If any of our readers are interested in learning more about the challenges faced by the families of the missing and the people who work collaboratively towards locating, finding and identifying individuals who has perished in the Texas borderlands, we recommend the documentary Missing in Brooks County.
“Two families search for their loved ones who went missing in the fields of Brooks County, Texas after crossing from Mexico and find a sobering truth: the deadliest part of the journey is far from the border. “
PBS broadcast premier on January 31, 2022, or visit their site for updated information on upcoming screenings.
Each time the Beyond Borders Team travels to the Texas Borderlands I ask each team member to provide a few sentences describing an important applied skill they learned in the field —
Izzy: “Your team is a vital part of a good search. Being able to communicate effectively allows searches to be more efficient and keeps morale high throughout physically and mentally exhausting days. Having an encouraging and supportive team makes you want to work harder and help each other every step of the way.”
Izzy searching the brush
Olivia: “This trip taught me a lot about working with a team. Communication is vital, and having a team full of people who genuinely like each other’s company makes the work more enjoyable. I also learned it’s possible for people with very different backgrounds and outlooks on life to put aside their differences and work towards a common goal.”
Olivia searching the brush
Tanya: “I have learned that it truly takes a “village”, not one person can try to tackle the humanitarian crisis occurring at the US/MX border. It takes several individuals and agencies to work together in order to reach the same goal of preventing migrant death by advocating for policy change, refilling water stations or rescuing those who may be in distress. At the end of the day it did not matter what kind of background we came from or what religious/political views we may hold, everyone made a conscious choice to show up and do the work!”
Tanya in a line search
Alex: “Our motto for this Beyond Borders trip was expect the unexpected. During our time out in the field, we certainly had several instances were things didn’t go according to plan. However, our team’s preparation, adaptability, and effective communication allowed us to overcome adversity and accomplish our goals.”
Today the team traveled back to Indiana to prepare for the new semester staring next week. We did some sight seeing in San Antonio on the way to the airport. It was a day of reflection and decompression. We will continue to post daily updates over the next week as we reflect back on our time in Brooks County.
Learning some Texas history at the AlamoExploring the River WalkSan Antonio airportOrgan Attack card game to pass the time
