February 10, 2020
"Hello, How Are You?" or
Reflections from Week #2 Along the Border
As anticipated, our second week at the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, held its own revelations. Each day various aspects of this immigration story became a little more clear. It was like peeling back layers of an onion, like discovery learning. Some of what I learned came from the internet, as I read more and more, which led me to ask more questions and connect more dots. Some came from other volunteers who are more knowledgeable than we are. Some I experienced myself. In the end, we are left with a very incomplete picture - but we know more than we did.
In last week's post, I wondered how the asylum seekers in the Matamoros encampment manage to survive with no obvious income or chance to work. I learned that it's not just Catholic Charities that offers support. In addition, the following organizations - and no doubt others - are helping:
- Team Brownsville, a small group of retired teachers, has been bringing hot food every day for 18 months. They began when there were only 50-100 people in the encampment and have continued as the numbers have dramatically increased. You gotta love teachers :)!
- Global Response Management, an international volunteer group that offers medical care to people in crisis situations. They have a clinic at the encampment. I visited it briefly and spoke with a nurse from Illinois who is helping for a week. Here's a sweet NY Times story featuring one of their young docs, himself an asylum seeker from Cuba.
- Child Fund, formerly known as Christian Children's Fund. Another international agency. This one offers education and child protective services to help reduce the trauma of upheaval. We rode in their van with four of their passionate, committed young professionals who work all over the globe in camps such as those in Syria and Kenya, where refugees can spend their whole lives as displaced persons. In Matamoros, they hope to collaborate with other agencies to set up opportunities for play and education for the children in this camp.
- Unicef and Doctors Without Borders also have a presence in the Matamoros encampment. We wondered if there was competition among NGO's and overlapping of services. We were told that the United Nations has the responsibility for coordination of agencies in situations like this.
Doctors Without Borders van
- World Central Kitchen. Jose Andres, the famous chef whom we first heard of when he brought good food to the victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, has set up food trucks in the Matamoros encampment and is encouraging other chefs to assist him.
- Family. Some people have relatives in the US who are able to send money to help with their support. We had previously heard that remittances are one of the major sources of revenue for several Latin American nations.
School outdoors, held sporadically.
This encampment is small, as refugee camps go. It has come to life just since President Trump enacted his policy of Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), requiring Latin American natives to wait outside the US until their interview for asylum is heard. Interviews are held very sparingly these days. The policy has certainly nearly stopped the flow of migrants into our country. At the same time, it has created a situation of miserable limbo and desperation for thousands of people, their lives on hold in a dangerous situation.
Rows of portable toilets
Washing clothes at outdoor sinks.
On one of our trips to Matamoros this week we met David. He was supposed to have waited behind the tables but, like several other kids, he had ventured behind the lines to see what we had in our wagons that day. We smiled at him. He broke into a return smile and courageously said, "Hello, how are you?" in halting but proud English. Of course, we responded and began a little conversation from a beginner English class. David was 9 years old, from El Salvador. With excited confidence, he shared that he planned to go to Los Angeles to join his dad. We pray that he is allowed to.
Another sober little child approached us to ask if we had socks. The day before had been bitterly cold. Sadly, despite the hundreds of bags of used clothing available at the Respite Center, we are not allowed by the Mexican government to bring them across the border to the encampment. Something about the NAFTA Agreement, I was told.
What we found in Matamoros is not a pretty picture. In the end, we have to believe that compassion and generosity, as well as hope and resilience on the part of the asylum seekers themselves, will bring us all to a better place. That, and our votes next fall.
Our time at the Respite Center has concluded - for this year. Already Bruce and I are thinking about a return visit next winter, possibly for a longer time. Not a whole winter, as it's tiring work and we probably couldn't keep up the pace for more than a month - and there are so many other places to visit! We're not up to our 92 year old friend who works six half-days a week for three months! He's our hero. He has told me more than once that he never thought he'd live to such a ripe old age. He attributes his longevity to four pillars of his life - learning, working, moving (physical exercise), giving. This bit of wisdom had been shared with him as a younger man, and he has tried to live by it.
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