It's On

We're in the thick of it! Every morning we gather to work with the migrants' clothes -- washing, cutting, pinning and sewing. We've also been hard at work eating snacks (pineapple with chamoy sauce, homemade tamales, chiltepin peppers, sweet membrillo, jujubes, you know).

In all, there are about 10 of us sewing at DouglaPrieta Trabajan. Lots of kids come and help too.

The DouglaPrieta power team: Trini, Pedro, Cliotilde, Laila, Ada Lizet, Miriam, Rosalinda, Maribel & the girls, Juana, Juna, and Ada. Not pictured: Vanessa, Vicenta, and Vicenta's amazing kids!

When we first gathered two weeks ago, we discussed different designs we wanted to make using the clothes. We threw around quilt design ideas-- the emblematic volcano that lies east of Agua Prieta, footprints to represent the migrant trails, the Mexican flag. 

After one person had the idea of making new clothing from the migrant's discarded clothes, our task became clear: create a falda folklórica, or a traditional Mexican folk dance skirt. This kind of thing: 

The traditional folk dance costume of Jalisco.

Every region of Mexico, as well as parts of the United States and Central America, has a distinct costume, music, and style of folk dance. It made sense to the group to make a skirt because they are "very Mexican" and "represent a celebration of life". The falda folklórica's liveliness, sense of pride, and context would be in direct opposition to the material we would use to create one.

We decided to first create the skirt from old sheets, then cover it with pieces of the clothing. 

Aww. Laila was lovely our skirt-model.

The power team whipped out this skirt in no time. Now we are pinning & sewing up a storm to try to get all the pieces of clothing on before our ending celebration on Wednesday...crossing our fingers. We are hoping to have Miriam's daughter, who dances baile folklórico, show us how it's done.

We also continue to happily work with CRREDA, the rehabilitation center here in town. The afternoons are spent embroidering on the clothes with them, recording interviews, and sometimes playing unexpected baseball.

Our little outdoor spot at CRREDA.

It was such a treat to have both Laila and Vanessa come to help sew, take fotos, fold paper cranes for kids, and wander the streets at night in search of tasty food. People keep asking about them -- "when is she coming back?"

In other news, I tried cabeza for the first time (essentially cow cheeks). Verdict: delicious, and grateful they didn't tell me what it was until after I finished.

Hasta soon,

Juna & friends