Meet Betto. He's the shelter manager at CAME (Centro de Atencion Al Migrante Exodus), and is responsible for making sure this shelter operates safely. When we arrived in Agua Prieta, Mexico, where the shelter is located, there were about 30 residents in there hailing from Mexico, Venezuela, and even as far as Russia. Betto has been working at this shelter for over 20 years, and in that time has seen many residents come and go, and move on to a better life. Betto really cares about his residents. He was particularly worried about people coming from Russia - they have a had time communicating in Spanish, or even finding foods familiar to them. CAME’s budget has been slashed as donations have started dwindling, so residents have had to sink into their own funds to stock the communal kitchen and even to purchase shelter cleaning supplies. By gifting CARE with culturally appropriate spices, fresh produce familiar to the residents, and hygienic cleaning supplies, we were able to … [Read more...] about Exchanging Hope
Changemakers365
Gone But Not Forgotten
For Sister Judy of the Sisters of Notre Dame, celebrating life, even until its end, is a powerful way to remember and honor those we've lost. And she wanted to show us why. Following GPS coordinates, Sister Judy to where Nora Cecilia Huetas Hernandez's body, a migrant attempting to cross the border, had been discovered in 2003. As we approached the site, a white cross came into view. The crosses are a reminder of migrants who are lost in the desert. And with the help of the Sisters, these people are remembered. Through a symbolic celebration of life ceremony that includes community members, a Native American shaman, and a meal shared together and a handmade cross, the Sisters take time to honor the lives that were lost. Their ministry is called the Cross Planting Initiative, where they work to learn about the unknown migrants who have died trying to cross. Once a month, they lead a group out on a cross-planting ceremony where they hand-make a cross and give the person a proper … [Read more...] about Gone But Not Forgotten
A Splash of Color
Sister Christin Ann of the St. Agnes Sisters is a self-described activist in Washington DC and locally, a defender of human dignity. She has also dedicated herself to the transition house that their nonprofit Somos La Misma Familia (We Are One Family) runs, where no fees are charged for services that strive to promote healing for women who have served time for drug-related charges. To help in their mission to improve wellness for both the body and mind, we decided to make a run to the local market - and to buy out most of the art supply section. We provided the center with paints, brushes, canvas, and journals, so that women can practice different methods of expressing and empowering themselves in vibrant ways. Creating art is a way to re-imagine the future, to build bridges, to foster understanding and to work collaboratively, all things that help to promote peace. What is Sister Christin Ann's solution to making our border areas a great place to live? "We need to stress … [Read more...] about A Splash of Color
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Hi! I'm Jilla from the Alight team, based out of Minneapolis. This week and next, I'll be sharing stories from some of the work we've been up to with asylum-seekers on the U.S. Mexico border - people who are working their way through the immigration process - and those who have stepped up to help them. Less than 30 minutes away from Naco, Mexico, on Purdy Lane, lives a group of St. Agnes nuns. They're committed to ‘building a happy and safe community’ for asylum seekers along the international border. I was immediately impressed by their immense compassion for the people they're called to serve. I was also surprised by their love of all things cats and their mid-west décor from their home states - in the middle of the desert no less! Sister Susan and Sister Kathy were particularly inspiring - they work to provide legal counsel to immigrants so they can become US citizens, a dream many strive for in these parts. Right now, 127 of their cases are open, while another 20 are … [Read more...] about Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Missing Home
Every day, Sister Sindi and Marina walk through their Brownsville neighborhood, checking on families in need and welcoming new neighbors. This is how they met Maria, a young mother of six children who recently sought asylum from a town directly across the border, seeking refuge from ongoing violence and extortion from their family business. Sisters Sindi and Marina quickly realized with six children, Maria needed support. “The way you see them today is how they arrived. They have nothing,” Sister Marina shared. To make ends meet, Maria sells caramel apple dishes in the neighborhood, but this only goes so far. We asked the kids what they missed most about their home. Among the top were “our cousins, our house, and our food.” The 13-year-old boy added “Pizza!” The Sisters and San Felipe de Jesus parish in Brownsville have been fundraising to move Maria and her family into more adequate living conditions. They're also working to get the kids vaccinated before the school … [Read more...] about Missing Home
Something for Everyone
The community center within Proyecto Desarrollo Humano (The Human Development Project) is a busy place. Community members and their children come together to learn new skills, study, and complete group projects together. The center is run by Sister Fatima, a Catholic nun from India, who's spent the past few decades in the Rio Grande Valley, working with Mexican immigrant mothers. While there are many activities taking place each day at the center, the children lack things to do to keep them busy while their mothers are tending to the organic garden, sweating it out in Zumba, or in sewing class. During a brainstorming session, the parents said they wished the kids had more things to keep them occupied, items all kids enjoy – toys, coloring books, blocks. Sister Fatima has built a center that allows mothers to be mothers - and we wanted to make sure the kids could also be kids. A quick run to Walmart resulted in tons of bright toys, sports equipment, and coloring … [Read more...] about Something for Everyone
Catching the Rays
Hello hello! I'm Annie, a proud member of the Alight team that's doing the doable at the border. I'm excited to share with you a few stories from people we've met on this journey - and some of the good we've been able to leave behind. Every Tuesday, without fail, the women of Rayo de Luz buy groceries and use their own kitchens to bring a warm meal to the homeless community in Harlingen, Texas. They relentlessly show up with $20 of their own money each week and 54 tacos and hot coffee in hand. They always start at the back of the line. Because as Sister Shirley believes, “the last shall be first.” When the last person is served, the women quickly clean up and rush off to their "real" jobs. The 12 Latina mothers who make up Rayo de Luz are everyday people from the Harlingen community, many immigrants themselves. They're giving back in the small ways they can, one person at a time, with a warm meal and a warm embrace. “The most important thing is that they feel welcome,” … [Read more...] about Catching the Rays
A New Pair of Pants
Reynosa is a border town in Mexico across the Rio Grande from Hidalgo, Texas. After crossing the international bridge, it doesn’t take long to realize that you’ve entered another world. Specifically, you've entered the Mexican state of Tamaulipas — a place that provides refuge to those fleeing violence and poverty in other countries, while also creating refugees of its own due to the violence and poverty that exists within its borders. La Casa del Migrante Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, directed by Sister Catalina, is one of the shelters in Reynosa that tends to displaced peoples. When we visited on one of the last days of July, the shelter was only about half-full. This was not the case for their sister shelter in Matamoros, which had received the group of deported Mexicans for the month of July. But the shelters alternative months - and with the calendar soon to change, the Reynosa shelter was gearing up to receive the August group of deportees. The people who arrive … [Read more...] about A New Pair of Pants
A Bridge Between
If you stopped to tie your shoe while following Elisa of the Angry Tías y Abuelas across the Gateway International Bridge, you might get left behind. Elisa walks with a purpose, pulling behind her a rickety cart stocked full of personal care packages for the newly arrived migrants on the other side. She makes this journey six times a week, setting out on foot from her home in Brownsville, Texas, crossing the bridge into Matamoros, Mexico, distributing the care packages to the migrants who have come to seek asylum, and then hurrying back across the bridge so she can pass through American customs and leave on time for work. As she loaded me up with care packages outside the Matamoros aduana, Elisa told me to first take care of the women. Her resources are limited, and that's who she wants to help first. What's more, the care packages that Elisa has put together contain some products that men would find little use for... It soon became clear that one of the best ways we could … [Read more...] about A Bridge Between
Back to School
Sister Maureen slams on the breaks of her beat-up, red pickup truck in front of a small, ramshackle home in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. She asks the young girl outside if her brother is home, and the girl goes inside to get him. A moppy-headed teenage boy emerges and tentatively approaches the car. He is one of the many children in the impoverished border town who is “sponsored” by a community member in Maureen’s home of Progreso, Texas, just across the Rio Grande. “Where are your thank-you letters?” Maureen asks in her soft but distinctively Bostonian voice. “Se me olvidé.” I forgot, said the young boy. Maureen told him that she would return in a few days, and that he should have three letters written by then, one for each sponsor. “I’m gonna haunt you if you don’t,” she says only half-kiddingly as we pull away. Sister Maureen visits Nuevo Progreso about four times a week. Accompanied by her friends Vicki and Ken, they roll through the community, stopping at different … [Read more...] about Back to School