction with the health care system. Sadly, I learned about it through an undesirable experience.

Week Six (Karen)

2008-07-19T00:04:00.000-07:00

Even though we visited Border Patrol, went out on a run with Samaritans, dined with Duke Alums and incoming freshmen, and witnessed community confrontation against Isabel Garcia, the one thing that stuck with me this week was President Bush's motorcade.

The procession. The pomp and circumstance. All for one man.

A home video of the motorcade; fast forward to 1:50.

Tucson went to great lengths to receive President Bush, and we first came into contact with his visit when the police officers and police cars lined up and down Broadway Blvd. blocked our path back from the Duke Sendoff Party. Bright lights and show of force brought fear and confusion, so much so that we thought there was a hostage situation amongst it all. To make things worse, no one really knew where to go. We followed a trail of cars, hoping that someone would lead us through a side neighborhood. Despite our best attempts, we found ourselves stuck between an officer, parked cars, and a line of lost drivers.

So Sarah pulled us over, and we waited. But we were not the only one waiting anxiously for the motorcade to past. On the corners, there were families sitting out on lawn chairs waiting. Suddenly, a roar approached, and a dozen or so motorcycles flashed by, quickly followed by a hodgepodge of other vehicles.

I missed President Bush's flagged limo among the line of vehicles. Perhaps that was the point. Disappointed? No, but more so annoyed that he brought our part of town to a halt. What for? A fundraiser for a local political figure. Yet, if you asked me if I would like to meet President Bush, I would still say yes. He is the president after all. It just amazed me how far Tucson went to celebrate his stay when it led to more inconvenience than celebration.

Week 6 (Christina)

2008-07-19T00:03:00.000-07:00

It’s the same thing over and over: sad, disappointing, horrible, frustrating, depressing, and helpless. And I don’t know what to do about it. I can’t talk about, let alone write about it, after the fifteenth time. It all feels like overkill. My feelings and thoughts feel like overkill. I don’t know how people deal with it on a daily basis—make a life out of all of the misery—when I feel like I can’t even do it for a summer.

We talk so much about what divides us from the rest of this movement. Everyone always talks about a racial divide. And in some places that’s probably true. But the biggest divide for us doesn’t appear to be race. Nor does it seem to be sex, as might seem to be another logical suggestion based on the past. No, here we all feel different because of economic status—of class. And the guilt I feel comes from that. And the presumptions that precede us when we enter a room come from that. And there’s nothing we can do about it. Sure—we could give away everything we have and ‘join the people.’ But what would that help? And that feels the same as everything else: sad, disappointing, horrible, frustrating, depressing, and helpless.

Week 6 Viviana

2008-07-19T00:02:00.000-07:00

What does the color of my skin mean in this activist community?

I did not come to the desert as a self-identifying "woman of color" from Duke, but have been made hyper-conscious of it during the last six weeks. Why are members of certain border organizations all of the same race? Why can't we question it? Why isn't it already being questioned? Before arriving, I might have said that there was no reason to question it--we are all drawn to a common cause, regardless of race and culture. But there is such a poignant difference between groups. Racial makeup is by no means a measure of efficacy or authenticity--yet why are my group members and I are afraid to bring it up in conversation with community members? It feels like the untouchable topic; the elephant in the room. How can we ignore race? Particularly in the racially charged environment in which we work?

The fragmentation of the activist community here makes me uncomfortable. Imagine the work that could be done if all groups came together! But, instead we allow ourselves to stand divided by our own micro-borders, our own inability to listen and compromise. My own feeling is that all groups acknowledge the division, but have already concluded on their own that collaboration is impossible and unnecessary to the achievement of their objectives. How can we stand divided in what we call a "war-zone"? One voice at a time will not change policy and I am frustrated by the pride and reluctance that keeps us from screaming at the world as one united front.

The irony of it all is the fact that our border problem cannot be solved without the collaboration of the US and Mexican governments. We speak of national borders and lines as the enemy. Why not address our own micro-borders first?

Week 5 and 6- Lucy

2008-07-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

my week at no more deaths. it's very difficult to truly explain how i experienced arivaca and the sonoran desert.

living at the camp made me experience two very different emotions. on one hand, i experienced an emotional high from the community that welcomed and embraced me everyday. every single volunteer at the camp surprised me with their wisdom and knowledge. Everyone was so sensitive, caring , and compassionate. i felt like if we could all see the desert then we could all love each other again. the second emotion was of intense grief, i don't understand and still don't understand why i get these rights, and freedoms, and privileges but someone else doesn't. i don't have to cross a desert for a small chance. i will never been tortured in a parasite infested wash. i will never leave my two daughters.

i know the blog that i am writing right now doesn't seem to make much sense nor is it very concrete and directed but it is simply impossible for me to recount all of my experiences there.

i met a man who came back to Mexico to visit his dying grandmother. he has two children, two daughters, one is 2 and the other is 4. he has a wife and a home in Colorado. we met him on the side of the road. he waited for a car that would never come. he touched my life and i felt so connected to him. but we were so separated because i have the privilege to travel as i like. i have the freedom to not be hidden but he doesn't have that right. he is waiting for a car that will never come. i am in a car that is simply passing by. i am simply passing by. maybe our eyes well meet and in those moments maybe my humanity is truly bound to his.

***

i think i have to write my 2 weeks at the desert in conjunction to my week back in tucson. noel asked me today if i felt "civilization" was foreign, or rather if i felt strange to be "back in civilization." the truth is that i do. i truly feel estranged to this place. rachel mentioned that my life is sorta defined by conflicting statements. the truth is that i can't make up my mind. being back in civilization makes me face who i was before the camp, creates a confrontation between myself. i am so confused. what should i do with my life. how do i live ethically? how can i come back to the desert next year? then i think about my classes, and new boots, and a dress that is lost in the mail. i want to feel connected but i am so disconnected. sometimes 'i get it' other times i want to forget about it.

life is pretty simple for me as a duke student. i am incredibly happy to be where i am. i live without consequence and often without concern. i do what makes me happy, what makes my family and friends happy. i watch tv, i check my email, and i read books. but being here, being in tucson, living with consequence and with concern is so foreign to me. i don't know whether to run away or to embrace this new change. life was simple but now it's not. it will never be as simple as it had been.

it's no longer a question of not knowing but rather not doing. what if i realize and acknowledge this conflicted situation and what if i walk away? how will i live with myself like that? how can i ever go back to my simple duke life? what if i never want to! what if i do want to? what if i'm ashamed and torn either way? what do i do now?

Week Six (Group)

2008-07-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

yaThis week's highlights included:

Visiting the Tucson Sector Border Patrol
Attending the Duke '12 Sendoff Party

With the whole DukeEngage group back together again, we drove down to Nogales, AZ where the local Border Patrol headquarter is located. There we met with with one of the sector supervisors Omar. He began our tour with an overview of Border Patrol history.

From his presentation, we learned that Border Patrol began with the purpose of enforcing the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1924. Initially, Border Patrol was headquartered in Tubac but later moved to Tucson in '26. Today, the Tucson Sector Border Patrol has jurisdiction over 3/4 of Arizona and 261 miles of the border. They are currently operating with 627 officers and 100 or so of other personnel. During the last fiscal year, they made 90559 apprehensions and confiscated 300077 pounds of marijuana. Omar then went on to talk about Border Patrol's latest security efforts. He talked about the radiation devices they use at checkpoints, the development of Ballard fencing, the use of pepper spray saturation in the tunnels, and the promotion of bike patrols. Throughout his presentation, Omar was also open to questions as well. Consequently, we asked about recidivism, the role of diction, relation between migrants and marijuana trade, and how he views his job as a Border Patrol agent.

During our tour of the office, Omar showed us the muster room where agents are briefed and assigned positions; the equipment room where agents check out necessary equipment; the video control room; and the temporary detention center where migrants are detained for up to 24 hours. The facility was not overwhelmingly large; yet, it had all the necessary space and equipment for operation. There were cubicles, meeting rooms, park lots with overhangs, and a plethora of inspiration posters lining the hallways.

After our two hour tour, we returned to Tucson, and before we knew it, it was time for the Sendoff Party. There we had the opportunity to meet with Duke alums and incoming freshmen. The party was held at a local home and was a small but intimate affair. While we shared what we have been doing in Tucson, we heard various responses and points of view on the immigration issue. It was valuable for us to see how even Tucsonians, who live in the Borderlands, can agree/disagree to various degrees over the issue.

Kumbia Kings - Mi Gente

2008-07-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

Kumbia Kings - Mi Gente: http://youtube.com/watch?v=eBLyrjlCwdE

Here is some music with a catchy rhythm that invokes some of the issues we have been reflecting upon.

~Jose

Gorbachev on the U.S./Mexico Border Wall

2008-07-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qGk2iec8v7Y

~Jose

Week Five (Karen)

2008-07-12T00:04:00.001-07:00

On our way to Arivaca, Saturday, July 12.

Turning around, I saw him standing along the side of the road, leaning against the concrete barrier. White shirt with baseball hat turned around. His face was so familiar.

That’s when I realized that he was one of the first few men we met at Las Madres in Nogales, and there he was again on our way back from Benjamin Hill, Sonora, Mexico on Thursday. It was just so unexpected; I was caught off guard. What are the chances, I yelled. I wanted to bang on the window to get his attention, but then I was afraid he would not remember us.

There was time to discuss as we were waiting in line to cross over border, which was when Norma broke the news. The chances of seeing this man was actually quite high because we were right outside of Nogales, where Las Madres is located. The medical aid trailers and mobiles we had just passed was Mariposa, the aid station operated by No More Deaths.

While our sighting of him was no longer as magical as moments before, it was still amazing that we would see him again. And it was good just to see him. He had said that the bump beneath his eye was a tumor and that bump seemed smaller than the weeks before.

Seeing him made me wonder about everyone else we had crossed paths with.

Week 5 - Jose

2008-07-12T00:04:00.000-07:00

The week began and ended with me shadowing at the dental clinic all day. I was really happy to arrange, in conjunction with my DukeEngage “Encuentros de la Frontera” mentors, this shadowing experience because the clinic is a community health center that accepts people from all socioeconomic strata with diverse health conditions. People can qualify for reduced health fees and even free dental services. As a result, there are a lot of patients who have never in their life had a dentist or a doctor evaluate their health status.

While in the clinic, I was able to see a lot of dental procedures, and at the same time I learned a lot about the purpose of doing every single little thing they do. For instance, one of the dental hygienists told me that taking x-rays of the teeth and the surrounding bone not only gives the dentist information about the approximate age, teeth wear/personal habits, and oral hygiene. Often, it can also help the dentist identify early health conditions that the patient might not yet know like discovering that a patient is suffering from osteopenia, a precursor to osteoporosis. Since dentists are sometimes the first health professionals that the patient has ever met, this is important because dentist can make a referral to a doctor (in this case, a physician at the same community clinic) that can perform a more precise screening and thus treat the health condition at an earlier stage. This not only saves money to the US health care system, but it also preserves the general well-being of the individual. Since the dental clinic allowed me to interact with patients who have other severe conditions and/or who needed extensive dental care and oral health education, all of these learning experiences further showed me the importance and widespread need of oral care in the US. They definitely reaffirmed my desire to pursue dentistry and convinced me that I will someday, hopefully, make a difference in my community.

During the middle of the week, I had the opportunity to talk to several people from BorderLinks and the surrounding area in Tucson, Arizona. I found a familiar theme while talking with all of them: You cannot do anything in the US if you lack legal documentation. This defines everything you can or cannot do. You cannot cross the US-Mexico border to visit your relatives who live just across on the US side (whereas US citizens are allowed to cross freely to Mexican border towns and their identity is not questioned until they reach the checkpoint twenty-some kilometers south of the city-limits); if you are critically ill in the desert, you cannot be transported to the hospital by anyone except BORSTAR and Border Patrol (and these organizations can take hours before they arrive and find you in the desert); and you cannot get a job that reflects your studies obtained at another country (even if you are a doctor or dentist which could potentially benefit US health care by increasing access to patients who could not afford it before). Talking to individuals from this community has raised some questions I had not asked myself before – a big one being “How can this be solved so that these problems can be stopped?” As I continue my quest for a possible solution, I hope to continue learning not only from the organizations I work with but from the day-to-day people I encounter in life.

Week Five (Christina)

2008-07-12T00:03:00.000-07:00

Just another week in Tucson…work, play, and a little bit of drama. This week was much more focused on the work—small daily activities that almost make one forget that life here is so complicated on an emotional level. We even got in some play, taking in a Rooney concert at a local venue, Hotel Congress, on Tuesday night. Part of the drama came Thursday night when Joe Arpaio, Sheriff of Maricopa County (including Phoenix) came to town. As one news reporter put it, “Sheriff Joe Arpaio came all the way from Phoenix to promote his new book, but local Tucsonians had a message of their own.” As he sat in Barnes and Noble for the signing of his new book, Joe's Law: America's Toughest Sheriff Takes on Illegal Immigration, Drugs and Everything Else That Threatens America, protesters of his horrible immigration policy stood outside. Also in attendance were local media and Fox News.

Friday night was our first Coalición de Derechos Humanos event, a film screening for The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández. The film itself does an amazing job of telling the story, and it comes highly recommended. As Tommy Lee Jones narrates, one learns the story of an 18-year old United States citizen killed by members of the United States National Guard on United States soil. The event went well. Immediately after the event, we returned home to BorderLinks to prepare a meal for the 15 volunteers spending their week with No More Deaths (including Lucy, of course!). After spending all night cooking, we made the trip to Aravaca once more on Saturday to deliver the food and spend some time at the No More Deaths camp. As it’s been rather wet there (yes, in the desert it not only rains, but monsoons), we had quite the adventure getting the 12-passenger van into camp.

And then, on the way back to Tucson Saturday night, we were all reminded of that emotionally complicated life. As we drove away from camp, we spotted a man sitting on the side of the road. “Do you need food, water, aid?” we asked. “No, no, I’m fine,” came the reply. “I’m waiting for my ride. But could you give me ride to the nearest gas station? That would help.” I have a hard enough problem saying no to people who don’t actually need my help—who aren’t in a state of desperation. But unfortunately in this case, simply helping would have been illegal. All we could do was leave him by the side of the road. And the emotional complexity came back.

Week 5 Viviana (new and improved)

2008-07-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

I checked out last night. In an instant, everything was out of focus.

Today...
I bought a ring engraved with the Celtic symbol for healing.
I watched as a mother cried over her imprisoned migrant son.

We live in an open wound. We are all hurt.

During my time in Tucson, I have learned, first hand, the emotional stress that doing this sort of work can have on people and organizations. It can be self-destructive if one doesn't stop, step-back, and breathe. Acknowledge that you need to leave. "When the ground beneath you starts a shakin'..." Escape. Sit outside and listen to the rain. Read poetry. Believe that hope can be found in emptiness. Let the raindrops splash against your toes. And breathe. Notice the birds. Be in the moment with your body, conscience of the way the breeze feels against your face. Breathe. Listen to your body. Sleep when you feel tired. Cook a healthy meal to remind you of loved ones. Be present. Sunday was my day to breathe. It was difficult to stop and allow myself to say "I need to breathe today", but I feel healthy now. I feel alive and hopeful. I've shed the weight from my shoulders and soul.

As an activist, need one be a martyr? I think about my future and wonder if it is nonsensical to think of a volunteer program as the best use of my time. Is that where I can be most effective? Or would my time be better spent working with a policy-change oriented NGO? My preference for the latter is frustrating and selfish. I have heard both perspectives during my time here. I have spent time with both types of activists, and wonder if aid work is something I should pursue. I think that what I see as futile martyrdom is putting oneself into a poor neighborhood and helping distribute bagged lunches for a year. I realize that people who do this sort of work are dedicated to the community they serve. But I feel like my participation would only contribute to the application of a new band aid over the situation. The sort of hands-on aid that I believe would be as worth-while as working in an NGO office would be spending my time in an impoverished town developing long-term sustainable change based on an analysis of root causes. There is such responsibility that comes with entering an oppressed community. Dropping in, leaving a crate of supplies, and leaving is helpful in its immediacy, but irresponsible in its inability to plant the seeds needed for larger social change. It is the contradiction and paradox of activism that I am working to sort out for myself.

Week 4 - Raquel

2008-07-05T01:44:00.000-07:00

Arivaca, Arizona. The epitome of smalltown, southwestern America. Population of about 1,000 people and probably twice as many livestock. Also my home for this past weekend of July 4-6.

My weekend in Arivaca began with a bang. Literally, as a fireworks show was part of our Fourth of July evening on one of town’s many ranches. Our DukeEngage group had traveled out to Arivaca in order to volunteer with the No More Deaths camp and drop Lucy off. Our invitation to a Fourth of July barbeque was a great surprise as it allowed for something familiar in the midst of the newness of this rural desert town. While I was unsure of what exactly to expect at a barbeque in the middle of ranch country, as I’m a vegetarian, I assumed that I’d consume a lot of mayonaise covered side dishes. As I waited in line for food, I surveyed my surroundings. They were far from what I expected of the desert. There were grassy plains surrounded by fences crafted from an array of materials. This was a far cry from the dry sun scorched wasteland I expected to see. As the line moved forward the available fare soon came into view. Just as I had conjectured there was an assortment of pasta and potato salads but there was also fruit and festive Fourth of July cupcakes. I filled my plate and then found a seat on the stone wall dividing the ranchowner’s sideyard from the horse pastures. The views from my perch on the wall were amazing and from my position I watched as the sky exploded with the vivid colors of sunset.

My views of the sky became increasingly more breathtaking as the fireworks show of the evening began. As fireworks exploded into the evening sky, the ranchowners horses began to stampede, due to the sensory overload caused by the fireworks. The view of the stampeding horses and fireworks was incredibly majestic and a great way for me to end my first evening in Arivaca.

During my second day at the No More Deaths camp, I went out with the group’s morning patrol in the desert. A desert patrol can include many different tasks but in my group’s case our goal was to carry water to a couple of No More Deaths many water drop points. I was incredibly nervous as we prepared to head out for our hike. I had no hiking experience up to that point and I was certain that hiking in the desert would be extremely taxing. As I walked along the unfriendly desert trails the weight of my backpack along with the two gallons of water made my shoulders burn intensely. I really wanted to leave one of my water jugs along the trail which we traveled on rather than carrying it to the final drop off point. It began to feel as though every pore on my body was releasing droplets of sweat which in turn became a network of rivulets streaming out of my skin and subsequently being trapped in the cloth of my shirt. After what felt like miles of this process of lugging water, sweating and rehydrating I saw a blue bin up ahead and given this encouragmant, began to increase my lagging stride. By the time we reached the bin in which we could leave our water, I was slightly out of breath and I worried about whether or not I would be able to continue this difficult work in the hours before we returned to camp.

As it would turn out I was able to succesfully complete the physically challenging task of dropping of water for the migrants. During our last couple of hikes I thought about the relatively coddled conditions which I trekked through the desert and contrasted that with that of the migrants who followed many of the same trails. The experience trully left me in wonder about the inner strength which is evidenced by the migrants who make intensely difficult and long treks through the desert.

Week 4 (Rachel)

2008-07-05T00:06:00.000-07:00

I heard a story the other day. It was a story Gandhi liked to tell.

Once upon a time, there was a town along side a river. One day a man went down to the river and was startled to see a baby floating atop the water. He quickly rushed to save the child that was near its death. The next day he found a home for the orphan. Yet to his horror, the following day there were several infants floating down the river again! He rounded up helpers to grab the children from the cold river. The infants continued to come throughout the week. Realizing that this was a serious problem, the town devised a complex plan to gather the abandoned children and locate adoption families. Years passed and the town continued to save the babies as they floated down the river. Yet no one ever bothered to travel upriver to see why the babies were being discarded. No one went to the root of the problem.

This weekend we camped out in the desert with No More Deaths. We went out on patrols with the other volunteers, dropping off water and food along the migrant trails, always on the lookout for anyone in need of our help. Four patrols went by and we found no one.

I turned to one of the summer volunteers and asked how they can stand it. How can you stand those days when your efforts seem fruitless? I hiked for only a weekend and I was frustrated. Their answer was that No More Deaths is like a temporary solution, a band-aid on a much deeper wound. They are catching the babies as they float down the river, headed toward their death. But most of all they are trying to realize a change in the system.

Don’t you think we wish we didn’t have to be out here? But if we didn’t do this…who would? Our government is refusing to take action to prevent the death toll which is now in the THOUSANDS! In fact, it has intentionally pushed the desperate migrant into the harsh desert in hopes of deterring crossing. But this “natural barrier” will not halt the man determined to feed his family. Thousands are crossing every week. We call No More Deaths a “civil initiative” in that the action begins at the grassroots, and hopefully will soon influence Washington to make a policy change. We hope that one day this tent won’t be out here. We hope that one day the people of the United States will go to the root of the problem. We hope that one day they will look to see why the infants are being discarded upriver. Do the American people know why this migration is taking place? Do they understand it? Do they even bother? No. Right now we are trying desperately to catch all those that are within our reach, but it is difficult, we certainly fall short. We need to get to the root of the problem. We must get to the root of the problem before it’s too late.

Week 4 - Jose

2008-07-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

This week I got to go on two Samaritan runs in the desert. I got to meet a migrant who had been walking for 7 days. When we encountered him, our Samaritan nurse and I offered him medical help (it is one of the few things we can still do legally). He had run out of water and food, had really red eyes, and had several blisters in both of his feet. This latter condition had slowed him down from the coyote and the rest of the group, which had left him behind. He had become extremely thirsty and had decided to drink water from a cattle tank. I remember the first thing he said was that he felt nauseous – an expected symptom after drinking the parasitic water from cattle tanks and walking in the desert for so long. I knew we could only offer limited help. We gave him a Gatorade so that he could recover the electrolytes lost, Toms pills for the stomach ache/nausea, and a little snack because he had not eaten for 2 days. When we left him, I felt really powerless, not only because I knew I could offer limited medical help but also because under the federal law, I am prohibited to help migrants in any other way besides offering him food and water. It is then that federal policy can become ironic to some individuals: you are allowed to take better care of a dog that crosses an invisible line than a human being who comes with humble intentions to get a job that nobody else wants in order to help his family (this even helps the US economy because taxes are often withheld by IRS after every paycheck and are never returned to this worker because he cannot fill out an income tax).

In addition to the Samaritan experience, I got a TB test and watched several videos about HIPAA and prevention of disease contraction/transmission. After I was done with all this, I began my dental shadowing experience at El Rio Community Health Clinic. I just had 30 minutes to observe before the clinic closed, but I had the opportunity to see a patient receive a comprehensive teeth cleaning and two teeth extractions.

Near the end of the week, I traveled with the rest of the DukeEngage group to the No More Deaths Camp to stay for the weekend. We hiked different well-known migrant trails, but we did not get to encounter anyone. We visited different aid stations where we left gallons of water and picked up the ones that were empty. Very frequently I encountered unpaired shoes in the desert – only one shoe was being left behind! I started wondering what all this was about: Are they now hopping through the desert? How can they survive this place when their soles of their feet have cactus spines? Who is responsible for such suffering: their ignorance and unpreparedness when crossing the desert? The lack of explanation/knowledge from their coyote? Or our government’s decision to enact Operation Gatekeeper which forced migrants to cross to the desert? Perhaps we will never arrive to a consolidated conclusion.

Week Four (Karen)

2008-07-05T00:04:00.000-07:00

Escaramuza, a Mexican equestrian team, performing at Tucson's San Juan Fiesta.

I suppose my Week Four blog comes late not because I don’t have time to write but because I don’t know where to start. Tennessee had mentioned atop Mt. Lemmon the idea that “researchers who go to Cuba for one week write a book. Those who go for two weeks write an article, and those who go for longer don’t write anything,” and I am starting to feel that restraint.

I feel a sort of complacency; in a sense, I am stuck in a rut. But perhaps it’s because I like to be constantly on the move—wake up early, sleep late—so now having a consistent schedule feels a bit restrictive. I know that one day I will have to face the facts and work a 9 to 5 job, but for the time being, for as long as I can, I hope to escape the mundane “real world” lifestyle.

As I had mentioned to Charlie at the beginning of our DukeEngage program, I want to learn more about myself from this experience, and more importantly, I want to know if policy work is what I want to do with the rest of my life. Someone once mentioned to me not to major in public policy, which I will be, because writing memos is like writing wish lists. You have to wait, and the waiting time for change is not worth a whole career. While I do believe that someone has to enact change for change to happen, it makes me wonder what path I should take. What cause is worth my whole-hearted dedication? What job or role should I take? It seems like I should know. I will be declaring my major next semester after all.

I’ve learned a lot these four and now five weeks. It’s just that I don’t know how all these things, from things I’ve touched to the people I’ve talked to, will affect my life, how things will piece together. Will something long-term come out of it?

And I only started considering politics/law/policy at the beginning of my junior year in high school. Anything before that was a mixture of wanting to be an interior designer, fashion designer, architect, artist, marketer, advertiser, film director, band manager/roadie, world traveler, and hotel critic so that I could be part-time world traveler. Nothing ever really “realistic.” I remember when I was seven, I told a friend that I wanted to be an artist. She responded, “Artists don’t make any money.” After that comment, I never thought about being just an artist.

Something similar happened after coming back from our No More Deaths trip this past weekend. My family was frustrated by what we were doing in the desert. It was weird to have to defend myself, but it was not unwarranted. I have to admit that I wasn’t too sure myself of where I stood coming into Tucson, and I am still trying to build my case so to speak. I did like how Rachel, a North Carolina State graduate student who is working with No More Deaths this summer, framed the U.S. immigration issue with the veil of ignorance, a very PubPol 116, a Duke public policy course on ethics, reference, during our reflection Saturday night. But regardless confrontation coming from a person so close was difficult. I felt like I did when my friend told me that being an artist was not a viable option.

So perhaps the point of this blog is to sort things out in my head. It seems a bit selfish to talk about my dreams, hopes, future, etc. But this is what I have been thinking about.

Week 4 (Christina)

2008-07-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

It was beautiful. And horrible. All at the same time.

Patriotism and humanitarianism. The definitions of these remain ambiguous. The love for one’s country, and the love for all humanity. Shortly after we arrived here, we were instructed to create a poster of the things we hoped to get out of the summer. Now, half way through this experience, I’m still working on what I wrote and said. My poster read “In Unity and Justice for ALL.” Ironically, this line comes directly from the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America. I also included the words ‘patriotism’ and ‘humanitarianism.’ When explaining my poster, I expressed my feelings about defining them. “I love my country,” I said. “but I’m not always proud of it. But I am American for a reason.” I’m discovering that maybe true patriotism and helping to make your country the best that it can be. And for you, maybe that doesn’t include humanitarianism. But for me, it does. For me, they both come down to one thing—helping people.

These are the things I thought of after living the most patriotic day of my life. July 4th was, as it should be, beautiful. But it was also horrible. We left for the No More Death’s camp near the small town of Arivaca, Arizona, at noon on the 4th of July. When we reached the camp, we joined the other volunteers on the evening patrol for the day. A patrol with this organization includes hiking well-trafficked migrant trails in the desert carrying water and food and providing medical aid to anyone in need. After the patrol, we were invited to attend Arivaca’s 4th of July celebration. Held at Arivaca Ranch, it was as stereotypically patriotic as one can get. Burgers and hotdogs on the grill, country music blaring, and horses and kids running free. Soon after the meal, the fireworks began. And you could have painted a picture. Purple mountains majesty in the background, fireworks in the sky, and horses stampeding through it all. Never was I prouder or guiltier to be taking part in it all. That night, as I camped out under the stars in the desert, I thought about privilege (as I often do here). I got to enjoy that amazing scene because I am American. And that’s all some people want—the good ol’ American Dream. And who are you or who am I to judge them for that? And though I’m not always proud of what we do, that’s patriotism. I have the ability to change the things that shouldn’t be because of the opportunities this country provides. I love being American.

The next day, we rose at five in the morning to prepare for the morning patrol. On the way to the site where we would be hiking, one of the experienced volunteers told us about a scene we may encounter. You see, the desert is beautiful, but it holds some of the most horrible secrets in its beauty. A “Rape Tree” is one of these secrets. A tree containing a woman’s underwear or bra, it is what one may call a ‘trophy’ of where a sexual assault took place. Not only is the desert a naturally deathly place, it becomes even more dangerous for woman. Oftentimes the coyote, or guide, of a group will use his position of power to take advantage of women travelers. Then, as if the act itself isn’t horrible enough, he displays the assault to the world. It is impossible to even try to understand such behavior. After hearing of this atrocity, we could only hope not to see it. On the evening patrol that day, three of us saw “Rape Trees” first hand.

The desert was beautiful. And horrible. All at the same time.

Week 4 Viviana

2008-07-05T00:02:00.000-07:00

Ghosts haunt the desert.

Desert spirits of a dark and mysterious nature have always traveled these trails...those who worship desert gods know them to favor retribution over the tender dove of forgiveness.
-Luis Alberto Urrea, The Devil's Highway

We walked a dry, rocky trail. The sun poured over us. We could hear the ambient insect drone of a hot summer day; the harsh shuffling of our feet against the desert ground. Sand and rocks. Socks. Two backpacks. Floral women's shoes. Small remnants of human life lining the barren trails.

I watched the ground intently as I walked back, afraid of the thorns and fire ants below my feet.

Yellow sand, brown rocks, gray rocks.

Yellow sand, brown rocks, gray rocks.

Something glimmered. We stopped. A ray of gold light shot up from the sand. Something metallic was lodged between the rocks. We reached down and pulled. A cross. A beautiful rosary buried in the sand. I gently wrapped my hand around it, running my fingers over the small gold figure of Jesus. This was someone's companion, someone's protector. Someone prayed with this rosary. It was precious to someone. Sacred to someone. And now it was in my hand.

I'm still holding on to it. I'm troubled by the privilege of assigning value to someone's belongings. But I want to honor the migrant who owned this rosary; to celebrate the beauty of their humanity, the sorrow of their crossing.

They entered the gates of hell the moment they entered the unforgiving desert.

Fantasmas frecuentan el desierto.

Week 4- Lucy

2008-07-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

Week 4. it's been a long time. i really can't remember mexico at this point. another group came to borderlinks last saturday. apparently, they will also be working with the children's camp there. i can't say that i'm not a little jealous. when rachel discovered some more photos of Alberto and Miguel in Karen's facebook albums, i didn't know whether to smile and laugh or to feel slightly guilty. after all, we were able to leave Mexico. we came back to the US and no one even checked our passports to make sure it was us. Noel, unfortunately doesn't not know Alberto and Miguel and cannot tell me how they are doing. it seems that i have completely lost touch with them.

at 12:00 today, we will be leaving for the No More Deaths camp in Arivaca. i can't say that i'm not scared because i am both scared and excited. on one hand, i've been doing patrols with the Samaritans so i shouldn't really be worried about the desert extremes. but on the other hand, i'm feeling like i'm on this giant cliff where i can see a change being made to myself and to my spirit. yet, i don't know how i will deal with the change. talking to viviana and karen today, i realized that i will be both emotionally and physically beaten when i returned. if nothing else, i will sure hurt like hell in my muscles.

yesterday, with the Samaritans Jose and i along with two Samaritans traveled to the No More Deaths camp to help find a lost migrant. apparently, the man was abandoned by his pollero. Luckily he happened to have a cell phone. he called his family in mexico, reporting he was near a house and surrounded by cows. if you know anything about southern arizona, you will know that it is cattle country. in other words, looking for someone in the sonoran desert is like looking for a needle in a hay sack.

on our way to the camp we met up with some members of No More Deaths. they had found a woman with two children--7 and 8 years old. what business do children have crossing the desert? what business? they had also discovered a man who had also been abandoned. he had been walking for 7 days and was only 20-30 miles away for the Border. he had been drinking cattle water aka water that's littered in parasites, for 3 days. he said his heart and lungs hurt. he wanted to carry on even without a guide. we bandaged his feet and off he went. he was going to washington and he wanted to know how far, how many miles.

"Days brother, days..." - mike wilson

it's encounters like these that really make you wonder. people killing people everyday. moms and dads who can't bring enough to feed their kids. familiea eating corn tortillas and salt while we spend what they make in 8-10 hour day on one cab fare to the laundry mat.

i saw a migrant child become infatuated and amazed by an iphone.

Tucson Speaks

2008-07-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

Documenting the documenting (Tennessee)

2008-07-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

In the dorm at Borderlinks Karen, Viviana, Christina and Lucy work on editing the groups first documentary piece.

The DukeEngage crew spent several days over the last week practicing their audio and photography skills. They then hit the streets of Tucson to interview locals about their perspective on immigration. The responses they gathered were then edited into one short slideshow.

It's been really great to spend the last week in Tucson with this crew. I'm struck by their motivated and inquisitive nature. There's no doubt they are bringing a lot of heart to this work.

Thanks for sharing the experience with me.

Tennessee Watson

Center for Documentary Studies

Week 3 - Raquel

2008-06-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

Please allow me a moment to gush.

Southside Presbyterian Church has fast become one of my favorite locales in Tucson. My appreciation for Southside goes beyond my love for the hogan style architecture which delineates its campus from other structures in the surrounding neighborhood of South Tucson. While I love the rust colored adobe walls which ensconce the inner core of the church, I might just love the heavy splash of southwestern details which mark the church’s interior even more than it’s smoothly curved walls. For example, figures that look as though they could have been conjured up in the mind of a being from a much earlier time period appear to dance in the perforations which mark the light fixtures throughout the church. Even as the painstaking attention to detail which characterizes Southside’s interior and exterior design allures my artsy side, I am most intrigued by the incredible outreach programs which mark the church’s daily calendar.

The first thing that grabbed my attention when I visited Southside for the first time two weeks ago was the sign with an intense portrait of a dying Christ with the statement “Executions Have Always Been Wrong” emblazoned upon it. Pretty hardcore. In my meetings with the members of Southside over the past couple of weeks I have become increasingly impressed by the reality that Southside Presbyterian is far from an ordinary, run of the mill Christian church but rather puts into action the words of Christ found in the New Testament biblical book of Matthew in chapter 25 and verses 35 and 36 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me...’

I feel as though my experience at Southside has made and will continue to make an indelible mark on my notions of Christianity and furthermore the Christian experience.

Week 3 (Rachel)

2008-06-28T00:06:00.000-07:00

Mexico seems like a lifetime ago. I have forgotten what it feels like to walk around the dusty colonia at night, the town alive with energy and music until the wee hours of the morning. I have forgotten that pulse that runs through the city, breathing vivacity into every corner of the sun scorched desert. I don’t hear that same rhythm now that I am back in Tucson. Just an hour away, it is troubling how these two places differ. It is troubling how much I have already forgotten. But I will never forget their faces.

We have been back in Tucson for a week now, our days filled with walks to the local coffee shop, working daily at our internships, grocery store runs and some therapeutic time with our missed laptops. Once back in the sanitized dormitory, there is little here to remind us of the place from which we have just returned.

Miguel and Alberto were such bright lights in the darkness that is Nogales. Such a violent city. Such precious children. Though their laughter is falling further into the recesses of my memory, growing fainter by the day, those niños still weigh heavily on my mind. They push me to continue on the tough days, the days when it seems as though nothing will ever change, the days when truly nothing seems to be on the horizon. I feel as though they will never leave me.

*Picture from José Castillo

Week 3 - Jose

2008-06-28T00:05:00.000-07:00

This week has been an interesting time for me because I started the activities that I had planned to do for the rest of the summer. After two intense weeks of going around the communities of Tucson, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, and learning more about their stories, their living conditions, and their needs, I returned to Tucson to focus on three activities that will hopefully be targeted to help people within these communities.

On Monday, I went to get everything ready so that I may start volunteering at El Rio Community Health Center next week. Here I will be shadowing several dentists and learning more about the career that I want to pursue. After talking with people for two weeks, I have realized that there great need of dental services, and so I hope my volunteer experience will allow me to contribute to the oral health of this community.

On Wednesday I taught CPR and Standard First Aid in English while on Friday I taught the same class in Spanish. Watching the film “Crossing Arizona” convinced me of the importance of knowing first aid not only in the desert but in the community. Therefore, not only does it make me happy to have the opportunity to teach this course during my stay in Arizona, it makes me really honored to be able to offer these courses to groups like The Samaritans and BorderLinks.

Moreover, I went on a desert run with The Samaritans on Tuesday and Thursday. Lucy and I woke up at 6:30AM to go walk in the desert, and I remember being really excited to encounter a migrant and offer them my help during our run. I even had a pre-planned out encounter: I would call out “Somos Samaritanos. Tenemos agua, comida y ayuda médica.” They would gladly approach us to receive our help that would save them from dying in the desert, and then we would interact as if we were old-time neighbors. None of this occurred! I did not meet anyone in the desert, and it seemed we had walked for 14 hours for nothing. I was kind of disappointed for this, but a fellow Samaritan brought up an important point: Not meeting a migrant can actually be a good thing because this means they do not need our help at the moment. They do not want to be seen, unless they need help; then, they will probably approach us. If you think about it, the simple act of convincing yourself to approach someone for free food and water is an embarrassment and public shame to yourself. As ironic as it may seem, it was really true. Besides, we had left gallons of water in some locations that we thought were migrant trails, and when we came back to check on the gallons of water, we saw that they were being consumed. This made us happy and gave us a sense of worth because our efforts were being appreciated one way or another (it is not necessary to receive national recognition for doing this). Thus, I came to conclude that our Samaritan effort was not futile; instead, it was a beneficial act – useful to both the migrants and our country. While they received help in the desert, something that should not be denied to any human being without regard to citizenship or residence status (as stated in US federal law), we were strengthening our relationship with Mexico. After all, they are our permanent neighbors, and therefore it is better late than never to build camaraderie. What I was doing at the desert was not a way to increase immigration to the US. It was a way to alleviate the current problems that exist in the border. I recognized that going in a Samaritan run was not going to solve the problem, but it was definitely going to assuage it before a policy that addresses this issue is enacted. I came with the mind set in providing humanitarian aid a very specific way, but I realized that plans do not always go as they were designed …and this is okay.

Week Three (Karen)

2008-06-28T00:04:00.000-07:00

One of the many pullouts on our way down Mt. Lemmon

This week the theme of remembrance came back to me over and over again. Returning to Tucson was great; we came back to running water, electricity, and technology. But the moment I stepped out of the van last Saturday, I began to forget.

I began to forget the faces, the stories, the emotions. And I hate that it is happening.

I wrote nightly the first week and photographed everyday the second week. Yet, when I look back on everything, I feel different. To use Sarah's word, I don't feel the immediacy. I am afraid that these next five weeks will only soften my recollection and emotions.

I do not want this to happen. I do not want their faces, stories, and emotions to become trivial memories that I simply recall and retell. I had hoped, and still do hope, that the experiences and relationships I gained would propel me in my internships, Derechos Humanos and Samaritans, and beyond. But as of right now, I feel a sense of guilt for taking pieces of these individuals and trivializing them in my own mind.

During our reflection atop Mt. Lemmon, I did find a sort of comfort in that everyone felt incapable of relaying their experiences to friends and family. How do we share our experiences? How do we phrase our thoughts and emotions? How do we pass on the urgency? Figuring out these questions will be crucial for when we return to Duke. I do not want to come back as a bumbling fool standing on a soap box, but I want to come back as an impassioned messenger who really understands the lives and issues in the Borderlands.

Week Three (Christina)

2008-06-28T00:03:00.000-07:00

Week 3 was quite the transitioning week for us. As we returned to the United States and experienced the somewhat of a culture shock that came with it, many of us were torn about how we were feeling. We delved right in, however, and began orientation for the everyday life that will be the rest of our summer. It all felt so different than the jam-packed, emotionally draining BorderLinks delegation. As we started learning and doing at our internships, it was easy to forget some of the personal stories behind the work.

Then we traveled 9000 feet to the top of a mountain. Yesterday, we took a group trip to the top of Mt. Lemmon. From the small village 1000 feet from the top to the 40 degree temperature difference, it was easy to forget about Tucson and the desert—to take a step back from the everyday life we had just gotten into. From the top of the mountain, everything below looked so different. Not only were the buildings of Tucson nearly invisible, but there were actually green trees and plants to be seen. Still a part of Pima County, how could this place exist amid such barren land? And it didn’t seem fair. We could come to this place to escape our normal, busy, everyday lives, while others must escape theirs by dying in the desert. We could enjoy the view, the weather, and each other without a care in the world.

As we sat atop Mt. Lemmon, we reflected back on our week. Many people expressed the difficulty in blogging each week—in trying to do justice to the everyday life of the people in this region without someone experiencing it first hand. In using the same words over and over, and the monotony of doing so. But when it all comes down to it, we can’t explain it; we can’t do it justice. You, the reader, are only getting a far off glimpse of what we are doing and feeling—a look from the top of the mountain.

Week 3 Viviana

2008-06-28T00:02:00.000-07:00

I'm standing on the edge of a cliff, on the precipice of the unknown.

Our group traveled to the top of Mount Lemmon yesterday.

I'm looking over the edge, wishing I could dive into the vast quilt of mountain tops. I want to jump and let the sweet breeze carry me, closing my eyes and trusting that the air will hold me. A leap of faith. I'm scared. There is such power in these mountains, such possibility--small crevices of beauty to be found if I just jump. I see jagged edges, winding maze-like trails--fears in sight.

I want to be strong and take a step of courage. In Tucson. In the desert. In my heart.

Just a little push.

Week Three- Lucy

2008-06-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

during my run with the Samaritans, i saw a dead cow, a road runner, jack rabbits, desert quail with babies, multiple lizards, deer scaling up a mountain, horned lizards, vultures, hawk, coyote, humming bird, a metallic blue and purple wren, buzzards...

the desert is amazing and filled with life.

i experienced the monsoon.

today is emo boy day.

a more complete post to come.

***

while on ruby road one day. i saw one of the most erry sights. Someone, a migrant, had neatly hung a complete set of clothing: underpants, undershirt, jeans, and collar shirt on to a tree. there was no garbage. there were no shoes or backpacks. he was at least 200 yards or more away for a distinct path and much further for a rest stop we found. what was he doing there? why did he bother to place forgotten clothes so neatly? why wasn't anyone else there?

Week Three

2008-06-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

Week Three was sprinkled with orientations and meetings. After our Borderlinks delegation and week at the children's camp, we headed back to Tucson to start our work with the Non-Profits. Thus far, Viviana, Karen, Rachel, Raquel, and Christina are working at Dereches Humanos. Lucy is working with the Samaritans until her stay at No More Deaths begins. Jose is teaching CPR to the both US-Mexico Borderlinks staff. He will also be working with the Samaritans as well assisting a Dentist at a Border Clinic.

Everyone is working and traveling together so that we can experience pieces of each other's role within their Non-Profits. Thus far, we have attended an orientation with No More Deaths that will also prepare us for Samaritan Runs. We had a morning lunch to mix and mingle with the staff at Southside Presbyterian Church. Right now, we are in the midst of a creative documentary. We've just finished our training and orientation with the recorders and cameras.

Last and most important, we have just our first monsoon! However, today is sunny and bright...

weird.

Week 2 - Raquel

2008-06-21T00:07:00.000-07:00

Today I made a new friend. His name is Ernesto, Ernie for short. He lives next door to my host parents. I met him when he stopped by in search of my host father, José, on the first day of my home stay. He braced his angular frame against the tall, chainlink fence which stood in front of my host family’s home. We greeted eachother and he waited a bit before he asked in rapid Spanish “¿José esta aqui?” His question rattled in the air startling me from my reverie which was caused by the combination of the intense desert heat and the fact that I was still visually exploring the neighboring yards and homes in the community of Bella Vista in which my host family resides. “Sí”, I responded. He groaned and feigned annoyance and subsequently grinned good naturedly. “¿De donde es?” Where are you from?, Ernie asked just as rapidly, or it least it seemed pretty rapid to my ears which were relatively unaccustomed to listening to Spanish at the beginning of my homestay. I was delighted by the window of opportunity created for me to explain exactly why I was there. The reason why I had come to Mexico but more importantly why exactly I felt an intense desire for change in policy related to the borderlands.

I spoke almost on autopilot as I explained where I was from in relation to Nogales, Sonora, Mexico which led to a discussion of DukeEngage and a general gloss of some of the specifics of our Encuentros de la Frontera program. I began feel a glowing sense of pride as I mentally checked off the topics which I covered during our conversation, with me speaking in stumbling Spanish and Ernie responding in slow and patient Spanish. His brow wrinkled slightly and he shifted his weight a little. “Uh oh,” I thought, this is not how he’s supposed to react. Most people with whom I had spoken about the program expressed excitement and wished me well on my endeavor, this was appearantly not going to be one of those cases.

As his body language suggested Ernie went on to politely tell me in more than a few word that he didn’t feel as though my work really meant much in the ocean of problems which surround the border. His questions felt like a deluge of ice cold water.What would my work at a children’s camp during my homestay mean in the grand scheme of things? What about the wealthy and powerful decision makers of our two governments? How were they going to be impacted by my group’s work this summer? I was speechless for a moment but then I regained my composure and thought back to a poem that we discussed in one of our reflections Prophets of a Future Not Our Own. “Nosotros esperamos poner la semilla que otros va a cultivar.” But still he questioned how our work would impact those with the power to illicit change concerning this issue. I was frustrated by his insistance but recognized that he was in some ways right. My frustration turned into a bubble of resenment caused by the fact that he pointed out the glaring flaw in my idealism. I hate to accept defeat thus I think I responded to Ernie with something weak, like, “Well, I hope that our group will in some way impact those with the power to make changes.”

Ernie smiled in response and reassured me that he wasn’t trying to upset me (apparently my poker face is horrible) but I think his questions will haunt me until I find a way to really answer them or until I grow to old to remember my week spent in Nogales during the summer before my senior year of college. It is my hope that the former of those two possibilites rather than the latter will transpire.

Week 2 - Jose

2008-06-21T00:06:00.000-07:00

After having stayed for one week at my assigned home stay, I realized that I can definitely be flexible and that it is possible for me to modify my lifestyle to accommodate the lifestyle of others. As I am writing this, I am leaving from Nogales, Sonora, and I am already missing a unique sense of feeling that I felt this week. Not only did I learn a lot about teaching and making it fun for the kids during the summer camp, but I got to experience an environment that was somewhat familiar yet distinct from my own during my stay with a host family.

The week-long camp was great. The seven of us participated in different educational stations. The main goals were to teach students about diversity and the fact that people living in different parts of the world look different from us. My personal favorite was the sports station (there were also arts and crafts, music, loteria, and cine stations). I helped Vilma, one of the camp leaders, to come up with creative ways so that the daily topic of the camp could be fun and educational at the same time. One of the days we learned about the planets of our universe. We would mention a fact of a planet and asked the kids to run to the planet they believed the fact belonged to. The planets were hand drawn with chalk on the basketball courts outside La Casa. Another day, we learned about the continents of the world. First, we learned the location of the continents in relationship to each other (they were also hand drawn with chalk on the basketball courts), and then we asked all the kids to form a straight line outside the court. We would mention a country, and the kids would run to find the continent and the country where it was found. Every day, when there was a change in stations, we asked the kids that would come to sports to tell us a fact of a country they had learned at the beginning of their day (before the summer camp began every day, we all learned about two or three countries, their form of currency, their traditions, their language, and their typical food). The week long summer camp went really well. We did not have a problem with the little kids; they would do anything they were instructed to do. However, we had a little more difficulty dealing with the big kids. They would only really come to play soccer and basketball, but we managed to get their attention and taught them some facts at the same time. Moreover, to reward them for their patience, we would play a game of soccer near the end of their time at the sports station.

My stay with a host family reinforced in me the values of living a humble and frugal life that serendipitously creates a relaxed environment. Every day, Karen and I would walk to La Casa de la Misericordia for the kid’s summer camp at 8:15AM and return at around 6PM. The route to La Casa was a dirt road, and so our shoes would always be covered in brownish dirt. When it came time to wash our face and brush our teeth, we realized that they did not have running water (the whole neighborhood had the water pipes installed but the water company had not yet opened them for water to flow through the pipes). Instead, they had bottled water that they would buy from water purification stores. Additionally, we had to flush the toilet with buckets of water. A big eye-opening experience was to see that our hosts did not have a room for the kids and another for the parents. They all lived in the same family room. Everything was more communal than in the US and the sister, three brothers, and parents knew what everyone else’s plan was for the day. It seemed that they interacted more as a family than what I have seen in the US. Overall, this created a more relaxed ambient where everyone could say what they had in mind, and the close interaction between all of them enabled the individual to be heard every single time when they spoke. It was almost as if what we call a “lower tier lifestyle” lowered responsibilities and expectations, and you felt more liberated from daily distractions, problems, and worries. I personally felt freer of concerns and about life in general even though I always had a long day of running around in the hot sun.

Interacting with the kids at the summer camp and staying to live with a host family, I realized that I needed to be as flexible as possible and be willing to accommodate to changing circumstances. For the big kids in the summer camp, I would try to come up with something new and fun to teach them the following day (e.g. I taught them to make music with their own hands). I would try to leave them with a cliffhanger so that they would come back, enthusiastically, the next day. I definitely had fun challenging them to see who could handle the soccer ball the best and prevent it from falling to the ground. As for the stay with the host family, I learned how to conserve water and flush the toilet with a bucket, among other things that people in the

United States

take for granted on an everyday basis. Thus, while the whole week was full of activities that required serious physical and mental activity (including individual and group reflections), I loved the experience and the opportunity to share a week and learn from many individuals in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

Week 2 (Rachel)

2008-06-21T00:05:00.000-07:00

Miguel and Alberto.

Our new amigos from the campamento.

Eleven and thirteen respectively, mischievous would not even begin to describe these two. It is hard to say how we became so connected with these boys as so few words were spoken between us. I love how much a smile can communicate unspoken sentiment. Lucy, for instance, speaks just a few phrases of Spanish, yet these kids adored her! They are worried when five minutes have passed and Lucy has yet to make an appearance—“¿Y Lucy?”—I have to console them that she is just refilling her water bottle.

A neighborhood mother described Miguel and crew as “niños de la calle”—children of the street. We met them as they were jumping off rooftops and putting each other in chokeholds. But as we get to know them throughout the week of camp, we realize we have never met more precious human beings. They want so desperately for us to join them in a game of futbol, and above all, they want to please us. They show us their drawings and beg for us—the big kids—to be on their kickball team. As the days pass, we realize how close we have come to the kids. But when Saturday comes, we will leave, and they have to stay here. The thought will not leave my mind—why don’t they have the opportunities I have? How come they live in a house with three families and no running water? How come Miguel’s mother has to work until late in the night and no one can watch him, discipline him, love him? What will become of him as he roams these violent streets for the rest of his life? And how is he so happy? There is a piercing cry of injustice that echoes throughout Nogales. It leaves you nothing short of disturbed.

Week Two Viviana

2008-06-21T00:04:00.000-07:00

I've lost the words to express my thoughts, to capture the joyous moments I shared with the precious children of Nogales, Sonora. The smiles they gave me, the tears I cried for the uncertainty of their futures.

andres. miguel. alberto.

Angelitos.

---------------------

Excerpt from A los caidos en los desiertos de la muerte (Othon Perez)
En memoria de aquellos que por buscar una mejor vida,
Lo unico que encontraron fue la muerte,
En recuerdo de aquellos que todo lo arriesgaron y todo lo perdieron,
Se fueren con la esperanza en los ojos,
Y el desafio en el alma.
El sol los calcino, el desierto los devoro,
Y el polvo borro su nombre y su mirada.

En recuerdo de aquellos que nunca mas regresaron
Ofrecemos estas flores...
A ellos con respeto les decimos:
Su sed, es nuestra sed.
Su hambre, es nuestra hambre.
Su dolor es nuestro dolor.
Su angustia, su amargura y su agonia,
Tambien son nuestras...

------------------------------

**photo by Rachel Pea

Week Two- Lucy

2008-06-21T00:03:00.000-07:00

Week Two-
Noel and Theresa, our Borderlinks guides have dropped us off at the home stay. I'm staying with Viviana. Our host mom, Gloria is awesome. Viv and I are eating vegetarian this week which interesting to me…in that I hardly noticed I wasn’t eating meat. We have two host brothers; one is 17 who we don’t see very much. The other is 5. He’s name is Jesus Miguel and our typical days at the house were spent playing checkers—incorrectly.

My first day with my home stays was filled with children (as was the rest of the week)! It seemed that every street was simply filled with young children playing pick up games of soccer and basketball. Though it certainly wasn’t true, I told one of the children that I was Michael Jordan in basketball. Silly enough, one of the children, Francisco said I was the same height as MJ! However, another child, Jose said that MJ was probably a little bit taller! In case you are wondering, I’m really only 5’7 err 5’8 on a ‘good’ day.

Anyways, this week was spent at the Children’s Camp at the Casa—Borderlinks’ Mexican base. The camp mainly focused on diversity, people and cultures throughout the world. My first station was crafts. Rachel and myself were responsible for passing out coloring sheets, crayons, and glue. We were really surprised when we saw all the children coloring the woman from Kenya as a Caucasian woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. Rachel did a more accurate depiction of a Kenya woman when a boy names Alberto became thoroughly flustered. He kept asking Rachel, “but why is she so dark?” He was so perturbed by the situation that he took Rachel’s picture and showed it to our Supervisor.

However, the most lasting memories were probably those spent with the members of the DE group and the children who became our close friends. Every night reflections were held over coconut paletas. We shared tons of stories with each other about our families, personal backgrounds, and even mistakes we had made. There were more than enough jokes and smiles passed between our selves. Time after camp was spent reflection about our own lives and stories to one another.

Finally, the children who stepped into our lives will never be forgotten. For me, it was my neighbors: Miguel, Andres, Jose, Choakey, Francisco, and Jesus Miguel. (Yea…there were A LOT of kids.) My host mother said that one of the biggest problems in her neighborhood and in Nogales, was the children who were left to fend for themselves because of their parents’ at work in maquiladoras or other forms of unjust labor. Children were still playing in the streets long after Viviana and myself went to be bed. Children at camp were often wearing the yesterday’s clothes or looking as if they had not had enough to eat. Yet through their meager means and my language inadequacy, they taught me something invaluable. Love and friendship prevails over politics, economic plight, and even language barriers. When I woke up on the morning of our departure, I saw all of my young neighbors waiting to say goodbye at 7:30am on a Saturday morning. Love and friendship persist in a place where it would seem so foreign and ill fitting. Nineteen years into this life and I’m realizing that I’m learning more about love and friendship from 7 and 12 year olds than I ever did from my own experiences.

Week Two (Karen)

2008-06-21T00:02:00.000-07:00

This week we moved in with our host families, helped at Borderlink's kids camp, and volunteered at Las Madres. The pace of life was definitely slower than our jam-packed delegation week. But it has been a great opportunity to take it easy and experience the Nogales life.

As I write, our host mother is prepping beef for her son Ramon's graduation party. He is graduating today (June 21) from primary school. Our father commented last night that he wishes Jose and I could stay until Monday so that we can attend the festivities. What striked me when he said this was the realization that life will continue without us.

As obvious as that seems, it is what makes leaving difficult. What will happen to this family? Will Ramon finish secondary school? Or even more simply, after five years, will the family finally get to visit their relatives this summer as they have planned? The same concerns and questions apply to the children we met this week. There was George who has learned English listening to hip-hop and rap. He helped translate for me a couple of times in the afternoon. There was cute little Kevin with teenage parents. There was another girl, who I met Thursday morning, that lives with her mother and two brothers but has no idea where her father is. I wish I could just know that things will turn out well for all of the children at the camp.

Similarly, I think of the migrants we have met not only in the previous week but also at Las Madres, a migrant soup kitchen, this week. In particular, there were three individuals that stood out at Las Madres. There was the man from Utah who had been deported after 30 years. His lawyer was in the process of sorting out his papers so hopefully he is now on his way home. There was the 18 year old boy who had spent four days in the desert before being deported. As a result, he had difficulty swallowing when he arrived at Las Madres. The Utah man took him to a shelter on Tuesday but that was the last we saw of him. Finally, there was another man who had lived in California for nineteen years and was on his way back to his hometown after being deported from Tucson. He was waiting on Thursday for his brother to wire him $200, which was the amount he needed to travel to central Mexico.

Not knowing how their stories will end drives me crazy. But all I can do is hope that change will make living in Nogales, Mexico, and the US better for these individuals down the road.

Week Two (Christina)

2008-06-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Chester, Júan, Alma, and Júan Carlos—my new family as of Saturday, June 14. And quite a family they were. I learned so much about what everyday life in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, entails. This amazing family opened their arms and hearts to Rachel and me in every way possible, and they definitely embodied the phrase, “mi casa su casa.” And even though I am not nearly fluent in Spanish, the conversations we were able to have and the things we were able to learn from each other were incredible. Not only were they able to share some of their story with me, but I was able to also share mine with them. In this way, over the course of one week, we were able to actually build a relationship—something that can sometimes take years to develop.

Not only was I able to learn through conversation, I also learned quite a lot simply through experience. For instance, in the colonia, or colony, in which we were staying, running water is very rare. Therefore, many things are done differently, less frequently, or simply not at all. The climate in Nogales is also something that affects daily life. The extensive heat takes a great toll on the body, and, as air conditioning is also rare, less activity during the hottest hours of the day is a necessity. Living there, compared to life in the United States, almost feels like an entirely different world. A world, however, that thanks to a wonderful family, I also felt so welcome in.

Spending over three hours each day for a week sounds taxing in itself. Add in the great heat of Mexico and the fact that it was the first week of summer, and the energy level of the kids increases, while that of the “adults” decreases. I place adults in quotes, because that’s what we were to the kids—as Lucy put it, “fun adults.” But it sounds so funny for me to think about it in that way. After all, I don’t feel like an adult. In fact, sometimes I feel like those kids have a lot better grasp on reality than I do. Seeing the situations they live in and where they come from isn’t easy. The harsh reality that is every day life in Mexico makes any United Statesan (yes, we coined a new word…after all, we’re all American) look rich. And the thing is, the young kids have no idea; they’re happy with what they do have. The older kids are starting to get a sense of what living on the Mexican side of the border means. As I’m sure someone else will mention, some of the kids know that we’re from “the other side.”

But what does that mean? It means that we can come back. And I’ll be the first to admit that I missed my phone and computer during the ten-day stay in Mexico; I was happy to see all of my material things when we returned on Saturday. It means that after the week-long camp of singing, sports, and arts and crafts was over, we had to say goodbye. It breaks my heart to think just how many times those kids have had to say goodbye. Spend a week with a kid, and there’s so much potential for you both to fall in love. And then what? We come back. They stay there. They know this, and we know this. It doesn’t make it any easier. What if we could just bring them back with us? Ensure that they have the childhood we had. Would that make it easier? We’d like to think so. And for us, maybe it would. But for them, this is home. This is family. This is reality. And as they begin to see the stark difference on each side of the wall, who knows what will happen. This is the hardest part. Did we spend a week with future scholars, future workers, or future migrants? In the words of one Mexican camp leader, Jeanette, this week we planted a seed. And now that seed has hope. We can work and hope now for their future. After all, as the title of a poem / sermon by Oscar Romero states, we are “Prophets of a Future Not Our Own.”

Week 2 (Group)

2008-06-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

As our second week begins, we are dropped off at our home stays in Nogales, Sonora, a border town just a few minutes from the line. The colonia—neighborhood—where we are staying surrounds La Casa de Misercordia, the Mexican counterpart of BorderLinks. “The House of Mercy” is a sort of community center with offices, dorms for visitors, a playground, basketball court and a kitchen where the neighborhood kids come to play and eat lunch on school days. The Casa is where we are holding the children’s day camp during the week. The neighborhood kids—about 100—ages five to fifteen, came to camp each morning to be a part of the excitement.

The day begins with singing led by Profesor Elias, and the group’s favorite would have to be “¡Basta!” a protest song that means “Enough!” Diversity was the camp’s theme as each day we focused on two or three countries and their cultures and all the stations aimed to reflect this theme. Manualidades (crafts), deportes (sports), música (music), cine (movie) and lotería (bingo) comprised the very busy day of activities. The week culminated in a ridiculously crazy water balloon fight that helped to cool everyone down in the 105 degree heat.

Running water is a rarity in the colonia and houses are made of a hodgepodge of materials. We stayed two to a house and enjoyed our nightly paleta runs. Paletas, the new group addiction, are a unique type of popsicle, filled with real fruit—coconut and mango were the biggest hits. Living in the barrio with the kids from camp was great as each night when we walked around the center we would see familiar faces and get to play with the kids on their own turf.

Tuesday and Thursday night we cooked and cleaned for four hours at a sort of soup kitchen for migrants called “Las Madres,” or “The Mothers.” The center is run by a few local nuns to feed and provide a rest stop for migrants who have been recently deported or are about to embark on the treacherous journey through the desert to El Otro Lado—the other side. The city of Nogales is the hot spot of migrant travels, as this is the drop off for those deported and also the town from which most migrants set off for the United States. Cooking dinner was a bit of a challenge as all of the food at Las Madres was donated in bulk, but none of the ingredients went together to form a cohesive recipe per say. We got to be pretty creative in feeding the fifty migrants that passed through each night.

The last night, Friday, we had a fiesta with our host families in the comedor—kitchen—of La Casa, where we had live music and more than enough food to go around. The following morning we head back to Tucson and even get to make a run for the paleta stand as we are waiting in line to cross the border.

Week 1 - Jose

2008-06-14T00:07:00.000-07:00

DukeEngage “Encuentros de la Frontera” has been an excellent experience where everyone in our group has personally been able to see issues on immigration. Being from Laredo, Texas, a border town community with Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, I see many of these issues on a day to day basis, but this experience has enabled me to gain a deeper understanding of immigration. Having the opportunity to talk to migrants who have either been recently deported or are planning to cross to the US has allowed me to learn about the many problems that migrants confront not only when they cross the border but when they travel or arrive in Mexico. More importantly, I got the chance to analyze our current material culture and likewise recognize that there are people who are aware of our societal problems who have decided to contribute to their community in one way or another.

When we arrived in Tucson, Arizona, I was amazed at how similar it was to Laredo, Texas. But it was not until I visited many of the places I will be working in 2 weeks that I realized there is much more to the issue of immigration than what appears on the surface. One place our group visited was Casa María, a soup kitchen. Arriving, I saw many men standing outside the front yard. It was a really hot day but everyone was hanging outside, unlike our DukeEngage group who had just recently arrived to Tucson and was not used to the dry, hot weather - we wanted to just stay in the van with the cool air conditioning. The Borderlinks staff introduced us to Brian, one of the coordinators of Casa Maria. He talked to us about his personal endeavors that included serving food to these migrants, helping them get a job, and fighting to maintain the current bus price (an increase in bus fare would affect all these men that take the city bus since they could not afford to buy a car). Our group realized that Brian, a white man with a college degree was living with $10 a week. After college graduation he had decided to live at an impoverished house, next to the migrant shelter. It was interesting to listen to his life being transformed by the injustices he saw daily and the personal realization that the impoverished were being marginalized even more. It was even more eye opening that such an educated man could leave everything to help others in greater need.

Brian later gave us a tour of the place. When we went into the house, we found Maria and other volunteers making sandwiches for the men. She also lived at a nearby, humble house. It was interesting to know that all the food they had received was food that had not been expired yet but that local grocery stores could not sell to the public, anymore. While this food seemed profitless for the local stores, it had become very essential to the people in Casa Maria because dozens of hungry men were being fed daily. The loaves of bread and ham would nourish these men during lunch while they would try to find a job during the morning and afternoon, hoping that they were lucky enough to land a one or two day job.

Brian also showed us the showers that the men that were extremely poor or homeless would use for free. There were three volunteers that would organize the schedule for the showers. They would work without getting paid 363 days of the year (i.e. already excluding Thanksgiving and New Years Eve). They would go to nearby stores and collect clothes that could not be sold because of a manufacturer’s defect.

Everything that I saw at Casa Maria made me think on the importance of being frugal and consuming only what is necessary. It made me reevaluate the extent of how much people in the United States over-consume and leave to waste. This surplus food and clothes (as well as other material goods) should be distributed more equally. It does not even have to travel far to reach hungry people; goods can be given to the needy people like those in Casa Maria who unbelievably go through hunger every day even though they live in the United States. Additionally, Casa Maria showed me that there are still many people who volunteer and give their hearts to the community - there are still “Samaritans” who do a good deed without asking for anything in return.

Week One (Raquel)

2008-06-14T00:06:00.000-07:00

The Road to Sasabe

In Altar, Mexico our group travelled to a dirt road which connects this town to Sasabe, Arizona. This road would be unassuming and barely distinguishable from any other route in Altar except for three crosses and a pair of toll booths which mark its starting point. Upon the three crosses are the words “mujeres”, or women, “hombres”, or men, and “niños”, or children. These crosses commemerate the deaths which have taken place along this route. Deaths which have come to pass as a result of the traffic—both human and narcotic—that travels through the toll booths and along this route. While there have been attempts to conflate the migration of undocumented workers with illegal drug traffic the reality is that undocumented workers avoid dealings with the often violent world of narcotraffic. People involved in the trafficking of narcotics may collect a fare at the toll booths which flank the starting point of the road to Sasabe but those paying the fare, almost always have nothing to do with those traffickers. But regardless, in thinking about the collision between the movement of narcotics and undocumented migration on the road to Sasabe I noted two common features between the trafficking of humans and drugs along this road—one that both sorts of traffic are demanded by U.S. citizens and two that major human rights abuses have been comitted as a result of these two forms of movement.
Simply put both forms of traffic fulfill U.S. desires. Human traffic fulfills the U.S. market’s need for cheap easily exploitable labor while drug traffic gratifies the insatiable desire for the white powder which fuels much of U.S. drug culture. Discussion about both forms of traffic is marked by rhetoric in which the U.S. refuses to take responsibility for its part in attracting the movement of people and drugs between the U.S and Mexico. The “war on drugs” which became a popular feature in U.S. “policy speak” during the late 80’s is linked to the “Colombian narcs”. While it’s true that narcotraffikers are providing the U.S. with the thousands of tons of cocaine which travels to the U.S. via routes through Mexico, policymakers will continue to find their efforts to stem the tide of drug traffic fruitless as long as there is lack of funding for programs which will aid addicts who crave, or rather burn with desire for the product which is transported to major U.S. cities by narcos. It’s basic economics if there is a demand for a product there will be a supply. While the media supports a notion that “illlegal immigrants” come to the U.S. to take “our jobs”, the reality is that we must be aware of the relationship between the low food prices we enjoy and the exploitation of undocumented Latin American workers in jobs that U.S. workers would never consider taking under the abusive labor conditions of the “third level job market.”
The second common theme between the movement of humans and drugs along the road to Sasabe is the reality of the human rights abuses which arise as a result of this traffic. Narcotraffickers come into communities and transform sleepy towns into havens for the violence which characterizes the drug trade. For instance, many communities in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico become increasingly more violent due to the druglords who have moved into this bordertown.. But the violence which comes part and parcel with the drug trade is not a localized phenomena, it moves as narcotraffickers move and impacts those who are not involved with the trade like the migrants who travel the road to Sasabe. These migrants pay a toll to begin a treacherous journey through the desert to escape the unlivable conditions which have been created by NAFTA and the lack of community development programs in many of the poorer regions of Mexico. On this journey these migrants are often taken advantage of and mistreated by those they come in contact with.

The road to Sasabe is a nexus for many of the ills which have effected Latin American and U.S. society. The losers continue to be the poor and the marginalized while the winners continue to be…well you and me, those who have benefited from parasitic economic policies. While I may not be able to directly transform these policies this summer it is my hope that in some small way I’ll impact those who have felt the brunt of these ineffective policies.

Week 1 (Rachel)

2008-06-14T00:05:00.000-07:00

We shuffle into the courtroom and take a seat on the side. As we take in this new setting, we are struck by the mass of dark skinned men—and women—sitting identically in rows, lining the perpendicular walls of the pristine space. They seem so small, hunched over in their seats, with shame painted over their faces. I sense the anxiousness and wonder to myself if they know why they are here, if they know why “El Norte” has labeled them as criminals.
Just as we begin to take in the magnitude of the situation, a single sound rises above all the rest—the sound of metal on metal. These “criminals” are handcuffed and their feet chained together. As the judge calls each Latino to stand, they wobble forward, the motion made difficult by their shackles. Each defendant utters their plea:
“Culpable.”
“Culpable.”
“Culpable.”
Seventy times over, the downtrodden proclaim their guilt. What is the crime? Why, they crossed an invisible line, of course. They spent their life savings to make a treacherous journey to risk their lives, braving the elements of “el desierto” in the summer heat, to travel to the Home of the Free. They have come here to work. The wages in the maquilladoras—factories—are simply not enough to feed their mouths of their children, let alone fund their schooling. We return to the age old question: a man steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving children—is this a crime? Here, seventy brown people are tried in less than one hour, not for stealing but rather for journeying northward to work for their pay. “Operation Streamline” has made a mockery of the justice system. I wonder if such an atrocity would occur if the accused were of a lighter skin color. When did we criminalize man’s will to survive? Fitting with American history, these immigrants have come to the Land of Opportunity, hoping to live the dream of “rags to riches.” They are not fleeing religious persecution, but rather poverty and starvation. But the people of the United States are afraid that their pure nation will be contaminated, so we build a wall to stave off the “invasion.” Will it halt immigration? Of course not. The migrants are determined to survive, and they will return, no matter how high the wall is. No matter how many Minute Men line the “frontera.” They must return, they have to. You see, they simply have no other choice.

Week 1- Lucy

2008-06-14T00:04:00.000-07:00

Week One

This is my second time coming back to the Borderland. The first occurred during a Borderlinks delegation with Charlie Thompson’s class, Farmworkers in North Carolina. My first experience with the border was nothing short of life altering. Suddenly, the evils of undocumented immigration were exposed to me. I have no idea that people, men, women, even children were crossing the desert every day. They crossed for the simple necessity of economic and financial stability. One of the most powerful quotations that has stayed with me from the first delegation came from a man I met at Groupos Beta. He said, “I would rather died in the desert trying to help my family, than watch my children starve to death at home.”

This second delegation has been quite different than the first. Although, we went to the same places and talked to some of the very same people, the mood of the delegation differed. Traveling in the summer, there were less migrants in Altar—the mecca of the human smuggling. However, I did meet two migrants who had been deported and were trying to cross again. They both wore USA baseball caps on top of their heads. This resonated with me because their hats seemed to symbolize an olive branch or peace treaty of some sort. They wore their caps proudly. They were proud of the U.S. of A, which seemed so ironic to me. As a US Citizen, I criticize my country so often. I criticize the environment policy. I criticize the prejudice and racism that still permeates in schools and work places. I am angered by the discrepancy and distribution of wealth. Yet, here were too men in front of me who were willing to cross, to risk their life just for a chance.

When a migrant crosses, he risks his life. If he fails, he fails himself. Some migrants sell all of their family’s belonging in order to pay a pollero or guide to take him to El Norte. This never truly resonated with me until we visited the Court during a session of Operation Streamline. Men and women chained and shackled, herded into seats by a boy who is scarcely a man. Ten men are trialed at once, in a chain gain. All pronounce ‘guilty’ as if there were no other choices. They are assigned strange adjectives such as felon, unlawful, and misdemeanor. As they are trialed, migrants walk pass me. Some younger migrants look at me with a smirk, saying that it won’t matter what the US federal government does, migrants will fine away. I don’t know whether to approve or feel conflicted. Yet, some refuse to look up, they seem to have had their spirit and soul beaten out of them.

Week One (Karen)

2008-06-14T00:03:00.000-07:00

In the US, we often say that family and friends are the most important things in our lives. But it begs to question just how much we love them. How much are we willing to sacrifice? Can we talk the talk and walk the walk? This week has definitely made me question our claims, my own even.

Family is a constant theme in the personal stories we have heard. The migrants risk their lives crossing the desert. Not to mention the risk of never seeing their families again, risk of US federal prosecution, risk of losing the thousands of dollars they invest in each trip. But what drives them, from the father facing 150 days of jail time to the two men waiting in Altar, is desperation. Hearing these stories stories over and over again makes me wonder if we would be willing to do the same. The teary eyes reveal the constant struggles, concerns, and fears the men must endure. And even if the migrants make it to their final destinations, they are never safe. A few of the men we conversed with had lived up to 20 years in the US before being deported. These men, who speak perfect English, now face the difficulty of returning back to the lives they had built.

But perhaps the story that best reflects these various issues was the one told by the migrant at CAAMYN. Migrants were scattered around the shelter's courtyard so Raquel, Sarah, and I approached two men sitting along the wall to see if they would be comfortable talking with us. As we delved further with our questions, we found out more about this one man. He is a father of two and fisherman, who had lived on the coast in Ash, NC. He came back to Mexico for family, but as a result, he is now caught between the US and Mexico. He mentioned that he owned a boat in Mexico but that the Mexican government would not issue him a fishing permit. He also talked about the difficulties of getting the proper papers to immigrate. You can either choose to stay in Mexico and apply for papers or head to the US to see what you can find, he said. But if you get prosecuted, you are ineligible to apply for future papers. With tears in his eyes, he asked if we could help him. But can we? What can we do to even scratch the surface of their problems?

Week One (Viviana)

2008-06-14T00:02:00.000-07:00

In many ancient religious texts, fallen angels were bound in chains and buried beneath a desert known only as Desolation. This could be the place. (Luis Alberto Urrea, The Devil's Highway)

In March 2008, my documentary class participated in a Borderlinks delegation, much like the one my peers and I completed during the first week of our DukeEngage program in Tucson, AZ and Nogales, Sonora. During my first delegation, I sat in a church pew in Altar, Mexico. Each of my classmates carefully taped a thin strip of paper bearing the name of a deceased migrant onto a cylindrical glass candle holder. The image of La Virgen de Guadalupe printed on the glass shone brightly against the white candle. I lit a flame for the fallen dreams of the migrant, carried the candle during the two-hour caminata to the entrance of Sasabe, the point of departure for those crossing the desert. I set the candle under a white wooden cross built atop a mound of desert sand in honor of those migrants who lost their lives. A memorial site. The sun began to set, the harsh sunlight faded into shades of pink and orange sky.

Yesterday, three months after my first visit, I returned to that very spot in Sasabe and stood for a moment, in silence, at the foot of the white cross. The candles we had so carefully arranged had rolled down the mound and were covered in red sand, the color of aged rust. Jagged glass edges lined the tops of the shattered glass candle holders. The small colored image of la Virgencita could still be seen beneath the dust.

As I walked on, I strayed to the the outskirts of the desert road. Abandoned water bottles, tuna cans, plastic bags lay splattered across the terrain.

A worn pair of children's cowboy boots lay encrusted in the sand. Footprints.

Fallen angels.

-------------------------------------

I ran into a Guatemalan man whom I had met and befriended on my first delegation to Altar. The first time we'd met in March, he was disillusioned, downtrodden, lost. Long after I'd returned to Durham, I kept this man's story in my heart. I was afraid to think of what had happened to him. Had he made to the other side alive?

I was shocked when he walked into CCAMYN, a migrant shelter in Altar, Mexico. He was alive. Smiling. His plans had changed, he told us. "Tengo muchos suenos". He found hope and dreams of opening a soldering shop of his own in Mexico, with his eyes set on one day acquiring a visa to the U.S. Amidst all the sadness and fear I saw in the eyes of migrants preparing to cross that day, my Guatemalan friend walked in to remind me of the light that could still be found in this desperate situation. The beautiful resiliency of humankind.

-------------------------------------------

Throughout this first week, I have been painfully aware of the racial undertones driving our border debates. The most outstanding example of this was our group's day in court, witnessing the prosecution of detained migrants in Tucson, AZ. Seventy dark-skinned men stood shackled in the room. White lawyers. White officials. Seventy dark-skinned men tried and convicted in less than one hour. Echoes of slavery.

**photo by Rachel Pea

Week One (Christina)

2008-06-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

(written June 14 in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico)

I can’t believe it’s only been one week. One week since I flew into a brand new city to spend my first summer of college with brand new people. As I look back on this week of brand new experiences, it’s hard to explain what I’ve seen and felt. From the faces to the wall, there have been so many thoughts and feelings.

The Borderlinks delegation has provided our DukeEngage group with a great introduction for the rest of our summer. We have heard many stories about immigrating. The stories, fortunately for us, have come from migrants themselves. To sit and listen to such personal stories and not know what to do or say is a difficult situation to be put (or put yourself) in. After all, as we are discovering, there is no one solution to the massive problem that both the United States and Mexico currently face. The not knowing what to do or say, however, is becoming a norm that we must deal with in order to begin communicating across borders.

Which brings me to the wall. What is “the wall” anyway? I surely had no idea what this phenomenon for closing our borders looked like. But here in Nogales, Sonora, it’s just that—a tin wall of varying heights along the border separating people that once were neighbors. It prevents any kind of crossing, whether people or animals, and has recently become a place of expression. Alberto Morackis, a local artist, uses the Mexican side of the wall as a gallery depicting the migrant journey. In other places, “the wall” takes a different form. For instance, elsewhere in Southern Arizona, “the wall” is the desert. Due the physical wall, thousands of migrants have died attempting to find work and provide for their families by crossing through this less direct wall.

Another form “the wall” takes is in us. It’s easy to put up a wall when thinking about the deaths—to dehumanize immigrants and make them the villains. But behind this wall, we are human. And so are “they.” And, as we have learned and hoped this week, maybe someday that will be enough.

Week One (Group)

2008-06-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hola. Somos de la Universidad de Duke en Durham, Carolina del Norte, y estamos aquí con un programa que se llama DukeEngage. Este programa existe alrededor del mundo y nosotros escogimos venir a Tucson, Arizona, y Nogales, Sonora. Vamos a trabajar con organizaciones en Tucson como No Más Muertes, Los Samaritanos, Coalición de Derechos Humanos, y una iglesia presbiteriana que se llama Southside por seis semanas después de regresar de Nogales.

Hi. We are from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and we are here with a program called DukeEngage. This program occurs all over the world, and we chose to come to Tucson, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora. We are going to be working with organizations in Tucson like No More Deaths, Samaritans, Human Rights Coalition, and Southside Presbyterian Church for six weeks after returning from Nogales.

This speech was heard many times during our first week of this DukeEngage program. Our group had the opportunity of meeting with many different people and organizations to learn about border issues, so introducing ourselves and the program was a regular occurrence. During the first week, we participated in a delegation through BorderLinks, a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering knowledge about and rights of the border. Below is a brief description of the places and people we were able to learn from on this delegation.

In Tucson, Arizona:

Crossing Arizona:
Crossing Arizona is a documentary that displays all views of illegal immigration through the Arizona desert. Many people are featured, from both right and left political views, and it is a very comprehensive exhibit of the vast issue at hand.

Mike Wilson:
Mike is a member of the Tohono O’Odham Nation. The reservation is near Tucson, Arizona, and migrants regularly die on the land. Mike is an active member of Humane Borders, an organization dedicated to placing water stations in the harshest parts of the desert. Due to his status as a Nation member, Mike is the only person allowed to put out water on the Reservation.

Operation Streamline and the Tucson Courthouse:
Operation Streamline is a new government program created to deter illegal immigration. Daily, 50-70 migrants are brought to trial in the Tucson Courthouse, charged with a federal crime, and deported. It takes less time for a migrant to plead guilty and be repatriated than to plead not guilty and suffer the judicial process.

Casa Maria:
Casa Maria is a part of the Catholic Worker Community in South Tucson. It provides food to the homeless and food boxes to neighborhood families. It also distributes blankets in the winter and works for justice in causes that affect the homeless. Workers at Casa Maria willingly live on a ten-dollar per week salary, as suffering with the people is a Catholic Worker policy.

In Mexico:

Alberto Morackis and the Nogales border wall:
Alberto Morackis is a local Nogales, Sonora, public artist who uses the border wall as a place of expression. His work reflects migration and issues of the border. Militarization of the border in Nogales began with the building of the wall and Operation Safeguard in 1994 and has since increased. The 14-foot wall prevents the crossing of people and animals between Nogales, Sonora, and Nogales, Arizona.

Casa de la Misericordia:
The House of Mercy is a partner of BorderLinks on the Mexican side. Besides housing BorderLinks delegations during their time in Mexico, it also has an adult education program and offers many opportunities for children in the area.

Grupos Beta:
Grupos Beta is a federally funded agency with approximately 15 sites along the United States and Guatemalan borders with Mexico. It offers basic services such as food, water, a phone call, and information to repatriated migrants.

Altar, Sonora:
Altar is a starting point for many migrants heading north. People gather from all over Mexico to find guides, also known as “coyotes” or “polleros,” to help them make their way to the United States. These guides often lie to the migrants about distance and travel, and they charge a very high price for their services.

CCAMYN (Centro Comunitario de Atención a Migrantes y Necesitados):
The Attention Center for Migrants and those in Need, CCAMYN, is a catholic center in Altar that offers shelter and food for migrants. It is a free and safe place for those often taken advantage of by guides. CCAMYN also offers valuable advice about the dangers of the desert before migrants travel north.

Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

2008-06-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

It helps now and then to step back
and take the long view
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction of
the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives
include everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations
that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s
grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, no master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

--attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero
(1917-1980)