Reflection of the 2008 Border Trip

The border has always intrigued me.  As a child, I imagined it as a magical line where one world turned into another.  Later on, my sister gave me feminist literature about the border culture, and I became even more enthralled by the ideas of machismo and the feminist revolution of the Chicanas.  My freshman year of college, my boss told me about an opportunity we sometimes offer to travel to the US/Mexican border for an experiential learning trip.  I was hooked right away.  As soon as I got the opportunity this year, I signed up to be one of the lucky nine on the trip.  I never regretted it for a minute.

The nine women on the trip were amazing.  I had forgotten how these trips cause people to quickly bond and turn from acquaintances to close friends.  When we got on the plane, we had all met briefly beforehand on a few occasions.  When we landed back in Minnesota, we all hugged good-bye and promised to stay in touch and to spend time together, both socially and working for change.  Those are the best friendships: those grounded in mutual passion and with a mutual goal.

I was greeted, everywhere I went, with open arms, open minds, and open hearts.  I never felt homesick; I always felt I had never left home.  Our host families embraced us as their own; the Women’s Intercultural Center took us in and cared for our every need, and the organizations enthusiastically welcomed us.  My host mother in Anthony is the most amazing woman I have ever met.  Single mother of three with a fourth on the way, she gladly took in six strangers for dinner and three for the night, catering to our every need.  Our host siblings loved us and played with us and forgave us our poor Spanish.  I have never felt so at home while far away.

Our talk in Juarez about the femicide was the hardest talk we sat through.  She had our attention from start to finish.  Her gruesome tales you would expect to find in a horror movie, but they took place on the sidewalks in front of the house we were sitting in.  Her eyes filled with tears as she talked about the topic she was so passionate about, the topic that had changed every minute of her life, making her constantly at risk for attack, for persecution, for death.  Her strength, through all, shone through.  Her desire to create change was encouraging.  She had still not lost hope.  Every small victory was a moment of glory.  I left feeling a little empty, very aware of a small knot of fear in my stomach.  If we let this happen here, we will let it happen anywhere.  A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. 

I was greatly moved by the stories we heard, the things we saw, and the places we went.  There is no way to go on a trip like this and not come home changed.  As a nurse, I know I can have an impact on the immigrant population.  I know that by educating myself about the issues going on in Juarez, in El Paso, in Anthony, I will have a better understanding of individuals I encounter during my practice.  This better understanding will lead to compassion, and hopefully I will be able to make a small difference in someone’s life.

I became reconnected to my spiritual self while on the trip.  I was given time to take by myself, to think, to reflect, to inquire.  I found things I had not realized I harbored deep within, and I discovered things about myself and my God that I had never dreamed of.  I headed home enlivened, ready to make a difference, make changes, and help my brothers and sisters I met while in Juarez.  I headed home with a mission, with a passion, and with a new connection to God that I know will help me in many ways.  These trips not only provide connections with other people, but also connections to a higher power and a connection to my inner self.  I have never regretted my decision to spend the week on the border.  I know it has helped me in more ways than one.  I am excited to see how it will influence my life in the future and where this path is taking me.  I feel honored to have made this journey with so many wonderful people and to have been welcomed and loved everywhere I went.  I will never forget this experience or the lessons it has taught me.