A Light in the Darkness

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 new homeland.  

Dora met with our group last night.  

I tiny woman with a non-stop wistful smile carried a lit battery-operated candle throughout the evening.  

After retelling her story, she went on to talk about just trying to live her life and recover from the trauma she had endured.  "But", she said, "when in 2016 we began to be denounced as 'murderers and rapists' as a society, I could not longer stay quiet."  

She began to tell her story and to work to help those crossing the border.  Her organization, Casa de la Esperanza is is helping the town of Sosabe, to thrive. Working in the desert near Ajo, where she was found, she provides for those awaiting their hearings. "I hear people say the immigration system is broken." she said.  "It's not broken. A lot of people are making a lot of money on the backs of these migrants."  

She brings light.  Not just with the candle she carries, or the smile on her face.  She has made it her life mission to provide hope to those seeking to emerge from the darkness.






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