More NorCal Reflections

My last visit in California before we headed north was with Dr. Lucia Kaiser.  Lucia is an Extension Nutrition Specialist with University of California at Davis and is in the final stages of her career at UC.  I was somewhat familiar with Dr. Kaiser's work having seen it highlighted at professional meetings.  I had never met her before and was charmed by her warmth and her commitment to her current project.  I was glad I had the opportunity to interview her.

Lucia in her office.

Her project focuses on delivering messages about parenting and obesity prevention to newly immigrated residents of the Central Valley in a rural area near Fresno.  About 400 parents are involved in the study and only about half participate. About 79% are Mexican immigrants and there is a fairly low acculturation level in the group.  Some of the things they are learning are that parenting around food is a difficult thing to influence, especially when the cultural norms are different from those being taught.  The more hands on, the more impact on and involvement of the students.  They have gone to having a promotora teaching hands on cooking classes and moved away from some of the more didactic classes. They also have formed a walking club to promote physical activity.  This fits with what we have experienced as well.   Lucia shared that the mothers are getting mixed messages about the obesity risk their children face.  They are using health report cards to share with the parents weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) information.  Lucia was not understanding why the report cards were not really influencing behavior until she dug a little deeper.  The area physicians were advising the parents not to worry, not to put their kids on diets and were assuring them they would "grow out" of their fat stage.  This is a common concern in our country and it speaks to the need to help the medical community understand the importance of non-diet interventions for children.  I am working on a study that is focusing on helping both parents and preschoolers understand about satiety and becoming aware of their cues for satisfaction and fullness.  Lucia and her team took a community awareness approach and used simple graphic examples to compare the obesity rates in the general population and in the targeted community.

The color of the folders represent obesity rates in the normal population and then the targeted community. Green represents normal weight, yellow, at risk and red obese.  The comparisons between the right side (average population) and the targeted community (left) speak for themselves.

The parents were able to see the differences and Lucia reported that the "lights went on" (my words).

Lucia hopes to continue this work in a consulting role in other communities after she retires this fall.

We had a very interesting discussion about the role of trauma in her study community and in the immigrant community as a whole.  I have been asking about trauma all along the way on this trip and about teen parents and the status in each community where I have made program visits.  I shared my experience of visiting with the women in the Kino women's shelter in Nogales, Sonora.  I shared what I learned about the high incidence of rape for women who attempt the border crossing.  Lucia and I shared tears.  It was good to see that she was not hardened to the reality of what was happening.  She spoke about rape as well.  She has colleagues in school of nursing who are finding rape is an issue with teens and that some of the evidence points to the field workers.  I am concerned about the culture of sexual assault that is created by the inhumane conditions on the borders and during the journeys through both Mexico and the US.  I know it is compounded by impoverished lives folks are forced to lead and the shadows in which many exist.   I am aware that the fear of reporting a rape can be exacerbated by fear of the law, immigration issues, cultural silence about rape.  It is not a good situation.  This was not the first time I heard concerns about sexual assault of young Latinas on the trip.  

I cannot help but think that the trauma exists at the community level and is exemplified in a variety of ways.  I wonder how much trauma, post traumatic stress and the threat of loss and grief affects the choices people are making about food and their weight? Good questions to which I do not have the answers.  To assume that there is no impact would be a mistake.  Lots to think about.

I am almost half way through this sabbatical and I have more questions than I have answers.  I suspect this is part of the process.  I am certainly learning a great deal so far and look forward to the next 3 months.  I will continue to blog.  I am finding it very helpful for my own learning.  One of the gifts of this time away from my normal duties is having the time to reflect and process.  I have always enjoyed journaling and I am finding a renewed energy for that in this blog.  Upcoming is a trip to Arizona, a trip to New York City, work with a colleague and scholar in Oregon and time to start working on fund proposals for our Fortaleciendo Familias program revision.

Thanks for reading.

Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services Visit

Creating programs based on the needs of the community is a wonderful strategy for successful outcomes.  I have seen many programs based on community need over the years.  Sometimes they are successful and sometimes they fail for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes the organizational structure is not strong enough to support the program, sometimes the personnel change and the new personnel are not a good fit for the service and sometimes the vision for service is linked to one dedicated individual who is not able to sustain the program.  

I found several examples of thriving non-profits on my travels.  Two I have already written about - No More Deaths in Tucson and The Bethlehem Center in Visalia.  I was delighted to visit the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services Agency at their Oak Park Center on March 17th.  Mike and I were warmly greeted by Lorena Carranza, who is the Parent Education Program Manager at the Oak Park facility and the parent educator for the most of the classes delivered there.

Lorena Carranza
Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services

I was really happy that I took the time to visit this agency. Their mission statement reads: Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services (SFBFS) is dedicated to assisting those in need by alleviating their immediate pain and problems and moving them toward self-sufficiency and financial independence.  I encourage you to visit their website to learn more about the agency.  It was their website that caught my attention when I was searching for places that were offering parent education in Spanish in the Sacramento and Yolo County areas.  

The agency was started as a Food Bank by Father Daniel Madigan in 1976 in the basement of his Oak Park Church.  It is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit agency and is affiliated with the local Catholic Archdiocese in some way.  It was a revelation to me to see the deep connection between the Catholic Church and the Latino immigrant populations in California.  It should not have surprised me but it did.  What I know of Washington State and the communities in Western Washington that I have served over the years is that the church was not as responsive to early waves of immigrants.  Perhaps that is related to the more migratory stream that used to populate our agriculture industry.  I remember serving a community in SW Washington where there were two catholic sisters( nuns) who were community based working with Latinos and other faith communities were filling the gap.  All sorts of denominations were involved.  I was surprised at the time about what one of the sisters referred to as a crisis within the church that the Mexican immigrants were not being served and were basically being abandoned by the church.  Part of the lack of service was probably due to a shortage of Spanish speaking priests.  This was in the mid-1990's.  I still wonder if that is why we see so much religious diversity amongst our immigrant population or if that diversity is everywhere.  

Fr. Madigan was clearly a perceptive servant leader.  He noticed a number of single mothers in the food bank lines and began a Mother-Baby program in 1992.  Mothers could come to classes at the center.  If they attended at least one class a month, they would be eligible for a monthly distribution of diapers, clothing and formula.  There were 8 classes a month offered, all on the same topic, 4 in Spanish and 4 in English.  All were focused on caring for children from birth to 2 years. SFBFS found out people wanted more when they did focus groups in 2011.   They asked Spanish, Russian and English groups of parents what they wanted and why they were not drawing fathers.   All groups asked for more topics, and to extend the topics to cover children up to age 5.  SFBFS changed the name to Parent Education Classes and now offer specific workshops for fathers.

The bulletin board with all the classes/workshops listed.

Lorena had just finished teaching a stress management class in Spanish when we arrived.  It was one of 11 workshops that would be available that week.  Lorena shared with us that parents still earn points that they can trade for baby/child clothes, supplies and diapers when they attend classes.  I love the relevant incentives.  When parents come, all the children spend time in the well equipped and engaging nursery and preschool area.  One of the weekly offering is Story Time for parents and their little ones.  Lorena reported that about seventy percent of the parents who come to the center are Latino and of those a large majority are undocumented.  Lorena shared that SFBFS under the auspices of Catholic Charities of Sacramento is offering six workshops this spring on DAPA, the executive order that offers Deferred Action for Parental Arrivals.  Lorena reported that there was a great deal of hope and excitement in the community she serves and in her agency around DAPA.

Lorena gave us a tour of the Oak Park Center.  The building is lovely.  It holds space for children, youth and parents to learn together.  It houses afters school programs, a teaching garden, classrooms for English learning, computer classrooms for adults and youth, the clothing bank for the parenting program, administrative offices and early learning spaces.  I was really impressed by the comprehensive range of services that grew out of a church basement food bank.  

The garden space

I was even more impressed by Lorena and her poise and commitment.  She moved to Sacramento as a newly married young women from Monterrey, Mexico.  Her husband was offered a job because of his unique skills.  She did not know English when she arrived.  A twist of fate led her to learn what she called "hospital" English because of a condition with which her daughter was born.  Lorena spent a lot of time in and out of medical centers with her daughter during her early years.  When she was declared well, Lorena came to the SFBFS to enroll in English classes and she has stayed ever since. Her English is beautiful.  The agency is obviously part of her extended family.  She has been on staff for over seven years.  Lorena talked about the stress of moving to a different country and having to adapt without family nearby.  She teaches stress courses at the center.  I imagine she is amazing because she has learned how to overcome stress in her own life.  I believe this is an incredible gift to the families who come to the center and would be good for all of the families we want to serve.  My journey has made me so  much more aware of the trauma associated with immigration, especially for those who are undocumented.  Speaking with Lorena and Jose in Tucson also reminded me that stress, trauma and grief are also present for those who immigrate legally or who are born to immigrant parents.  This gives me much food for thought as I think about what to add to our lessons.

As Mike and I drove away felt deep gratitude for the gifts SFBFS was giving the community and for the gift of time and presence they gave me on my visit!

Thanks for reading!

The Long and Winding Road Home

We are back in Bellingham!  I am grateful to be at home despite the broken furnace, the broken washing machine and the funky power issues that happened while we were away.  Mike and I are both hoping that when you add the little repair we had to make to the car while we were in Tucson that we are done with repair and replacement for now.  The best news for me is the new washer and dryer that will arrive on Wednesday.    (The old washer died a noble death and the dryer was operating at half strength.)

We diligently kept track of the total miles we put on our car over the 41 days we were gone - 5210 miles.  Such a long way for us.  Mike is used to riding his bike as much as he can and I have been spoiled by living 2 miles from my office.  We are used to doing most things within about 5 miles of our home.  Even my little airport is 5 miles from my house.  One of the things I realized is that I really do not like road trips that much.  Maybe if the trip can be completed in one day and is no more than 5 hours.  Maybe if the stay on the other end is long and leisurely, like the snowbirds we saw and met all over California and Arizona, it makes sense.  By the end of the trip I would look longingly at airplanes and think about how quickly those people are going to get to where they are going.  I look forward to flying to and from Arizona next week for a short visit with the Arizona State University Latino Resilience Enterprise team.

I am sure that some of my bias against long road trips on fast moving interstate highways is that I walked away from a horrific high speed rollover accident almost 31 years ago.  I was 6 months pregnant.  Seat belts saved my life and that of my husband and now nearly 31 year old son Ben.  To this day large trucks cause me some anxiety.  We were hit by a semi-truck, thrown across all lanes of I-5 and then broadsided and flipped into a ditch.  We hung upside down while we waited for rescuers.
I had some amazing visits on this trip that made it worthwhile.   I am really grateful for all the people who agreed to give me their time and energy and I learned a great deal.  I was surprised by the generous hearts and the colorful art I saw all along the way.  I will write again in the next couple of days about the last couple of days of visiting in NorCal.  In the meantime I will post a couple of pictures I took on a brief visit we made to the state capital in Sacramento.

Cesar Chavez is honored in a variety of places in California and Arizona.  We spent some time in the Central Valley near where he lived and worked and met people who were connected to him through their relatives.  This plaza was in downtown Sacramento.  We were lucky to walk through it after we parked the car.

All capitol buildings are majestic.  This is no exception.  We found our way inside and enjoyed displays from each county lining the walls on the visitors' floor.

The floor on the outside of the capitol building.  The marble was beautiful and spoke to me esthetically.

The golden bear, state mascot.  This fellow is brass and is touched by many school children each day.  A nearby state trooper advised us to skip touching for the sake of our health.  He is impressive.

Thanks for reading my ramblings!

Central Valley and NorCal

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I love green, in nature, in clothes, in paintings and quilts, and yes, the color of my eyes has always given me a pass on this day.  We have left the desert and are in a greener part of California.  We are in Davis, home of the University of California (UC) at Davis.  I learned it was originally a branch of the the original University of California at Berkeley.  It was started just as an agricultural branch and has grown up over the years into a lovely campus and town.  In my world of Extension UC Davis is considered one of the premier Land Grant Universities.  The Cooperative Extension offices here are large.  Most are populated with multiple agricultural advisors and there are a few others mixed in.  There are 58 counties in this behemoth state and only scattering of advisors who focus on families by offering nutrition and food security programs.  UC Cooperative Extension has both EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program) and SNAP-ED (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education, formerly know as Food Stamp Education Program Education).  I met with Cathi Lamp and her wonderful team members, Mariana Lopez and Teresa Rios-Spicer, while I was in Tulare County last week.  Yesterday I met with Marcel Horowitz and Sonia Fernandez in Yolo County.  I also met with David Ginsburg, manager for CalFresh/SNAP-ED at the state office.   They run a large program and have over 100 full time staff delivering direct education at the local level.

Cathi, Mariana and Teresa
Tulare County

Sonia, Drew and Marcel posing in front of the soil samples.
Yolo County

There are some interesting things happening in California.  There are large threats to the environment and agriculture from the on-going (fourth year) drought.  All along CA-99 there are large signs about the need for water to help farms survive.  The visible reminders remind all that there is a real threat.  The drought impacts all levels of life here.  Signs in the bathrooms in Davis remind people not to run water while lathering ones hands with soap.  Carefully turn it on and off as needed.  There is less work for the farm workers.  Marcel expected fewer people to show up in the Migrant Camps this year.  One person referred to the San Joaquin Valley as the Dust Bowl.  I had no idea if that was intentional or not.  Yesterday I heard that food prices will increase, people are painting their lawns green and that there are major issues between SoCal and NorCal as the locals refer to the 2 parts of the state about who and what gets the water resource.   So, for now, it is green and lush.  But how long will that last?  How long until the landscape is brown and withered because the water isn't available?  What crops will not be able to be planted.  Will there be a major migration to wetter areas of the country akin to that experienced in the 1930's?

The issues for the undocumented residents seems less urgent here.  Maybe because the population is so rich in Latino families and traditions.  There are some concerns for the safety of the undocumented, especially the parents and children.  When I spoke to my colleagues at the local extension offices they were aware that a number of the people they serve are undocumented.  They do not count (not do we) and they offer education in safe, familiar  places with bi-lingual bi-cultural staff as teachers.  I think the issue of immigration injustice is less pressing in the Central Valley and NorCal than the threat of the drought.  It is not ignored but it is not pressing.  Once people get this far north they settle in and are part of the landscape.

Where I saw more rawness and connection to the issue was at the Bethlehem Center in Visalia.  A faith based NGO that is under the wing of the Catholic Church in Visalia, the Bethlehem Center provides meals, two a day five days a week, some case management, a food pantry and a thrift store for low income and homeless residents of Visalia and the surrounding area.  I met with Benny Rodriguez and Lucio Pulido to talk about their services and to tour their facility.  Benny and Lucio told me that only about 10 percent of their families who come for meals are undocumented (estimated).  Benny shared with me an interesting fact.  In the point of time homeless count for Tulare and Kings Counties combined - 44% live in Visalia.  He said that only 2 children were counted in the last count.  He thinks that the children are hidden during the time for fear of having them taken away.  He also feels that the condition of being undocumented and homeless combined may be compounding the count.  I know that in my county the percent of homeless children is about 27%.

Benny shared with me that Dignity and Respect are the core principles for service at Bethlehem Center.  He spoke about a committee he formed - Voice of the Community.  They asked six of their homeless clients to assess the services at Bethlehem Center.  They told him they wanted more razors in their personal care kits, they wanted AA/NA groups at the center and they wanted inspirational art on the walls of the soup kitchen.  All have been added at the center.   Benny and Lucio excitedly brought out a print that has been used as the source for a mural on the wall.  Christ in the Breadlines was created by Fritz Eichenberg in 1953.  The image is powerful in its woodblock print form and also on the wall with some edits.  The people in the center report that they see themselves in the mural.  A homeless client at the center is the muralist and is also in the finishing stages of a Last Supper mural on the opposite long wall.  I was moved.

Panorama photo of the Christ in the Breadline mural

Benny Rodriguez, Director
Bethlehem Center

I was really glad I visited Tulare County.  I have more to share later.  For now, I will stop and get ready for today's visits and one more day in beautiful Davis, a town full of art!

Shovel Gate
The artist used over 400 used shovels to create this gate that marks one of the entrances to the Davis Arboretum.

Thanks for reading!

Thoughts on Leaving Southern California

We head out today from our base in Desert Edge at the Healing Waters Estates.  We were so glad to have this as a long stopover to refresh, renew, make new friends and take stock.  Thanks to Dale for letting us stay in the O'hana.  I am delighted that my friend Marilyn is recovering from her accident and surgeries following her fall from a bicycle.  She is a trooper and a model for moving ahead with purpose and belief in a fully restored body.  She has always been an inspiration to me and her friendship and example of healthy living is a beacon for me. I look forward to returning again next year when I will be on vacation and not working and she will be much more recovered from her injuries.  We did enjoy several wonderful outings with her.  We went twice to her favorite jazz joint, Woody's Burgers, in Palm Springs.  Two nights ago was a birthday gala for Trish Hatley, a chanteuse who plays with Barney McClure on Mondays. Trish hails from Mukilteo Washington.  Barney spent years in Washington State and served in the WA State Senate.  I remember hearing his tunes on KPLU and reading about the way he enlivened Olympia with music when we lived there.  Trish brought in a whole host of amazing friends to sing and play.  There were some older gentlemen who sang and just rocked the place.  I am so drawn to the beautiful baritone voices.  It is no surprise that in a community where streets are named for Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore, Sammy Davis Junior, Bob Hope and more that there will be enduring talent.

Trish and Barney on piano.  

Another trip Mike and I took with Marilyn was to Sunnylands, the Annenberg family estate that for years has hosted world leaders.  The house has been totally rebuilt and is open by guided tour.  The Visitors Center and Gardens are open to the public in the weekends.  The three of us went for a visit on Sunday.  The gardens are beautiful and very formally designed, all with desert plants.  The Visitors Center was amazing and will be worth a return visit.  We had a delightful lunch outside the cafe.  Many US presidents have held summits at Sunnylands.  The last two years we have been in town, President Obama has been visiting with world leaders there.  A recent visit with the Chinese President Xi Jinping is remembered with a copy a of the redwood bench that President Obama gave him.  Guests are invited to sit on the bench in honor of that visit.  Mike and I warmly remembered our visit to China in the fall of 2013.

Mike and I on the redwood bench at Sunnylands.

I have been using my work time while I have been here to both reflect and look ahead.  I have been reading Trails of Hope and Terror by Rev. Dr.Miguel de la Torre.  Rev. Dr. de la Torre writes from a theological perspective and uses a great deal of testimonials to illustrate the issues.  A documentary by the same name has also been produced that I plan to watch.  The book is very thoughtful and questions the inaction of some of the Christian right on the issue of justice and humanitarianism for the Latino immigrants.  He calls all of us out for being complacent about the conditions that we as a citizenry condone through inaction or ignorance.  He puts a very human face on the people who are engaged as both helpers and border crossers.  It is a very engaging book and has lessons for anyone whether connected to a community of faith or not.

I have also been planning ahead for visits in Tulare County, the Davis/Sacramento area and even New York City!  I am also working with my team of sister faculty members on digesting and authoring articles about our Fortaleciendo Familias program.  We need the results of the follow up evaluations to submit requests for funds for program revisions.  We completed one article and submitted it to a journal last week!  We will begin work on the next data set within the next month.

My writing time is over for today.  Thanks for reading!

Tucson Treasures (Part 4) and Time with Family

Greetings blog friends!  I have been taking a little break from the blog and enjoying the weekend in the Palm Springs area.  Two of my sisters (Dana and Betsy) and their husbands were in town so we had several opportunities to meet up.  The first was at a dinner hosted by our cousin Marc at his lovely home in Palm Springs.  We were able to meet Marc's new husband, Rick, see our cousins Mag and Kate and tour Marc and Rick's home for a Sunday family reunion.

Later in the week, Mike and I went on a tour of renewable energy (wind, natural gas, solar) with brothers in law, Dan and Mike and then visited the Living Desert with everyone.  It was really nice to connect with my family on this long trip.

Dan, Mike and Mike on tour.

At the peak of the blade to the ground,
the mill is over 300 feet in height.

Solar and wind energy are often paired on the energy farms.

                                     

Living Desert Day!
Betsy, Drew, Dana in the front.
Mike and Mike in the back.  Dan is behind the camera!

This will be my last post about the Tucson leg of my journey for now.  Two more things I wish to share that I will treasure are our visit to the Arizona State Museum and my visit with Professor Andrea Romero.

The Arizona State Museum is right on the campus of the University of Arizona. I have shown its picture in a previous post.  The building originally housed the library.  Now it houses several amazing exhibits.  We enjoyed a personal tour of the Paths of Life: American Indians of the Southwest.  Our docent was the retired director of Arizona Public Broadcasting and a very knowledgeable guide.  He led us through the exhibits sharing information that was part of the historical record and part from his own experiences.  I was fascinated to hear the story of the Geronimo from this broadcaster's point of view.  He was witness to an anniversary celebration of the battle between 150 Apache warriors and 5000 US troops.  After having visited Cave Creek Canyon, hearing the stories and seeing the exhibit, I have a much greater and more informed picture of Geronimo and his people.  I also see the story as just one more really fine example of the Doctrine of Discovery and Euroamerican colonialism at its "best."  Our guide recommended that we visit the pottery lab at the museum.  The lab was new since my last visit and it is a gem.   I was surprised and pleased to see modern and traditional pots on display and to get a sense of the variety of pottery, some of which I even recognized from my favorite Antiques Roadshow!  There was displays and a video of modern American Indian potters and their beautiful new forms that left me inspired.

On our last morning in Tucson,  Mike and I both had adventures.  Mike took off on one of his 30 mile rides and got lost!  Thanks to his phone, he managed to find his way back to hotel.  I went back to campus to visit the John and Doris Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences.  I could not resist taking the photo below of the inside of the elevator.  Very classy, new building!  I went to meet with Professor Andrea Romero who, like me, is on sabbatical.  She was very gracious to agree to meet with me, and we stayed an extra day over our original planned time to accommodate her schedule.  I was also delighted to see the smiling face of my new friend Jose greeting me when I got off the elevator on her floor.

Dr. Andrea Romero

Inside the elevator.

I felt like a sponge during my time with Andrea.  Her official website describes (as well as I can) her work and her publications.  What I captured from our conversation were some very sound recommendations for our work at WSU on our proposed Fortaleciendo Familias program revisions.  She spoke about the need to teach Latino youth about civic engagement and taking responsibility for advocating for the health of their communities and their families.  I could see the possible segue with what our 4-H program does with the Know Your Government program but I think she is suggesting taking KYG one step further and keeping the action on a local scale.  This makes total sense to me.  She also sees a need for risk reduction strategies for Latino youth.  She sees discrimination being a very damaging force on youth development.  She is concerned about adolescents engaging in alcohol and is writing a book that is based on ten years she has done with a SAMSHA Drug Free Communities grant in which they worked with youth as equals.    

One of her key recommendations to me was to incorporate conversations on "cultural freezing" into our program as a way for both parents and youth to explore the culture their families remember and to compare that to the culture that exists now.  Both Andrea and her student Jose emphasized the need to work with youth and their families on understanding and coping with bi-cultural stress.  I left with more resources and scholarship to use as sources for our work in Washington and more hope for the future of these vulnerable communities, even in the state where SB 1070 is law.

  I was grateful for all I had seen in Tucson and Southern Arizona.  I look forward to returning to the state to visit the Latino Resilience Enterprise group at Arizona State University at the end of March.

Thanks for reading!           

Tucson Treasures, Part Three

I am really grateful to have the time to reflect on all that I did, saw and learned in Tucson.  We are spending the week with our friends Marilyn and Dale in Desert Edge, California.  I think that everyone at Healing Waters Park, where they live, who sees me working away every morning on my laptop probably wonder what that woman is working on that keeps her away from the desert.  It is lovely at the end of my work to take a break and enjoy the area.  This morning I am working outside and hummingbirds are visiting me on their way to and from the orange tree that is in blossom.  The smell of the orange blossoms is so sweet that I am lulled into a sense of peace and well being.  Mike has been hiking, biking and enjoying life in the desert while I work.  I think it has been a good trip for him and he is taking full advantage of having his bike on the trip.  He has been riding a 31 mile loop up and down hills and is quite happy to be warm!

Orange blossom

Baby hummers

So, back to reflecting on Tucson.  The day after I visited with Anna and her class on migration, I drive into town to interview Emrys Staton in depth. I met him at the Borderlinks facility where he is a board member and where I had originally met him during our Immigration Justice experience.  Emrys is an social justice activist, theology student and a person with a great deal of integrity who grew up in Arizona.  He came to Tucson from Northern Arizona and was raised as a Unitarian Universalist.  He was exposed to the concepts of suffering and political engagement as a means to alleviate suffering as a child, both through his religious education and by the examples set by his politically involved parents.  It seems to have stuck with him.  He majored in geography with an emphasis on social justice at the University of Arizona.  He told me that he was a sophomore in college on September 11, 2001.  He reported alot of hate being present on campus immediately following the attacks.  He joined Beyond Tolerance, a campus group formed to help mitigate the climate of hate.  His journey towards the activism he now engages in continued by befriending a group of Sudanese refugees who had been settled in Tucson by the UN High Commission on Refugees to attend the university.  He learned from them what it personally meant to be a refugee.  These young men had left their homes at the ages of 9 and 10 to travel safety and it took years of struggle and horrible treatment to arrive in Tucson.  Emrys was horrified by the stories they told.

Emrys

By the end of college he was working in independent media on food and justice issues and would attend protests and actions and be beaten up and then report the experience. This preceded the blog and other social media era.  It was the only way to get the truth out about how demonstrators were being treated.

Emrys became in involved in No More Deaths(NMD) from the beginning.  He attended the inaugural event, a Memorial Day 2004 cross border march between Nogales Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora.  He went first as an independent/citizen news reporter and later as a core member of the organization.  A year later he was fully involved and living with a group of activists who were all dedicated to NMD. He spent time at the first encampment NMD in the desert in the summer months of 2004. The encampment provides first aid, water and respite for migrants crossing the desert in the hottest months of the year.  It still operates and is now sanctioned by the International Red Cross which makes it a little safer than some other humanitarian operations from being raided by law enforcement and anti-immigrant vigilantes.  

I asked Emrys what victories he has seen in his 10 years of work with NMD.  He shared the following:

• There are a lot of people we have kept alive.  We have countered the policies of the US Border Patrol that includes enforcement through deterrence, even if death is a "collateral."
• There many immigrant groups who are now fighting to make the political change,  and they had to survive in order to be activists.
•  They (NMD) are one of the only groups that can call out the Border Patrol.  He believes that we should defund Border Patrol.  The theme that I saw in the office of Borderlinks in posters is Revitalize Not Militarize Border Communities.  He believes this should be the message for all of our borders.  All land 100 miles in from the border is now under the purview of the Border Control.    He stated that we need to be very alert to the role the Border Patrol is playing.  Even as they become integrated into the community the enforcement aspect becomes subtly integrated into the community.  What if a border patrol dad becomes assistant boy scout leader - will he be welcoming to undocumented boys and/or families.  Or a soccer coach or 4-H leader (I add this because that is the youth development program in my world)?
• The revision of police policy in how immigrants are treated for routine infractions of the law.  Immigration papers will no longer be sought.  The policy was big news in Tucson and upsetting to the crafters of the infamous SB 1070.  It is good to know that one significant community is fighting back.  It follows revisions of policies that will no longer check school children for immigration papers in the Tucson area.  
• Emrys wholeheartedly endorsed Border Patrol Nation: Dispatches from the Frontlines of Homeland by Todd Miller.  Todd has a really informative blog.  I intend to order it from my independent bookseller!

I asked Emrys what he sees as future needs for both NMD and all of us who are concerned with immigrant justice.  His answers were not always easy to hear.  He said that the work for the future for NMD is solidarity with immigrant-led groups and movements.  Allegiance with black-lives matter.  Prison industry targets both black and brown skins.  He shared that the International Red Cross endorses the work of NMD.  "We work within international humanitarian guidelines.    We need to keep on message that we are doing that here.  We (our society) need to think about decolonizing the concept of humanitarianism.  It is seen as something that people of privilege do.

We need to look at people most effected by conditions taking leadership for making the change.  We have to hear and believe their voices.  We need to use language that tells the facts and avoid the use of language that creates veneer of legitimacy.  We need to hear what they are saying: They (the US government immigration agents and policies) are “terrorizing and kidnapping” us and our children.  Then we need to take the voices seriously.

Lots to think about from our conversation.  

Thanks for reading.