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Letters from the FieldApril 22-Earth Day, 2007 El Paso, Texas-Ciudad Juarez, Mexico Dear Friends, Special greetings to you from the border of Texas and Mexico. I have just finished two days of work with grassroots people in this area “where first and third world meet.” As I talk with friends in different countries, I realize that the stereotype of the U.S. is one of affluence and opportunity, so I wanted to write this letter from the field to describe another reality of a border population, largely unknown to most of the world. For several years I have offered Capacitar workshops in El Paso, Texas, this time at the invitation of Franciscan Sister Maureen Jerkowski, SSSF, director of Centro Mujeres de la Esperanza-Women's Center of Hope. Maureen and Sr. Maureen McCarthy, congregational leader of the School Sisters of St. Francis, recently completed our Multicultural Wellness Education training at the Center to BE in Wisconsin. Together they participated in the border workshops with the desire of integrating Capacitar into their ministries, particularly with programs for migrant women and families. Centro Mujeres is a wonderful center with the unique description of being located in the poorest postal ZIP Code in the U.S.-79901. Many people who live in this area of El Paso are undocumented, most without jobs or income, many recently arrived in the U.S.. In the nearby colonias (poor community settlements) over 60,000 families live without running water, some without electricity or with “pirated” electricity, and many in poor shacks made of old wooden crates, corrugated metal roofing, old tires and other recycled materials. El Paso is a fascinating fast-growing city of over 800,000 people, in a striking desert setting along the Rio Grande, one of the most contaminated rivers in the world. El Paso is called the largest Port of Entry in the world, the “Ellis Island of the South”. For friends from other countries who receive my letters, Ellis Island was in past centuries the holding place for immigrants coming from many lands to America. An island in view of New York City, this is where the Statue of Liberty stands with open arms saying: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses longing to be free. . .” Many of our forebears passed through Ellis Island, escaping places of oppression, desperate to reach a land of freedom and opportunity. And now this southern “Ellis Island” greets the masses with a fence. Maureen drove me up the mountain that cuts through El Paso, where you can look down into a sprawling city that at first appears to be a large continuous community. Then you notice the long chain-link fence and the bridges that separate El Paso in the U.S. from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico. Juarez, the city on the other side of the fence, has a population of over one and a half million inhabitants. This is the place where many come from all parts of Latin America, Mexico and third world to wait, preparing to cross into the United States, legally or without documents. Up until the 1990s there was no separation between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. For generations families lived on both sides of the border passing back and forth freely, often daily, to shop, work or visit family. For many years people without documents just walked across the border or waded across the Rio Grande to the other side, supplying the U.S. with valuable labor for agriculture, factories, slaughter houses, restaurants, domestic service and construction. An estimated 8 to 10 billion dollars (“remittances”) is earned each year and sent back to support families and communities by over 150,000 undocumented Mexicans who labor with the quiet acquiescence of both government and industry. Since September 11, 2001, government officials have enacted new policies to protect U.S. borders with strict immigration procedures and with thousands of new Border Patrol agents. Billions of dollars have been allocated for building a long wall with cameras and surveillance equipment along the border, from Texas through Arizona and California all the way into the Pacific Ocean. Ironically the construction of the massive wall is currently on hold because it was discovered that the company who won the bid for the job also employs undocumented workers! Legislation recently passed in Texas gives local El Paso police the additional responsibility of being agents of the Border Patrol. Other groups of “Minute Men” have formed along the border to act as armed vigilantes to catch the “illegal aliens”. Those caught are often imprisoned and deported by U.S. or Mexican authorities, sometimes with excessive force and abuse. Yet in spite of all these measures, an estimated one thousand men, women and children make it across the border every week just in the El Paso area alone--crawling through tunnels or under fences, walking through the scorching desert heat carrying their few possessions and gallons of water, concealed in cargo spaces in vans and buses, and often coming with “coyotes” (those who traffic people across the border at an outrageous price of $5,000 to 7,000 a head). Many die along the way, especially those who cross the hot desert without sufficient water. Or they are killed or robbed by bandits in desolate places of crossing. The most dangerous journey is often made by hanging under trains or between the cars of a train, and many arrive without limbs or are crushed to death. As Maureen and I drove along the highway we actually saw three young men suddenly jump out of a car and rush to get onto a cargo train that was preparing to move. Maureen took me to “the fence” in a poor area on the El Paso side. As two Border Patrol agents watched us from their truck, we stood by the fence in solidarity with the people who suffer on both sides. In the dirt around our feet lay scattered a sleeping bag, a lost tennis shoe, articles of clothing and other personal items, probably dropped as men, women and children attempted to jump the fence in the middle of the night to make a run for it into the U.S.. From the El Paso side we looked through the chain links into Juarez with its squalor of shacks, humble dwellings created out of refuse, dirt paths, water cans and garbage. We tried to imagine what it must feel like for a person from Juarez to look into the U.S. seeing a life of opportunity for families, the modern buildings of downtown El Paso and the homes of affluence in the distance. Maureen recently participated in a Mass, celebrated on both sides of the fence by bishops and grassroots people. The altar, the hymns, the scriptures, the words of communion, united people standing on both sides. At the greeting of peace, people touched fingers through the chain links of the fence offering hands of peace, healing and blessing to each other. In this border context Maureen directs Centro Mujeres de la Esperanza, a multicultural faith-based community that brings hope and support through outreach to women and families in El Paso, Texas, in Southern New Mexico and in Colonia Siglo 21 (Community of the 21st Century) in Juarez, Mexico. Centro Mujeres empowers women through classes and programs on spiritual development, personal growth, preventive health, family and community development and skills development. The center serves over 1,100 women each year, with the conviction that by working with these mothers, caregivers and many times, heads of households, they will have a far-reaching positive effect on their children and communities. Offerings range from citizenship classes, English and computer skills, stress classes, financial literacy, to cake decorating. An important new class “No Means No” was developed by a woman police officer to educate local youth on the importance of respecting each other and avoiding being a sexual assault victim or perpetrator. One of the most popular classes is “Valores y Vida” that builds self esteem by exploring values, decision-making, conflict resolution, past issues, patriarchy and power. Maureen feels that Capacitar will be a valuable component of this program helping the women to heal and transform their lives, as well as their families and communities. In the course of the Capacitar workshops in El Paso and Juarez, I became aware of some of the deeper issues affecting the border communities. One workshop for 42 Mexicans was held at the parish hall of Santa Cruz in Juarez where Sr. Betty Campbell, RSM, has worked for over 13 years. Maureen and I visited Betty's humble home near the parish, where she and Fr. Peter Hinde live in solidarity with the people of Juarez. On the wall surrounding their small garden and meeting area, Betty has painted some striking murals with the names of the hundreds of women and men who have been brutally murdered in Juarez. Since 1993 an estimated 600 women and 400 men have been raped, tortured and killed, with their mutilated bodies dumped around the city of Juarez. Another 2,000 women and men have also been kidnapped and disappeared during this time. The profile of these women and men follows a similar pattern-poor, often working in maquilas (sweatshops), from families too poor to demand justice. People who have tried to investigate have been killed or are under death threat with phone taps and surveillance. Recent articles and a book by Diana Washington Valdez, an investigative reporter in El Paso, have implicated Juarez police, government officials and people at high levels of the society on both sides who are connected with drug and police cartels, with huge corruption and political cover-ups around the issue. At the border where there is little employment, often women, men and children survive using their one marketable skill-prostitution. “Jose”, a young man who participated in our Juarez workshop, shared that he was an orphan and in his early years was forced into prostitution just to survive starvation. He currently works as a health promoter in the colonia and as an advocate for the gay community that suffers great abuse because of the “machismo” and homophobia of the society. Capacitar is committed to walk in solidarity with the people of the border doing what we can, sharing our lives with these wonderful people. In collaboration with Sr. Maureen Jerkowski and Centro Mujeres de la Esperanza, we will offer an in depth training in 2008-2009, to train more people from both sides in Capacitar practices. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians describes how “we are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God.” In the midst of the current reality may we work for justice, understanding and healing at our borders so that as members of the human family we can indeed recognize that we are truly one! With peace and blessing, Resources:
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