Category Archives: Human Rights, Migrant Death

Talking about the project itself

Day 2: Back At It

Community, Human Rights, Migrant Death

Our second day started as normal: waking up, eating breakfast at the hotel, and meeting Arianna at the South Texas Human Rights Center. Since we spent most of yesterday attending to water stations, we have gotten into a groove. My main role has been the note taker. At every station, I note which station we are at, how many good gallons of water were left, how many spoiled gallons were found, and how many we leave behind. We also note any evidence of human activity (trash, footprints, etc) or any repairs we perform.

Me taking notes while Arianna and Dr. Latham examine a water station.
Me taking notes while Arianna and Dr. Latham examine a water station.

At one point, we were about to head to a station on a path our rental van couldn’t reach. Dr. Latham parked the van on the side of the road and we all squeezed into the truck. We made the water drop fairly quickly, and started back. When we were almost back, we saw a Texas Highway Patrol car pulled up behind our van. Dr. Latham and Arianna got out of the truck to figure out what was happening. Apparently they had watched us all get into the truck and drive off, and waiting to see what we had in our van. They saw our water and cooler and thought we were partaking in either a pick-up or drop-off migrants. They ran our plates and even took Dr. Latham’s information. Thankfully, they believed us when we said we were simply filling water stations, and sent us on our way.

We finished the last of one of the routes we started yesterday, and headed back to the center. There, we met a group of engineering students from Trinity University who have been working to design new water stations for the center. These stations are solar powered and transmit a satellite signal of the weight of the barrel, so that they are able to tell how many gallons of water are in each station without someone having to drive all the way out to the station. They also have a drawer for first aid supplies and the ability to charge cell phones. They are still working out the kinks in the systems, but they currently have two prototypes on a route that they are field testing in a place they can get to often and easily.

Prototype water station.
Prototype water station.

While we were at the center, a familiy member of a missing person, Byron, came to join us. He has a cousin who went missing in Falfurrias, so he often comes to town from out of state to search, get updates,  and to help however he can. He went out with everyone after a quick lunch to the route where the field prototypes are. While the Trinity students tried to fix the glitches in their programming, the rest of us ran the route they were on and filled more water stations. At our last station, we were met by the ranch manager. He is familiar with both Arianna and our team, he stopped to chat and said he would fumigate near a specific station because there was a family of scorpions living there.

We finished the route, and the engineers fixed their programming issues, and we headed back to the center. Our role then was to be the trainees on how to build the new stations. Selina of the STHRC was filming, and the students taught Arianna and ourselves how to put one of the new stations together. This way, when there are different volunteers, Arianna can be sure to assemble them correctly. There are a lot of wires and different parts involved, so it’s more complicated than the normal ones. The hardest part was raising the flag pole: they are heavy, tall, and if any wires get pinched the whole station won’t work. Thankfully, we built two without problem!

After we were finished, we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner. We drove to La Mota, where Peggy and Bill Clark live. Getting to visit them is my favorite part of our trips here. I’m not sure why, but something about their home is so inviting and warm that it makes it seem like you are just down the street from your own home, not hundreds of miles away.

Before dinner, we all sat and talked a little. Bill told us stories of when he was a big game hunter and how he has many skulls from his excursions. We sat down to dinner, and Peggy prayed over us and the food. While I am not religious, the genuine emotion of her prayer was moving. We then ate a wonderful dinner of brisket, rice, salad (with Peggy’s homemade dressing), grapefruit and avocado, and bread. It was so nice to have a home cooked meal after eating out for every meal since we’ve been here.

Our meal at La Mota.
Our meal at La Mota.

We cleaned up the plates, and had some ice cream for dessert. We left after a while, making sure we had enough time to debrief at the hotel and get things set for another early day tomorrow.

Day 2
Day 2

— Sidney

Day 1: Getting into the Swing of Things

Human Rights, Migrant Death, Reflections

At 7:45am, we all met in the lobby of the Best Western to start our day. In our matching UIndy Human Identification Center t-shirts we munched on bagels, sausage, pancakes, and fruit. We washed down our breakfast with Emergen-C to help ward off any illness during our trip. Then, we departed for the South Texas Human Rights Center.

Upon arriving at the South Texas Human Rights Center, we were greeted by Selena and Arianna, two passionate members of the human rights community. After Brooks County Deputy Sheriff Don White joined us and introductions were made, we began loading the center’s truck with 55 gallon barrels, water jugs, and tools we might need to repair water stations already in the field. We then divided up into our rental van and center’s truck and started off to the route we were scheduled to repair and fill.

On the side of this particular rural highway the South Texas Human Rights Center has installed 55 gallon blue barrels filled with water jugs and water bottles. The large barrels are labeled “Agua” and marked by tall flagpoles that help to highlight the barrels among the brush. Our task today was to refill and service the water stations along this highway and neighboring roadways. After a few stations everyone got into the groove of things. Sidney took notes about the condition of the barrels and how much water was in each container. Holley made sure each barrel’s lid was labeled with the station’s GPS coordinates and the phone number for the South Texas Human Rights Center. Alba and I worked to drill holes into the barrels and secure each barrel to a metal post with clamps. Everyone assisted with removing spoiled water from the barrels and placing new water jugs into the stations. All in all, our team repaired and refilled 14 water stations today!

Team members repairing a water station

A team member and Deputy Don White repairing a water station

Our day was filled with many firsts for everyone. For Holley, Alba, and myself today was the first time we had all worked to fix water stations. Even Dr. Latham (who has been bringing students down to Texas for years) enjoyed a few firsts including trying a new restaurant, The Burger Barn, and getting pulled over by Border Patrol for suspected human smuggling as we were frequently pulling over on the side of the highway.

Overall, today was a good way to start off our trip. I feel that I gained skills, like how to tighten a metal clamp, but I also learned a lot about the connections the members of this community have. I believe these skills and this knowledge has provided me with a good base so I can assist in any way I’m needed and from which I can continue to learn about the issues important to this community.

Day 1 group photo
Day 1

Megan

If You Can’t Fly…

Human Rights, Migrant Death, Reflections

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”  – Martin Luther King Jr.

After six years of working towards the identification and repatriation of unidentified migrants who perished in the Texas Borderlands I continue to learn and grow with each trip we take to work with colleagues on these missions.  One thing that struck me this trip was the observation that those who work on these issues on a continual basis looked a little more tired and a little more broken than usual. I think we all got into this naively believing that progress would come since everyone would see the value of dignity in life and in death.  But six years of not only fighting for the rights of those who can not speak for themselves, but also of continually having to prove that their lives are worthy are beginning to take a toll. We’ve never spoken about how tired we are, frustrated yeah,  but on multiple occasions this trip I had someone look me in the eye and say “I’m tired”.  I heard about the emotional impact this is having on individuals who have been nothing but duty driven in the past.  They fight everyday to locate the fallen or abandoned, to provide life saving water and medical aid, to exhume and identify and simply to extend dignity to a population deemed disposable and less than human. There’s no praise here, no rewards, just the satisfaction of knowing you are doing the right thing by extending the same treatment to others as you would want your own family to be treated.

Human Rights For All

I am very proud of the emotional and professional growth of the student members of the Beyond Borders team. They performed hard, physical labor for up to 10 hours per day with no complaints. They were put into emotionally and politically charged situations and were able to navigate them with professionalism and poise. They learned valuable archeological skills and how to apply their education and training to mass disaster/ humanitarian situations. They supported each other as part of a team, formed relationships with peers and colleagues at Texas State University and modeled empathy during a time in which we need it desperately.  And while they know this mission is not about them, it does provide them with the practical and theoretical tools and prospective to work towards change within a system that is currently unable to address the needs at our southern border. It embodies our university motto of Education For Service.

January 2019 Beyond Borders Team
January 2019 Beyond Borders Team

My favorite moment of this mission was our trip to the Humanitarian Respite Center.  When we pulled up to the center we saw a group of children kicking a ball. When we entered the center two little girls ran up to us asking if my two year old could play and asked her name. While the students went on a tour and learned how the center supports the community and the migrant refugees I went outside to the a small play area with my daughter and the little girls. Soon there were about ten children running around, pushing a play shopping cart and sitting in a little play house. A few moms emerged carrying their babies to sit and watch their older children. They looked tired. There was pain in their eyes. But that changed every time they looked at their kids. You could see that whatever they left behind and the risks they took to get here was for their children. They had been released the previous night after 8 days in ICE detention. They said after being inside the cold detention rooms for over a week the kids just wanted to play outside. As I watched a group of beautiful, happy children who were more concerned about finding the perfect toy to make my daughter smile then about the trauma they suffered, all I could do is hope they receive the same kindness and acceptance once they leave the center later that day. All I could do is hope their smiles and resilience would remain intact after they face whatever awaits them here in the land of the free.

Humanitarian Respite Center
Humanitarian Respite Center

~KEL