Today was our first day doing skeletal analyses at Texas State University. We are doing the skeletal analyses at the Osteology Research and Processing Lab (ORPL) facility. This is one of several anthropological research facilities at Texas State University. Once the individuals were exhumed from the Sacred Heart Burial Park in the summers of 2013 and 2014, about 75 of them were transported to the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF). As the faculty and student volunteers are able to clean and process the bodies, they are transported to ORPL. At ORPL the personal items are cleaned and documented and the body prepared for analysis. The forensic anthropologists then construct a biological profile, which reconstructs the individual’s living characteristics. The ORPL currently has a backlog of individuals needing forensic anthropology analysis. That is why we volunteered to visit Texas State, to assist with the skeletal analyses of the individuals.
The UIndy team set up it’s analysis station in the front classroom of ORPL. We brought all the forms and equipment we needed to conduct analysis with us.
Ryan and I are both from Texas. Our moms both decided to come visit us this evening. They planned to arrive around the same time to San Marcos and got to the lab in time for a quick tour. After that we went to dinner and enjoyed a round of half priced appetizers and guacamole, queso burgers. It was nice to have our moms there for a visit and for them to see what we were doing during our time volunteering at Texas State University.
One of the main tasks that we’ve been asked to help with while we’re volunteering at the South Texas Human Rights Center is filling the water stations. We talked about the water stations a little bit in a previous post, but I think they warrant more attention. A water station is a plastic barrel filled with jugs of water. These stations are placed in areas where undocumented border crossers (UBCs) are most likely to be traveling through. A long pole with a flag on the top is attached to the barrel in hopes that UBCs who are struggling through the desert will see the flag in the distance and head towards the station. These stations were started with the intention of preventing more UBC deaths, since many UBCs succumb to death by exposure to the elements.
Water station map
Hanging on the wall of the South Texas Human Rights Center is a map of Falfurrias with pins marking the location of every water station they have set up on it. The amount of pins on the map is impressive and the Center has plans to add more stations in the future. Many of these stations are located on private ranch lands. A number of landowners have agreed to have these water stations on their land and some have even asked if the Center would place stations on their land. We’ve learned over the last couple of days that managing all of these stations is no easy task. The stations are placed along several different routes. Each route takes about two hours to complete and there are five routes in total.
The Center checks on each station at least once a week to refill the barrels with water and also to collect data on the usage of each station. Some stations are heavily used while others are hardly used at all. Collecting this data helps the Center figure out which routes need more water stations. For each water station, we tallied up how many jugs of water were left, got rid of any damaged or empty jugs, and then added more jugs if needed. There are only two people at the Center in charge of managing all of these stations and I have a lot of admiration for the both of them. I’ve been on two routes so far and I can tell you that it is exhausting work.
Traveling down a route
Helping fill waters stations has given me some insight into the UBC’s journey. I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like for UBCs trying to get through the dense brush of these ranch lands. I was tired and hot after doing only one route and we drove in a car for most of the time and stopped periodically to check on water stations. As I drove through the ranch lands, I noticed the wilderness and the remoteness of the areas we were traveling in. There are no markers to tell you which way you are going. No mountains in the distance, no major changes in vegetation. All the land kind of looks the same and I can see how easy it would be for someone to get lost and walk around in circles for hours.
I’m happy that some of the water stations are being used. The thing that really gets me is that just by doing something as simple as putting a jug of water in a barrel, I may have helped save a life. I only wish I had more time to help out at the Center.
Today we took the day off to refresh and prepare for for our upcoming week in the lab at Texas State University. We spent the morning catching up on emails and blogging. Justin made breakfast tacos for all of us and then we decided to explore San Marcos. We started at the San Marcos River. The water was so cold but so clear and blue. After that we went to the town square to get Manske Rolls, which are delicious, buttery cinnamon rolls. While we were in the restaurant a huge storm rolled into town. It rained so hard we were stuck waiting it out. Once the storms ended, we spent more time exploring San Marcos. For dinner we went to get some good southern food: Chicken fried steak, chicken fried chicken and fried catfish. After that we went to bed happy, refreshed and with full bellies.
