Category Archives: Environment

Talking about the weather, terrain, flora, fauna, etc…

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

Falfurrias Flashback: Texas Flood

Environment, Snapshots

As I said in my previous post, it is usually the little things that I remember the most, like the small victories.    One such victory happened on our last day in the field.  Our goal was to finish all of the remaining excavations in the quadrant in which we were working.  There was only one burial left before we were completely done, when a loud clap of thunder interrupted our work.  We were informed that large storm system was heading our way, and we only had a few minutes to evacuate the work site.  We were only a few shovels-full of dirt away from our finishing point, and yet we were told that it would soon be unsafe to continue.

Day 7 group photo with 7 fingers up, all frowns, and drenched shirts
Disheartened by the impending storm.

At this point I should mention that every day we took an end-of-the-day photograph.  We would all line up, hold up our fingers indicating the number of days in the field and smile for the camera in celebration of a hard day of work.  On this day in particular the photograph was much less cheerful  than normal.  We were all frustrated that we had come so close and were now being forced to leave.  The range of expressions on our faces varies from sad and disheartened to outright rage.  With the impending tempest nearly upon us, we begged Dr. Latham to plead for a few more minutes.  After a short bit of coaxing and prodding we were begrudgingly allotted 20 more minutes after checking the local radar, to which I excitedly responded, “Forget that, we’ll do it in 10.” (Choice words may have been “edited” for appropriateness.)

The group took flight with all of the speed and fervor of a swat team.  Most of what I remember is a hurried haze.  There was plenty of shouting and running, but not a single ounce of effort went to waste.  Every one of us seamlessly moved around each other like a school of feeding fish.  Within five minutes we had finished removing the soil on the surface of the burial, and within ten minutes the remains were out of the ground.

Day 7 group picture with all smiles and members soaked
Soaked and Victorious

You learn a lot about people by how they react when the chips are down.  If we hadn’t finished that last burial we would have ended on a sour note, and we would have been eternally haunted by our failure.  Without hesitation, every single member of the team placed themselves in front of the storm.  There was never a question about whether or not we should finish, we just needed that little bit of time.  We took another end-of-the-day photo to celebrate our victory.  I believe that these two photos show the true dedication and passion of all of us.  When a storm blocked our path, we showed that UIndy students are truly a force with which to be reckoned.

Justin Maiers

5 more minutes, Mom!

Environment, Reflections

Our team has worked together previously on cases, on projects and on presentations. But never like in Falfurrias. We work with unidentified human remains, and we do it not because we like it (we do) but because there is nothing else we would ever want to do. And most of us would have a difficult time explaining why, exactly, this type of work means so much to us.

Still, with the experiences we’ve had, we were wholly unprepared for Texas last year.  The heat to start. It was over a 100° easily, every day. Then there was the sun that banished all the clouds that might have offered a respite. I don’t remember any clouds in Texas.  Definitely just sun. But it was the humidity that did us in. Isn’t Texas supposed to be dry?

Additionally, our team had not worked a case of this magnitude either. Indiana has primarily individual casework. Our human rights mission in Falfurrias was quite a bit larger. We were expecting it and we were prepared for it, along with the intensive work that comes with it.

Beyond borders team members taking a bucket of dirt from a team member in a burialFrom this point, I can tell you about our strategy last year. Or perhaps measures we took to overcome the climate. I can tell you about some of the things that changed us in the short time we were there. I can tell you more about the climate, and perhaps something about what the migrants crossing the area on foot might have encountered. But I want to tell you about our team, because they amazed me.

They amazed me because of the commitment (though the word seems inadequate) and the energy that was given every day, to every burial we encountered. I know how much and what this work means to me, and now I have an inkling of how much it means to all of us.

Get out of the hole!

I’ve got to tell you, traveling and working with five type-A personalities is rarely a pleasure.   Everyone has an opinion, but I’m always right (just kidding—sometimes). If they’d just listen we could do this faster. That is typically what you encounter and observe, just a group butting heads. How in the world can they work together, let alone be efficient, speedy, and thorough?

That was one of my biggest concerns last year. Not only would we be working together in volatile conditions, but also living together, with no escape for ten days.  A case in Indiana would last a day, maybe two, but everyone could go home after or to class, or to work.  Not so in Texas.  I was sure this trip was going to be interesting, in more ways than one.

Seriously, get out. Get some water. Sit down. Get out!

The tone was set for us immediately the first day we arrived at the Cemetery. Justin was a great leader in this regard (he always is, but shhh! don’t tell him!). Remember the heat and humidity I mentioned? It started well before 6 a.m., and only increased throughout the day.  We were even told we couldn’t work past noon because the heat got so bad. We usually pushed that “suggestion” to around two without fail, everyday. How could you stop working when you can see the casket and know that if we can just get this last individual out for the day, that’s one more person that can start the identification process? Seriously.

beyond borders team members laying in a burial to properly excavateBack to the climate, Justin was our voice of reason, which may be the best way to put it. If we would have worked like we do in Indiana, we would have passed out from heat exhaustion or heat stroke. He was the first one to start yelling at us all to take breaks.

We realized very quickly that we needed a work rotation, in which everyone worked 10 to 15 minutes and switched out. That 10 to 15 minutes may seem so little, but in the humidity our energy and hydration levels plummeted. We drank Gatorade during these forced rest periods in order to replenish the mass quantities of fluids we didn’t realize were just floating off us, or running down our shirts.

By the end of the first day, we were all insistent about that imposed break for whoever was digging. Such a simple thing, but yet another factor that pushed us together so seamlessly. I wouldn’t trade this experience or the team for any other.

Beyond borders team members helping another member who is in full PPE head to toe into a burialBut five more minutes, that’s all, then I’ll switch out… I’m so close!

That never worked.

–Jessica Campbell