04/18/2023
Here is my thank you letter for all the sponsors of our trip March 5th:
Hello Friends,
I would like to personally thank you so much for your support for the trip to Tijuana, Mexico on March 5th. We had 5 adults and 5 children on the team this time and I was impressed by everyone's eagerness to help in any way possible, especially the children!
We had a training session the day before, in which I did a presentation on the challenges and new opportunities for migrant support, the children learned to tie balloon animals and run the carnival games. I passed out a sheet with basic Spanish phrases and the kids got busy practicing on each other.
On the day of the trip, we stopped by Costco Tijuana to buy socks, underwear, diapers, feminine items, hygiene items and soap according to the needs list that was provided to us from each hostel. Thanks again so much for your contributions! We were able to buy enough items for the needs of both Movimeinto Juventud and Espacio Migrante.
When we arrived at Movimiento Juventud, an open-air tent shelter of about 100 people, we got busy distributing the items. I was impressed by how everyone on the team got to work breaking down boxes, opening packages and setting up the distribution. The children were absolutely amazing in that there was no complaining at all; even the youngest kids pitched in with their talents. This just reminds me about the potential of children when you give them a purpose they can believe in. The migrants were amazingly grateful, kind and patient. The men waited patiently while the women collected their items, The queue was orderly and the women even helped each other collect items. I absolutely love the attitude of the migrants and am reminded that gratefulness does not depend on circumstances. After the distribution, we set up the carnival. I had brought 4 games: a wheel spin, skeeball, ball toss and bean bag toss. Again, every migrant, both child and adult, was patient to wait their turn and immensely grateful to receive a small prize. I was incredibly busy but I was able to get a few photos and videos of my team in action. We tied so many balloon animals that our fingers were getting sore, but we wanted to make sure every child who wanted an animal would get one.
I was able to speak to a few of the migrants in order to listen to their stories and give their journeys dignity. I must say that it saddens me to find out what terrible circumstances drove them to the border zone.
Due to security and legal concerns for the migrants, we do not want to show their identities as some are fleeing cartels and may need to make statements for their asylum case.
At Espacio Migrante, we also distributed items to the migrants, who are housed above the community room. This hostel has more Haitian and South American migrants who tend to be families. We were able to distribute items and run a carnival also there. I found out that some of the staff are actually refugees fleeing their respective countries of origin also. I was able to interview Jessica, who fled Haiti through the DR to South America and Stacie, who left El Salvador and trekked through Mexico to arrive at Tijuana. The interview with Jessica is posted on Facebook site in the link below. As I looked through the crowd, I saw a migrant who appeared to be completely blind and in pain. Through the staff and in talking to her, I was able to find out that she had an infection (maybe rheumatic fever?) when she was little and was subsequently blinded by it. Her eyes are necrotic so she lives with 10/10 pain in addition to her blindness. I contacted a mobile ophthamology clinic through a primary care doctor I know in Tijuana to see if they could help her. Her name is Daysi and please do keep her in your thoughts as I cannot imagine living in her circumstances.
Some of you may know that my daughter, As., has been in a Spanish dual immersion program for 5 years. I will be the first to admit that Spanish can be difficult for a young child to grasp. There are colloquialisms, irregular conjugations and multiple contextual translations that can bewilder a young learner. And, I must also admit, that sometimes it is difficult for Ashley to find motivation to do her Spanish homework with me. I wanted Ashley to see the power of her bilingual skill; that is not for herself but for others that she works. Ashley loved running the carnival and talking to the migrant children! I have a clip of her speaking Spanish at the prize distribution table attached. In addition, even though she is one of the youngest, adults asked her for translation help and she was happy to oblige. I think she is starting to see that her bilingual superpower is indeed special, but it is not a right as much as it is a gift that needs to be given away. In that way, I hope that she can see her motivation to be for something greater than herself as she trudges through the inevitable difficulties of foreign language acquisition. And I think she has moved closer to that when in the next morning she said to me, "Daddy, thanks for taking me to Mexico."
Here is my Serve Migrants page I just started. Please follow and like!
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092005475476
Thank you again for your support!
