Viterbo sends students to the border in service

While other students spend their spring breaks resting or partying, a group of almost 30 Viterbo students decided to spend it at the Mexican border as part of a service trip. The experience lasted from Thursday, March 5, until Thursday March 12, and took place in and around the community of McAllen, Texas.

Sister Laura Nettles of the FSPA, one of the service experience’s leaders and organizers, explained that “our experience here is to understand the culture and the people and the crisis at the border.”

On Sunday, students visited the Donna detention center where hundreds of people are kept after being detained by border patrol. The group was not able enter the facility, despite many attempts to organize or speak with border patrol.

Reports have stated that the spaces are cramped, overcrowded, with families separated by gender and age, and only allowed to see each other once a week. There, the Franciscan sister led a remembrance prayer as she listed the names of 128 other holding facilities.

The next stop was to part of the infamous border wall at Hidalgo, Texas. There, the sister led another remembrance for those who had died in the last few years trying to reach the border. She listed dozens of names along with their ages and manner of death; many shot by border patrol or killed by coyotes—human smugglers who are paid thousands of dollars to transport people to the United States, and are often violent and abusive towards those they escort—or from dehydration. There were dozens of names, with ages ranging from age two to late 50’s and those were only the ones who died in that five-mile stretch. Three of them had died during February.

Monday began with a talk from Ofelia de los Santos and Lupita Vargas, accredited representatives who work through the diocese Immigration Services to help immigrants navigate the complicated process of becoming a citizen.

Afterwards, the students began the first of four days spent in service to the community. The students were split into groups to go to one of three service sites: Nuevo Progresso, Mexico, La Posada, and Catholic Charities Respite Center.

Talking about her experiences in Nuevo Progresso, senior social work major Harley Large said, “At first it was the tourist section, but after that we dove deeper into Mexico we came to impoverished areas that lack the necessary resources we as Americans take for granted like electricity and a toilet.”

In Mexico, students were guided by Sister Maureen Cosby, who has been working with the local community for over 30 years, helping provide basics like food and clothing, as well as helping sponsor kids to go to school. Students accompanied her as she checked in with several sponsored families.

“That is where the real change is happening, education,” says Dina Wampfler, who has been working with Cosby for years, often acting as a translator. “When children are allowed to get an education, they have more opportunities. Girls are waiting longer to start families. That has been one of the biggest and most hopeful changes we’ve seen.”

Two of the sponsored children are the twin daughters of Angelica Maria. The girls are in fifth grade, and their mother makes piñatas for a living. She makes 10-15 a week and only earns $5 from each one. As a single mother, money is always tight, so her entire family must help her make the piñatas. Angelica Maria was happy her daughters are given a chance to get an education.

Another of the service locations was La Posada, a nonprofit that serves those who need help after crossing the border. It is run by an order of nuns, three of whom live on site as full-time staff.

Marne Boehm volunteered there, the senior biology and philosophy major stating that “I liked it, I like learning about the different organizations, the needs they’ve identified in a community and how they’re working to address that.” Such needs are transportation, food, references to legal services, and a place to stay. La Posada offers 23 beds where guests can stay as long as they need to.

The staff has seen major shifts in immigration policy, as before they would transport refugees and those who crossed the border directly to border patrol in order to get their documents sorted out. Now, the staff can be arrested for ‘trafficking’ illegal immigrants to the border patrol office.

Students assisted with basic tasks such as cleaning and gardening, as there were relatively few refugee clients on site, which was also due to changes in immigration policy.

The third site was the Catholic Charities Respite Center, where refugees can have a safe place to stay while awaiting their hearing with the immigration courts. There, students were directed to help sort and organized donations.

Michelle Pinzl, a Viterbo Spanish professor who accompanied the group was impressed by the energy the students had while they were at the respite center and the impact on the space in the time they were there.

In explaining their zeal, nursing senior Emily Pachan says that it felt good to help in a more tangible way when faced with such huge problems as immigration and “Yes, let us make your world better in whatever little way we can.”

Students were also there to interact with the clientele. Many students played with the children who with their parents have traveled thousands of miles from places such as the Congo, Guatemala, and Haiti. Language posed little barrier though for having fun.

Jamie Duwat is a freshman music theatre major. She is fluent in Spanish and acted as a translator during the trip, a skill that became especially important at the respite center. When asked, Duwat says that she studied Spanish for a long time and that “I’ve always wanted to use language in that way to break down barriers, and this is the first time I’ve gotten to do that is so exciting. Today, getting to ask them about their lives and wishing them well, it’s a childhood dream come true.”