This blog is mostly to try and put out some thoughts about our experiences with No More Deaths in Arizona. Please click the link if you want more background on the organization- its much more comprehensive and succinct than we could be anyway.
We each spent two weeks in a camp about 13 miles from the U.S/Mexico border. Whilst No More Deaths run dozens of different projects on both sides of the border and work with undocumented people at every stage of their interactions with the state, the day to day routine in camp is one of taking water and food out to various points in the desert, or taking hikes along trails carrying food, water and medical supplies. The water, food, socks and other supplies from the various 'drops' move as people pass and pick them up,
and the work feels incredibly valuable as, put simply, people die in the desert all the time, thanks to a border policy that has purposefully created this situation in order to control (though not, whatever they may say, to stop) undocumented migration.
13 miles doesn't sound like very far. In one sense, it isn't. But the terrain is very hilly which can double the distance walked, and add to that the facts that people travel at night, sick, tired, dehydrated, and that their walk begins long before the border and ends much further north than No More Deaths are camped, and you have a lethal situation. Before you even begin to introduce drug cartels, competing smugglers, bandits, rape and of course the Border Patrol.
Many people probably don't think of the desert as hilly- or green. But at the moment, it's monsoon season and its both.
The monsoon brings more water, but its own dangers from flooding or disappearing trails and slippery rocks. And pretty much all the plants which excitedly start blooming and growing are in some way spiky or sharp.
For us, what this meant was about ten days, with training and discussions either side, in the camp, waking early and spending our days hiking, stocking drops or keeping things running in the camp.
It's hard to draw any general conclusions or thoughts. It was interesting to experience a totally different border to what we're used to, and to see how the organisation operates. J would also like some credit for not completely flipping out about having to share a camp with a few of these:
We also met a lot of inspiring and interesting people (and some weird and scary wildlife). Two weeks felt like just enough time to get your feet on the ground, figure out how things worked and start to get to know people. But if we'd stayed any longer the temptation to get totally absorbed and stay a LOT longer would be hard to resist.
Anyway, then J said goodbye to everyone and took a bus down to meet C, who has composed a few poems about pelicans but not been eaten by any, and spent his time learning how to make these
Well. Tone successfully lowered from humanitarian aid work, we're off to explore Mexico. It´s pretty big. This morning someone let us use their computer and bought us nommy tacos, so we're hoping thats a good sign.
At Nan's and she says well done with the spiders. Your travelling tales continue to induce envy and admiration in equal measure and v glad C not eatten by pelicans and discovering his inner artist. Owe u newsy email which will try and do soon! x
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