“We can’t teach what we don’t know and we can’t lead where we can’t go.”
When I tell friends and family that I’m taking a border trip at the beginning of March, there are many responses… Taco Bell? Canada? Minnesota/Wisconsin? And most often it’s just, “WHY?”
The U.S. /Mexico border. This is not a trip that many have the opportunity to take unless they are fleeing one side or the other. This is not a trip that I should say I’m excited to go on and yet I am. I need to educate myself and then, hopefully, others about what I experience, learn and observe.
I will be traveling with 9 other people who are part of a group called ‘Welcome the Stranger’ to Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico. We will walk from one country to the other and back again. I believe we all have our own personal reasons for being a part of this trip. What weaves us together is our belief in that no matter where we are from, there's more that unites us than separates us.
We will be connecting with a group called the KINO Border Initiative whose vision is “human, just, workable migration between the U.S. and Mexico.” We will also be working with the Sisters of Loretto whose mission is “work for justice and act for peace because the Gospel urges us.” In connecting with these groups, we will work at El Comedor to serve people who are newly deported or possibly gaining nourishment before crossing. We will support No More Deaths by replenishing water stations in the desert. We will witness court proceedings around persons who have crossed into the United States illegally. We will connect with a women’s shelter and visit a sanctuary supporting church.
Maybe some of you reading this are still really stuck on this whole border thing... as something more than an imaginary line drawn through the earth once shared by indigenous peoples. I get stuck, too. I do. And so I seek out information, research and personal stories.
Luckily, one of my friends from Peace Corps-Bangladesh, Reece Jones, is a professor of Geography at the University of Hawai'i and recently released his second book, Violent Borders: Refugees and the right to move (now available on Amazon). This is one book that I plan to read this month in preparation for my trip. Although the research often surrounds what is happening with Syria right now, it also applies to borders worldwide. In it, Reece states, “Borders that are open for corporations, capital and consumer goods but closed for workers and regulators are creating dramatic inequalities in wealth and opportunity within individual countries and at a global scale.”
There are many books that I’m reading in preparation for this trip (see list below) and I’m reflecting on personal connections.
What I know is that I have stared students in the face countless times knowing they are here to reunite with family and/or to flee the danger and poverty that enveloped them elsewhere. I have former students from Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and other countries who have crossed the U.S. Border as children. Some have been accompanied by other adults, some by paid coyotes, and others through a range of transportation methods and connections that seem so detailed, yet full of unknowns, and still some with stories that are filled with violence, trafficking, manipulation and shame.
And, yes, I’m still talking about children. Ages 12-15. I have looked into the eyes of a young boy and known that if he were not in front of me and in the safety of Minnesota that he would be most likely be dead. I have seen chipped teeth on a young girl who tripped over rocks in the middle of the night in the desert. I have read personal poems and stories that reflect experiences and grit that far exceed the author’s age. At the end of the day there's a disconnect. I have travelled with a passport and no further questions about my annual salary or family ties to numerous Mexican and Central American cities while others struggle their whole lives to cross a border to reunite family and seek peace and prosperity.
I’ve heard family members and friends say that my students and their families should just “get in line” in order to migrate north to the U.S. I’ve even heard this on the news and in print. But there is no magical line. In order to come here from developing nations there are many exclusive factors and unique challenges. I’m not skilled in explaining them and thankfully have attended many talks by immigration attorneys and asylum and refugee organizations that I have given me more clarity.
Here are three quick references:
The truth is, I have heard so many stories but I still have no idea what my students and their families have gone through. They speak their truth and all I can do is offer my ears to listen and not judge. I can have compassion and try to understand how trauma can affect the ability of a child to learn and thrive, but I'm hoping this trip will help me have a better picture and stronger understanding of the people who are most often demonized.
So I write to work the details out in my head as best I can. I write to ask you, my friends, family, and maybe even the rare stranger who connects to my blog to consider a monetary or physical donation. Here's a list of the organizations and needed items.
Consider dropping off some extras… on my doorstep or work cubicle. Consider sending me cash with a designation for one of the linked organizations so I can deliver it in person. Consider adding my travel group to your prayers and, more importantly, to add the people who need and deserve compassion and peace to your prayers as well.
I will be updating my blog throughout my trip. I fly out on February 28 and return on March 4. I look forward to your comments and questions through this experience via my blog.
“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 was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me’” (Matthew 25:35-40 NASB)
Although my trip to Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico is less than two weeks agway, Olga and Pedro helped to ground me in the importance of solidarity across nations, across borders, and within our hearts.