All posts by lathamke

Day 1

Community, Environment

Group photo with everyone in their work uniforms

Today was our first day working in the field. The area of the cemetery we are exhuming has no shade and temperatures soared over 90 degrees today.  Our team knows the dangerous combination of heat and humidity means we follow two basic rules: 1) Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and 2) work in 5 minute shifts (5 minutes on and 5 minutes rest). Five minutes may not sound like a long time to work, but when you are putting all your strength into digging in these temperatures, five minutes can be enough to bring you to heat exhaustion.

Plate full of tamales in corn husks

Tamales

We got to see some of our old friends from last year like Chief Benny Martinez of the Brooks County Sheriffs Department and Constable Arturo Garcia. We were fortunate to meet some new people today as well. Flavio Garcia, a local businessman, brought shredded beef tamales for the entire team to enjoy on our lunch break at the cemetery. They were the most amazing tamales I think I’ve ever had!  (I won’t tell you how many I had, but it might have been four…) Flavio was also gracious enough to supply six porta potties for us at the cemetery and cleaning services every three days.  This is an example of Falfurrias hospitality.  Everyone we meet is so gracious and so kind.

We were also able to spend some time speaking with Eddie and Irma of the South Texas Human Rights Center, a community based center dedicated to the promotion, protection, defense and exercise of human rights and dignity in South Texas. Their mission is to end death and suffering on the  Texas/Mexico border through community initiatives. Each day in Falfurrias we learn more about the many people and organizations dedicated to ending the preventable deaths on our border. We feel privileged to be a part of this mission, and while we are only one small piece we are proud that we are able to contribute in our own way to reuniting families separated by this crisis.

~KEL

Thanks

Community

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.

~KEL

The stars at night are big and bright…

Snapshots

…deep in the heart of Texas! We made it safe and sound to San Antonio.

Group picture at the Airport

Dr. Latham and Jess in their seats on the airplane with Justin in the background
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.

Dr. Krista Latham