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
Campaigns
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
The First Step
How do you begin to help when someone needs everything? How can you choose what to give when they have next to nothing? I felt this sense of helplessness when I met Veronica and her six children. She had newly arrived family from Matamoros, Mexico, and were being served by the Sisters at San Felipe de Jesus in Brownsville, Texas. They had claimed asylum at the beginning of May after being forced to flee their home, fleeing extortionist threats from the local cartel. Failure to comply with extortion already resulted in the disappearance of her husband, and according to her neighbors who warned Verónica not to return home, their oldest son, 13 year old Armando, would have been next. Verónica and her children left town with nothing, arriving at the border solely with the clothes on their backs. Currently living in a dilapidated trailer behind a Brownsville taqueria, Verónica and her family need everything. They need food, clothes, medicine, and a new home. So for this family, … [Read more...] about The First Step
Being Human
El Proyecto Desarrollo Humano (The Human Development Project) is true to its name. When we pulled up to the premises, we saw a group of women under an outdoor pavilion doing Zumba, while their children played in the park. Sister Fatima helps to run this facility, which gives community members access to sewing classes, an organic garden, medical and dental services, a computer lab, English classes, youth education, and a thrift store. It's a place that truly focuses on the development of human beings in their entirety. But like many organizations in places like Peñitas, Texas, the resources that Proyecto Desarrollo Humano possess are far more limited than its community’s needs. In our brainstorming session, Sister Fatima noted that this has negatively affected attendance of many of their classes, particularly because they've struggled to provide childcare. This means that many of the community’s mothers - who would love to do Zumba and learn English - are unable to do so with … [Read more...] about Being Human
The Next Stop
The cellphone began ringing at 9:44 AM. It was an assistant for Sister Norma, reminding us gently that she had a very brief window to meet - and she didn't want to be late for her next appointment. So we quickly parked our car and ran to the door, where the Sister was waiting to greet us. Such is the life of Sister Norma Pimentel, one of the leading faces of the humanitarian effort to help displaced peoples near the U.S.-Mexico border - and consequently, one of the busiest people on the planet. She's the Executive Director for the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, and on this day, was meeting us at the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas. For many migrants, the respite center signals the last stop of the Rio Grande Valley portion of their journeys. They arrive on buses coming straight from the detention facilities that have housed them for or months. Their stay in the Respite Center will be briefer - less than a day - but Sister Norma and her colleagues do … [Read more...] about The Next Stop
A Special Meal
There is a philosophy behind 365: “When the world’s problems seem insurmountable, we do the doable.” The problems that lead to displaced peoples — the humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border included — are deep-rooted and complicated. And I realize that they're problems that can't be solved in a day. There are large scale, deep rooted causes that need to be addressed - but we also need to do what we can now. Rayo de Luz in McAllen, Texas, is a good example of an organization that responds to the “now” by doing the doable. A significant homeless population exists in this community, and while the root causes are complex, addressing the immediate needs of that community was something we could do. Rayo de Luz is a non-profit led by Sister Shirley of Little Falls, Minnesota. Every Tuesday morning, Shirley and her small army of women volunteers provide breakfast outside the Sacred Heart Catholic Church to struggling individuals in the community. The breakfast is … [Read more...] about A Special Meal
A House, a Home
Howdy! My name is Bill Boegeman, and I'm a high school social studies teacher in Forest Lake, Minnesota. Some of my students are from Central America - refugees now living in the U.S., many of whom made the journey to the States alone. Their stories are amazing - spending hours in cramped semitrailer trucks and trunks of cars, hiding from the Federales and narcotraficantes as they trekked across the Mexican desert. It's difficult for me - and my other students - to imagine what these young people have been through, what hardships they have already endured, and the complexities they're faced with now. So I wanted to go see for myself - and do what I could to help teenagers and families who are still at the border, who are faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges. And to try to make a difference, one day at a time. I traveled with Alight to the Rio Grande Valley, a vast area encompassing the southern border of Texas and parts of Mexico. In some ways, it feels a little bit … [Read more...] about A House, a Home
Healthy Living
Chickens, feed, water containers, cages. What more could chickens possibly need to maintain their health?? Being a city girl, I wasn’t too familiar with the ins and outs of raising healthy chickens. But our team and families in Ispalal were quick to tell us that to raise really healthy chickens, they needed the full health package. Part of that package is vaccinations. “There were chickens in the community before, but many of them also contracted illnesses," said Tahir from Ispalal. "It’s a big problem here that we’re not able to address.” Not only were vaccinated chickens not easily found, they were also more expensive, which of course made sense. What was pleasantly surprising was that we ended up finding them nearby, and from a women-owned collective! These women understood the importance of vaccinating chickens for longevity and were on a mission to bring this awareness to those around them as well. “The chickens are really healthy and happy here in Ispalal," said … [Read more...] about Healthy Living
A Breath of Fresh Air
One of the first things I noticed about Ispalal, aside from the radiating warmth of the community, was the ample open space surrounding the small houses. It was incredibly beautiful – lots of fields upon fields, owned by local landowners, spaces for children to run and play, and for animals like goats to roam! It was so different from the places I had lived, which were mostly in cities. With this vast space came clean air and beauty, but also stray animals looking for their next meal, usually at night. And chickens seem to be the highlight of their menu. “I used to have a few chickens before but they either got eaten by animals or were stolen,” said our friend Fauzia. "While people tried to find alternative ways of keeping their chickens secure, most of them didn’t contribute to them being raised in a healthy way." Wanting to foster an environment where chickens could thrive (and not be lunch for the odd coyote or two), we took the help of a local nearby carpenter to make some … [Read more...] about A Breath of Fresh Air
A Little Feed Goes a Long Way
I’m taking you back to Ispalal today, a community right outside of Islamabad. It holds a special place in our team’s hearts - my teammate Fatima decision to take us to visit immediately after we arrived! As soon as we got there, I felt I was meant to be there to meet the bright and dedicated children attending our non-formal school and experience the love and hospitality of the families that live in the area! Through our initial conversations, we found that the women of Ispalal were interested in raising chickens right alongside their beautiful fruit and vegetable gardens. And they were on board with ensuring that the majority of eggs laid were shared with the children attending the non-formal school. “Our children go to school hungry sometimes. If we start raising more chickens, sharing the eggs is the right thing to do. This way, the children can eat and study more and more!” Fauzia told me. Through additional deeper conversations, we quickly found out that in order to … [Read more...] about A Little Feed Goes a Long Way