Aquí estamos!

 We are in Mexico! Agua Prieta, Sonora, is our home for the next few weeks.

The border wall runs right through the city, where cars line up to show identification and cross over into Arizona. The wall in the city is double-thick, with two 18-foot high fences separated by a deep cement canal. For added security, there are surveillance cameras on towers, underground motion detectors, and agents patrolling by jeep, horse, and foot. If I stand in Mexico with my back against the wall, I am on American soil.

All this security is for "prevention through deterrence", a strategy that effectively channels migrants to the outskirts of cities and the more treacherous countryside that lies beyond them. Unfortunately, many people who take this journey are not informed about the formidable conditions they will face. To collect clothing for the project, we traveled to the border wall outside the city--a tiring but successful trip. This is what it's like:

To get to the border outside of the city, you have to drive 20 minutes down a highway lined with miniature houses of every color honoring different saints. From there, you get into the back of a truck (if you are not incognito), which will take you over a barely-there mud road, avoiding deep lakes that have sprung up overnight from the monsoons. It's better than Magic Mountain, but your butt hurts more afterwards. This part lasts for about 40 minutes. You are being watched.

From the point that the truck can't go any farther, you get out and walk. It is very hot, you walk through sand, and if you wear shorts like I did, you will have scratches all over the place. Ow. You walk in sand-bottomed arroyos if you are trying to stay out of sight. There are only a few trees that cast any shade, but under these you can sometimes find water tanks. This part lasts about an hour, until you reach the wall.

The wall is easy to climb... if you are fairly able. We found a ladder made of ropes and pipes, and sheets tied together sneaking-out style. Of course, we were there not to cross, but to collect the things that people have left behind on their many journeys.

We were lucky to find lots of clothing and items that help tell these stories, all caked with mud!

You can see in the group picture below that the border wall is wide open. These doors are usually opened during the monsoon season so that water can pass through, but we were still surprised to find them!

The group who came on the clothes-finding expedition included women from the community center, Dougla Prieta Trabajan, with whom we are working on sewing with the clothes. The others in our group are from CRREDA, a drug rehabilitation center that works to refill water tanks in the desert for those who are crossing.

Collecting clothing on migrant paths in the Sonoran desert.

With the clothing we collected, we have begun our sewing projects with the women of Dougla Prieta Trabajan. We are so grateful to work collaboratively with them--here are a few pictures of the team:

Beyond all this, we have watched rivers fall from the sky and take over the dirt streets, blow-dried baby chicks, eaten more cheese and corn than we could possibly imagine (they have "Chihuahua cheese" here, it's the BEST), "mountain biked" through the streets of Agua Prieta, gotten lost in translation, waited out thunderstorms, avoided cute but terrifying packs of dogs that chase, walked the plaza at night eating duro con verdura (verdict: weird), and seen the most beautifully-colored houses. 

To your very good adventures.

xo

Juna & friends