We woke up yesterday, Sunday, for our first full day in Arizona. We
enjoyed a delicious breakfast of oatmeal and raisins, and of course,
coffee! Yum all around! Then we all piled into the 12-passenger van
(our wheels for the week) and headed to Southside Presbyterian Church
to experience a church service and talk to local activists involved in
the Sanctuary Movement.
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| This is the migrant memorial created out of the shoes of migrants found in the desert. |
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| Here is the area where we gathered before the church service. |
We gathered around a migrant memorial and
listened to two members of Southside speak. They explained the
church's history and the significance of the Southside community as
one that embraces diversity and strives for social change.
The place of worship, called a kiva, was filled with welcoming faces,
eager to get to know us and share in worship. A 30-person
group from Vassar College was also in attendance. The congregation was
remarkably diverse, but unified in a common spiritual energy that
embraced three different languages and cultures. Most of the service
was in English, but there were portions in Spanish and the native
tongue of the Tohono O'odham nation. The worship space promoted a sense
of communal identity in its circular layout. Everyone could be seen.
We joined together in lively song and engaged in a sharing of
peace. People mingled across aisles and benches, warmly welcoming
visitors and embracing friends. Overall, we were struck by the open
and genuinely kind nature of the Southside congregation. After the
service, we were approached by several members of the church who were
interested in getting to know us and understanding our purpose.
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| Reverend John Fife. |
After lunch, we met up with the group from Vassar to hear a talk from
John Fife, the former Reverend of Southside Church, who played a major
role in the formation of the Sanctuary Movement. The Sanctuary
Movement arose in the early 1980's in reaction to the government's
unjust treatment of migrants claiming political asylum from their
homes in Central America. Reverend Fife describes their movement as
one of ´civil initiative'. He defines civil initiative as the civil
society's obligation to uphold the laws when the government fails to
do so. Reverend Fife told an inspiring and engaging story of his own
relationship to the movement, and its implications today. Reverend
Fife was very willing to answer our questions and engage with us on a
personal level.
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| The raptor in flight!!! |
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| The desert landscape...the mountains you can see in the distance are in Mexico. |
From Southside we drove to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. We were
greeted by Steve, a long-time volunteer at the museum and a nature
enthusiast. Our leaders, Rachel and Katie, know him through his
volunteer work with humanitarian aid organization, No More Deaths. No
More Deaths provides water and other necessities to migrants
attempting to cross the border through treacherous desert terrain. The
organization is also involved in reuniting migrants with their
families.
We arrived just in time to see the raptors on their daily flight
across the desert. Steve gave us a behind the scenes tour (VIP
status!) of various flora and fauna. Some of us took the opportunity
to pet a tarantula and a snake! Others, however, stayed as far away as
possible.
We had some free time to walk around the grounds, and we all remarked
on the beautiful mountain scenery. This image was tainted by the ugly
reality that many migrants die trying to cross through the landscape
that from afar appears so serene.
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| At the end of our day, we enjoyed some soft serve ice cream (Yum all around Part 2!!!) |
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| The class observing desert fauna. |
When we returned to Casa Mariposa, Maggie, Michelle, McKinley, and
Nathan got to work cooking a delicious vegetable stir-fry in the
kitchen. Autumn DJ-ed. As we all sat around the table we shared our
reflections on the day and enjoyed some laughs. After we cleaned up dinner, we
gathered in the living room to write letters to the detainees we will
be visiting on Thursday. We told them about ourselves and sent them a
few pictures we had taken at the museum.
Exhausted from the heat of the desert sun and anticipating our
adventure to Nogales, Mexico the next morning, we all nestled into our
cozy beds and slept soundly.
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| The whole crew! |
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