Back at the US- Mexico border in Tijuana, Jaime and his mother Yolanda have made tremendous strides in professionalizing their services at their shelter El Jardin de las Mariposas and making the space as clean and safe as possible. The shelter, once a rehabilitation facility helping people with substance addiction, opened their doors to LGBITQ+ asylum seekers waiting to cross the border and claim asylum in the US. El Jardin has become a resting point for those who had to flee. A space where they can take a breath and have the facilities to properly rest and prepare for their asylum process. As the shelter must comply with the civil protection unit regulations in Tijuana, Jaime came up with the idea to purchase fifteen smoke detectors, two mop buckets and twenty signs for the guests. The shelter is proud to be self-managed and a collaborative house, where each resident does their part to keep it clean, tidy and safe. It’s a real community! Jaime told us "We work to be a … [Read more...] about Spring Cleaning Along the Border
Campaigns
Smiles all around in Tijuana
We’re back at Casa de Luz today working with our partner ORAM in the amazing LGBTIQ shelter in Tijuana. After spending some time in the shelter, we became aware that many of the residents had some minor health problems and were in need of a quick check-up with a medical professional. Good oral and eye health is important for overall health and well-being while they wait to cross the border. Access to LGBTIQ-sensitive health care and dental services becomes particularly challenging for LGBTIQ asylum seekers during their journey to safety. Many either choose not to visit medical care or to conceal their sexual orientation and gender identity for the fear they might be targeted and marginalized. For some, they had never sought care for oral and eye health issues. While recognizing the specific medical needs of LGBTIQ asylum-seekers, CM365 and ORAM decided it was crucial to offer and provide these residents a place to go with verified LGBTIQ friendly health services. Five … [Read more...] about Smiles all around in Tijuana
Connecting with the outside world
We’re back in Tijuana at Casa de Luz, working with our partner ORAM to do the doable. Caza de Luz is a growing vibrant LGBTIQ collective of LGBTIQ asylum seekers who are waiting to claim asylum in the U.S. After brainstorming with the community, we soon became aware that the house was in desperate need of a computer and printer so they can stay connected with the outside world. So we jumped straight to it and created a printing station, installing a new computer and printer. This solved three main issues in the shelter. Number one, the residents have been able to print important documents for their asylum cases and partake in ORAM’s weekly legal assistance services, so they can be the best prepared for their asylum cases. Number two, the residents can now regularly stay in contact with their friends who have already crossed over to the U.S. through video calling. This allows them to continue checking in on one another, share information and support one another on their … [Read more...] about Connecting with the outside world
Splashing Around
It’s our final day with Aanne in Ethiopia, and let’s just say we’re going big before we go home. Aanne wanted to do another fun activity with the youth she got new clothes for and had a delicious dinner with. It wasn’t hard for her to figure out what this final day should look like together. The community lives next to a nice water park that is too expensive for them to be able to visit. Aanne said that “they can see the park from afar, but its untouchable, unreachable for them.” Today, that would change, as the 70 kids all piled into buses that would end at the water park. This was such a different experience for so many of them! It was a totally new experience, and they were even excited to just touch and wear the bright orange lifejackets. The group covered the water park, going down slides, swimming through the pools, and feeling happy living in the moment. It was such a nice way for Aanne to finish her visit with the group, and she was pulled left and right by … [Read more...] about Splashing Around
French Fried Felicity
Hello, hello! It’s day four in Ethiopia, and with Aanne as our lead, we’ve got another day to focus on youth. Ethiopia has over two million internally displaced persons, or people who have been forced to leave their home but remain in their home country. Many of these people are children, and many often don’t get to experience the same things that others their age do. Aanne wanted to change that and spark some joy with a group of youth in Bishoftu. She set out to get a group of 3-15 year-olds a new set of clothes — sports jerseys and shorts — and take them out for dinner. At dinner, sitting in a fresh new set of clothes, all 70 of them tasted French fries for the very first time, and many of them had their first sip of soda. “Being served like this was something special for them,” Aanne said after the meal. “People feel like a ghost in their own country, so bringing joy to them even for just a day meant a lot.” … [Read more...] about French Fried Felicity
Get A Kick Out Of This
Welcome back to another day of change making in Ethiopia with Aanne Atomssa! As we’ve seen over the last couple of days, items like menstrual pads and water filters can be absolutely necessary to live a safe and productive life. But we also believe life is more than just the basics, and living a dignified life also means promoting joy and fulfillment. Before leaving on her trip, Aanne knew exactly what would be able to spark joy amongst the youth that she met. As in many places in the world, children in Ethiopia love soccer with a passion. So Aanne’s kids in Minnesota helped her pick out some balls, and she was able to bring over 40 soccer balls that she could share with the communities she visited during her trip. People were ecstatic. “Just to get the chance to touch a ball—the smiles—it was amazing,” Aanne told us. “And I made sure they knew that soccer wasn’t just for boys. I told them that my daughter played soccer, and that she was excited they would get to as well.” … [Read more...] about Get A Kick Out Of This
Water Water Everywhere
Hello, hello! It’s our second day with Aanne in Ethiopia. She has arrived and started some of her projects — like distributing reusable menstrual pads provided by the organization Days for Girls. Today, she’s focusing on water. For many of us, clean water is a normal part of our lives that we so often take for granted. We turn on the tap and assume what is coming out will be potable. But this isn’t the case for everyone. In the Rift Valley region, Aanne visited a community whose water was coming from a salty lake that was also expanding uncontrollably, meaning that the communities around it often did not have access to safe drinking water. To help make the water safer, Aanne purchased water filters to purify the water and buckets that could be used to store the water. The community was so surprised. They’d had visitors come again and again to take photos and ask the people about their experiences living in the Rift Valley region, but no one had actually provided something that … [Read more...] about Water Water Everywhere
Welcome to Ethiopia
Our Changemakers team has made it to a totally new location with a new host! Meet Aanne Atomssa (below, center), a member of our finance department in Minneapolis. But Aanne is way more than just a member of our US team. She is a humanitarian who is not afraid to bravely be better and always makes time to do the doable. Aanne is also Oromo — from Ethiopia — and she has spent the last 20 years living in Minnesota, calling both places home. She does a lot to foster community here in Minnesota and realized a couple of years ago she wanted to do more of that hard work in Ethiopia as well. About a year and a half ago, Aanne went back to Ethiopia for the first time since she left, focusing on a project to help build houses for internally displaced Oromo women and their families in her a community. Now, Aanne is back to check in on them, and to continue her hard work with the communities she cares deeply about. On this trip, Aanne is partnering with Days for Girls to bring … [Read more...] about Welcome to Ethiopia
A New Screen
Today, we’re in El Salvador, continuing our work at the youth innovation lab in Apopa. One thing that is certain about the community center is that when it’s filled up with children and adults alike running around, it gets hot. For safety reasons, Sister Conchy will often keep the door closed, trapping the hot air inside with little opportunity to cool the place down when participants have left for the day. They used to have a screen door that would keep items in the building secure while still letting the airflow through, but it broke and they weren’t able to pay the costs to fix it. So today, we finally got that door fixed again! Now this way, people can run around and have fun in the center, and Sister Conchy can use her new fans and fixed screen door to keep it cool. If you’d like to support doing the doable and making change each and every day, make a donation to fund Changemakers 365. Meet Sam! Sam developed an interest in forced … [Read more...] about A New Screen
A Little Italy in El Salvador
It’s our last day in La Chacra—at least for now—and we’re sad to be leaving them, but making sure that we do so on the right note. Similar to how we ended up celebrating with a taco party in Apopa, we had the group decide together what they wanted to do as our last activity together. A short debate ensued, as it wasn’t long before people decided what they wanted was to have a pizza party. So Sister Betty and our driver Moises piled into the car to pick up boxes of pizza, bread sticks and sodas to make the party possible. Everyone lined up to get their portion and munched happily away on cheese and pepperoni slices topped with extra cheese. If you’d like to support doing the doable and making change each and every day, make a donation to fund Changemakers 365. Meet Sam! Sam developed an interest in forced displacement, food insecurity, and identity while working on her master's degree. She’s now using this knowledge to support Changemakers 365 across … [Read more...] about A Little Italy in El Salvador