Written by Eleanor Williamson (Border Trip 2024)
After yesterday's experiences, today was more of a restorative and restful day. However, it was no less important or impactful.
We started the day reflecting on what we saw and experienced yesterday, noting our highs and lows and realized as we shared that many of our highs and lows were tied together.
One of the most meaningful moments for me was watching the members of our team play kickball with the kids at the Migrant Shelter. It ended up being both a high and low for me of the day because it was so joyous to hear the laughter and screams as balls were kicked and kids tripped over one another trying to catch it to get some of our team out of the game. However, just before this, I had sat with a man who had been at the shelter for over a month with his three children fleeing organized crime who targeted his family. It fell upon me that all the joy in this space was underlined by the heartache and trauma that led them to be in the shelter at this moment.
Many of these kids witnessed their family members being attacked or even their homes burnt down. It was not a joyous journey and yet as we kicked around balls and played our game, there was nothing but joy and happiness that filled the courtyard of the Migrant Shelter.
Reflecting on this made me remember all the videos and stories coming out of Gaza to showcase the pure joy and playfulness of children amid trauma and heartache. We spoke this morning about the resilience that children represent and yet how unfair it is that those children do not get to only be children. They must also represent resilience and support their families.
So it was a high and a low, realizing how unfair and yet beautiful their situations are.
We then had the opportunity to visit the local community college, Cochise College. We spoke with the Dean, Abraham Villareal to learn about the institution and all the resources and accommodations they have for students across the trans-border community. Some students cross over every morning from Aqua Prieta and catch a bus in Douglas to get to campus which is about ten miles outside the city limits.
Once at school, 26% of the faculty and staff are Spanish-speaking and able to accommodate the majority Latino student population. They also offer English for Speakers of Other Languages which is a four-semester program to help Spanish speakers learn enough English to succeed in their classes. Cochise College has two campuses and plenty of online students, meaning they serve about 10,000 students and have a robust athletic program that draws in international students who live on campus.
As we walked around campus, the care the administration has for their students became abundantly clear. Not only in the beautiful campus decorated with roses and greenspaces but also in the Student Union that boasted a Senior Art Gallery and a cafeteria with freshly made food.
As we entered the resource center, we realized not only did the school have a library with academic resources, but a whole different center intended to help with tutoring, career endeavors, and the daily needs of the students. This included a large food pantry that was stocked with donations from Walmart and the local food banks.
We were shocked by how beautiful and abundant the campus was, but what stood out to me was what Dean Villarreal mentioned when we asked about the number of students from Aqua Prieta. He pointed out that Douglas is an economically depressed city, which we all had noted from our walking around the city. However, the only reason Douglas is still surviving is because Aqua Prieta sustains it and provides all the needs for the city to be fulfilled and vibrant. It is for this reason many people in Douglas lead trans-border lives. If they are lucky enough to be documented and able to cross back into the United States, the residents of Douglas fulfill their needs by crossing over and getting what they need from Aqua Prieta.
However, these cities are mutually beneficial because the education and resources in Douglas provide support for the people of Aqua Prieta. Many children cross the border in the mornings to attend school and people cross to get groceries and visit with their families. Of course, these are the residents of Aqua Prieta who are lucky enough to cross back and forth.
One of these residents we had the absolute pleasure to have lunch and a conversation with.
Rosie Mendoza has worked for Chiricahua Community Healthcare for sixteen years during which she has provided medical care for people in transit, including Aide Hernandez who is featured in the book The Death and Life of Aide Hernandez: A Border Story which we read before coming to Douglas.
All of us walked away from the conversation shell-shocked by how incredible Rosie is. Not only has she dedicated her life to helping and serving people, but she is also incredibly funny, witty, and nonchalant about all the care she extends to people.
Rosie has dedicated her life to not only providing necessary healthcare for people but also advocating for victims of domestic violence. As a victim herself, she knows what it is like to be abused by a partner and works hard to make sure other people take care of themselves and can leave their situations safely.
She expressed how important it is that it is available for victims in the United States to be able to leave the homes where they are being abused because in Mexico, it is illegal and not a right people have. This means they feel trapped in their situations. Oftentimes, an abuser comes across to the rest of the community as being an upstanding citizen, kind, and overall a wonderful person. This is why it is so hard for victims, both women and men, to be believed. A domestic abuser does not abuse everyone, they choose a victim - their partner.
One of the other challenges with domestic violence that Rosie has encountered here in Arizona is that there is no mandated reporting of domestic violence unless someone comes to get medical care and has an open wound. This means that even if a woman repeatedly comes in with bruises or handmarks, no one is mandated to report the abuse she is going through.
Rosie has worked hard to make sure healthcare workers can recognize the signs of domestic violence to contact her so she can get the victims to safety and hear their stories.
Aside from all this wonderful work with victims of domestic violence, Rosie is "the Queen of Loopholes" as one of us noted, in the way she works the system to its full extent to provide care to undocumented people and get all her clients the best care and resources she possibly can.
All of us walked away wanting to be a little more like Rosie and she was an inspiration to all of us - at the very least she was an inspiration to me and I am so grateful we were able to talk with her.
We finished out the day with some time to rest and were taught how to cook tortas for dinner! It was so much fun to piece together dinner as a team, with the help of Miriam and Mark of course, and to enjoy the fruits of our labors!
As much as today was more restful and restorative, the people we spoke with were passionate and amazing leaders in their communities. I walked away with so much new information and light shone on how Douglas/Agua Prieta works and the beauty of a trans-border community.
Even though Aqua Prieta and Douglas have two different languages, two different names, two different cultures, and two different countries, they are one mutually beneficial community. One cannot exist without the other and the only thing that keeps them apart is a 12-foot border wall.
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