Nogales...

I have taken every chance I have gotten to learn more about the services here in Nogales and about the men and women that utilize them everyday. While my responsibilites are primarily towards the comodor, I have plenty of time to do what I want to do. However the big news at the comodor is the thieves! Each night for the past week he have been robbed of food, buckets, and brushes. Last night they managed to take 50 kilos of potatoes and a whole fridge worth of eggs. I am almost impressed...

I have been spending my afternoons with No Mas Muertes. I group that provides phone calls, basic medicine, and money transfers for dozens of migrants that pass through Nogales everyday.
I have found that the services here in Nogales do not cooperate all that well. I have been told on a number of occasions that "la carpa" or the tarp, the area next to the border and where no mas muertes is located, is not safe and not all that helpful for migrants. I have found quite the opposite. Many migrants have told me that NMD is the best service for migrants here in Nogales... I believe it. "La carpa" is also the only place that migrants can stay for longer than 3 days.


I also have spent a bit of time at La Roca, and shelter that overlooks the border fence and houses 10, 15, 20, 35 migrants each night. While the migrants can only stay for two nights, it is a nice place. There is a mass each evening and often the migrants cook together and then share the food. The commrodery and simple style reminded me of the Ox.





Many migrants who are holed up in Nogales do a whole lot to not only stay busy, but to support themselves. They make crafts, sell vegetables, and wash cars. I have watched and have attempted to learn the process of making these neat pens that mnay of the migrants sell in the center. Its impossible...




Nesto, a good friend of mine and my first student in English classes here in Nogales...

Thanks to the idea of my mom, I have started holding English classes. I had my first class this evening. Two students, one of which is a nun that works at the comodor, and the other is Nesto. Nesto is a real neat guy who tried to teach my how to make the pens. He was also born in Irapuato. So we have had a lot to talk about. Anyway, we are having classes for 25 minutes after each meal. I think, and hope, that we will have a bunch of takers. Vamos a ver...


This is Jesus. He is an incredible individual. He arrived in Nogales roughly the same time I did. He lived in the states for 40 years. 40 of them. He ran his own construction company in Los Angeles. He has two daughters. One is a teacher at a community college in California and the other is in Iraq serving for the US military. He is, like many deported migrants here in Nogales, stuck here. He has no where to go in Mexico because all his family is in the states and he cannot go back to the states unless he wanted to cross illegally (he thinks he is to old to make the trip... I think he can make it). However his outlook is still incredible. He helps clean dishes after each and every meal and expects nothing in return. There are many people with the same situation as Jesus, but few who have the same outlook as him. I am blessed to have been able to share time and conversation with him.

Take care all and I will update more soon.