Carolyn's Big Adventures

 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2023 Last full day in Tucson. Our first order of business is to visit Casa Alitas in Tucson. This huge facility is processing center for Temporary Asylum seekers, for the purpose of checking them in and getting them into the computer system, meeting any immediate needs and releasing them to their sponsors- ideally within 72 hours.  Founded in 2014, it was started entirely by volunteers.  For the first 6 years, they saw a slow increase i the daily number of asylum-seekers. By 2021, they were seeing 100-150 per day. In 2022, it rose to 300-800 per day and this year, they have seen as many as 1200 per day! They have quickly ramped up and now have staff and around 800 volunteers. While the majority still tend to be from South and Central America, Cuba, and Mexico, of late there are increasing numbers of folks from India, Africa (Senegal and Mauritania, especially); Eastern Europe, Russia, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.  Caleb, one of the Operation Managers, walk

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 (part 2) In 1980, a group of El Salvadorans left their homeland to escape the terrors of the civil war that was escalating there.  Over their month-long trek northward toward asylum in the US, the 2 coyotes hired to lead the group abandoned them in the brutal Sonoran desert south of Tucson, AZ. Toward the end, they were resorting to drinking perfume and urine to survive.  The large group dwindled to just 13 before they were found by Border Patrol and taken to the Ajo hospital. One of the group was 17 year old Dora Rodriguez, subject of a photo depicting her near-lifeless body being carried by a Border Patrol agent that hit the national press and brought to light the plight of the migrants from Central and South America escaping violence. Lost, scared and near death, she was put in detention after her hospital release with a $2500 bond set on her head.  The trial took 1 year and she was eventually granted asylum and did her best to blend into obscurity in her ne

 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2023 It's time to leave the border. I'm exhausted. Not only physically, but psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually. Our last venture was a walk along the Agua Prieta side of the wall followed by a farewell to Joca, who had been our guide throughout. Remember the desolation on the US side? Not here.  Bright colors. Images of animals that cannot be contained by a man-made barrier- hummingbirds, snakes, sparrows, eagles, butterflies.   And HOPE.  We can't shut out HOPE.     

 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2023  This is the day we walk through the desert to the wall. I'm guessing, but in our group of 18 women three are probably under 40. The rest of us are 50's, 60's or 70's.  We run the gamut on physical fitness. Some have done a lot of traveling. Others not so much. But we are all extremely invested in the trip. We load up in our vans and go to a local substance abuse rehab center to join our 5 guides for the day. So, now we are a bevy of mostly seniors led by non-English speaking recovering drug addicts, driving 5 miles into the desert to walk two miles in 90 degree heat. The level of discomfort is palpable. We have been informed that if we don't think we want to do the two mile hike, we can stay in the shade of a giant nut tree (don't know the name, but the nuts are similar to an almond) located on a private ranch that allows the rehab center to bring groups such as ours for this desert experience. Under it was a 50 gallon water barrel m

 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023 After our first overnight in Agua Prieta, we spent the morning at Cafe Justo as their guests for  breakfast and their delicious coffee!  We shared a time of fellowship and reflection before going to one of three Children's Enrichment site that Frontera de Cristo manages. The staff serves children through upper elementary, providing breakfast, lunch and makings for a small dinner with each student.  We presented the director, Marina, with a collection of books that we had brought along to donate.  The staff treated us to lunch and we were on our way back to Caf é   Justo  where Daniel, one of the founding  members of the co-op,  took us on a tour of their  coffee roasting  enterprise.  From the first 7 families from Chiapas who started as members of the co-op, the "robust" sales have enabled them to expand to now serving 45 families, providing a competitive price for their beans without markups by middlemen with the big companies.  Many of the

 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2023 Today, we drove from Phoenix to the US/Mexico border at Douglas, AZ.   The drive between Phoenix and Tucson was familiar, having driven many times when I worked for the Presbytery de Cristo and to see my daughter when she was a student at the University of Arizona. We drove past the Gila River Reservation, where many dear friends live, we passed through Tucson where I had circulated with natural born US citizens, with Native American citizens, with naturalized citizens, with undocumented citizens- with people. Tucson is a beautiful place 122 miles north of the border.  A university town, there is a rich diversity of cultures, especially Mexican and US, with amazing restaurants, museums, tourist attractions and shopping. It is a large city that still seems small, somehow.  We kept driving two more hours, c rossing the desert in the comfort of a 20 passenger van. We arrived in Douglas, AZ just in time for dinner at the beautiful, historic Gadsen Hotel.  There w