We spend a good amount of time talking about our work on the unidentified migrants from Brooks County to bring awareness to this humanitarian crisis on our southern border. The presentations always end with a question and answer session as people are generally shocked at the sheer number of preventable deaths occurring in our country. But there are also times when we are the ones who are surprised and humbled by those who reach out to us regarding our mission. Yesterday I received the following email:
“Dr. Latham, I read with interest your travels to Falfurrias. I grew up in Premont and Fal, and although it was many years ago I still have family and friends there. The plight of the Mexicans and other South and Central Americans through that country is tough. When I was a kid I met many very honorable migrants. From time to time migrants may come to our door looking for food and water. Now we may have as many as 15 or 20 be at our back door at any given time. As more and more came through our property we determined that it was inhumane to lock up our buildings and sources of water. The country can be brutal as you and your team know. As things grow more difficult in their countries there is little choice for them, but to go north. Brooks and Jim Wells counties are dirt poor. So they are unable to do what you all are doing for them. Thank you for your assistance.”
As I read the email to my team we were so grateful that a stranger would seek us out with this gesture of thanks. This was exactly what we needed as we entered our second field season in Falfurrias.
…deep in the heart of Texas! We made it safe and sound to San Antonio.
Leaving on a jet plane
Our adventure began as we met at 6:30am at the airport at the American Airlines counter. Six people, seven checked bags and nine carry-on bags were soon on their way to the lone star state. My job quickly became keeping track of students and gear as we went from Indianapolis, to Dallas-Ft. Worth to San Antonio. After picking up all our gear from baggage claim our next challenge was getting everything to fit in our rental minivan and navigating downtown San Antonio to find our hotel for the day. We got to spend some time exploring San Antonio today, which allowed us to begin adjusting to the Texas heat and humidity before we start working in this environment tomorrow.
Words can’t express how proud I am of these students for the sacrifices they are making to help families they don’t even know find their missing loved ones. While this is a learning experience for them and a chance to exemplify our university’s motto of “Education for service”, they are going above and beyond by participating in this mission. They are taking two weeks out of their summer vacations, far away from family and friends, to work in the grueling Texas heat. They have spent the past year working tirelessly to raise funds to supplement the expenses of the trip and bring awareness to the situation along the border. Their dedication and passion are incredible and I hope they realize just how special and selfless they are.
Today the panic of packing for two weeks on the border sets in. I have three different lists of things to take with me, but I still feel like I’m forgetting some thing. For those of you that don’t know me, I’m a list maker. I have lists for everything and have introduced my students to the joys of the list. Our work requires special gear, and we are working in a very rural area which means we better not forget anything or it could potentially be a few hours drive to find it. My field gear list is color coded with items in pink that I needed to purchase before we left on the mission, items in blue that I could take from the lab and items in green that I could purchase in Falfurrias. While we feel slightly better prepared leaving this year than we did leaving last, we know that we must always expect the unexpected.
Field Gear
The highlight of my day was getting the field gear together. Dr. Baker brings the larger field gear to the site (shovels, screens, etc…), but there are certain things that we traditionally use in the field and like to bring along. After a little shopping and a little pillaging of the UIAFL (University of Indianapolis Archeology and Forensics Lab) we created a nice pile of gear to bring along. I have a sturdy field bag that we are transporting everything in. But the field bag really seemed bigger to me before I realized I needed to fit two weeks of field gear inside. At this point I realized my experience as a UPS package car loader would be put to the test. During my undergraduate years I worked the graveyard shift at UPS playing Tetris with cardboard boxes as I found ways to make sure every package fit in the truck. But that experience might not be enough in this particular situation, so I enlisted Ryan’s help. Ryan has a very special talent for packing large amounts of stuff into the smallest bag possible. We tried several different combinations and after three tries we managed to get everything to fit in the field bag! We were victorious!!
Success!
For those of you following along with our posts you might see that – to date – the light hearted outweigh the serious. My hope is that no one interprets that as us making light of this crisis. We, more than most of you reading this, know the true severity of this situation. I personally have lost track of the number of hours I have spent excavating the graves of the unknown, pouring over every detail of every bone of the individuals in my lab, negotiating gear or laboratory services, giving talks and presentations to bring awareness and advocating for those who were invisible in life and continue to be invisible in death. I can say the same for my students. We bring humor and we bring light heartedness to this situation because there are days that we run out of tears and days that we cannot bear to have our hearts broken once again. As I write about packing I am also preparing myself for the mental and emotional challenges that wait for us in Falfurrias. The fact that I will cry more on any given day then I usually do in any given month. The fact that I will feel helpless and small in the face of something so large and disastrous. The fact that I have to be strong in front of my students and in front of the community and the families as they search for answers. The fact that all this begins as our flight leaves in less than 12 hours…
