A not-very-good drawing of a dinosaur because the WaPo photo is copyrighted. On one of his volunteer shifts at the monastery David was interviewed by a reporter from the Washington Post. Searching for an article where David might have been quoted I found something entirely unexpected, a photo of a little Guatemalan boy and his father who were two of the first asylum seekers I ever met. In the Washington Post piece they were pictured at the Greyhound bus station in Tucson but I had met them at Casa Alitas - the small Tucson house that sheltered asylum seekers before we had to expand into the monastery. Now I have met many hundreds of fathers and sons from Guatemala in the last few months so how did I recognize these two? Because of the dinosaur, that's how. (Here's the link to the WaPo article. If you read it to the end you'll see the photo I'm referring to, as well as some others of Casa Alitas and our guests.)
We arrived early at Casa Alitas that day to do an airport run. The house was full, with people sitting on the sofas watching Coco on the TV and others showering or packing their few possessions for their upcoming journey. When we got back from the airport a group were waiting for one of the coordinators to drive them to the bus station and one of the boys in that group was clutching a toy dinosaur. Bright orange, it was the battery-operated kind that opened its mouth and roared, although that function didn't work any more. The little boy holding the dinosaur kept asking me something. I thought he was hungry and offered him food. No. That wasn't what he wanted. Patiently he repeated his request to this silly woman who didn't understand what he was saying. Eventually a Spanish-speaking volunteer rescued us both. "He's asking if he can keep the dinosaur," she said. Could he keep the dinosaur? Of course he could. It was big and cumbersome and broken but he had fallen in love with that toy and he had nothing else. Of course he could keep the dinosaur.
After the group left I wondered where they were traveling to. I wondered if that dinosaur would be enough to occupy the little boy on a long boring bus journey. I wondered who would meet them at their final destination, where they would live, and what life in the US would mean for them. I didn't even know their names so I knew I would never have answers to these questions. Except now I do. After reading the article I know that Kenneth and his dad Wilmer were heading to Lincoln, Nebraska to live with Kenneth's aunt. Lincoln is a LOOOONG way from Tucson. I hope that dinosaur kept Kenneth entertained on what was probably a three day bus journey. Not knowing what happens to the people we help is difficult for me. Watching them head down the long hallway to a plane, or climb the steps onto a bus, and knowing that's the last I will ever see or hear of them is hard. I always cry. And I cried when I saw that photo of Kenneth at the bus station hugging that broken dinosaur toy as if it was the best toy in the world. I hope by now he has more toys to play with. I hope he likes his new home. I hope he has been received with kindness in Lincoln, Nebraska. I hope ... .
We arrived early at Casa Alitas that day to do an airport run. The house was full, with people sitting on the sofas watching Coco on the TV and others showering or packing their few possessions for their upcoming journey. When we got back from the airport a group were waiting for one of the coordinators to drive them to the bus station and one of the boys in that group was clutching a toy dinosaur. Bright orange, it was the battery-operated kind that opened its mouth and roared, although that function didn't work any more. The little boy holding the dinosaur kept asking me something. I thought he was hungry and offered him food. No. That wasn't what he wanted. Patiently he repeated his request to this silly woman who didn't understand what he was saying. Eventually a Spanish-speaking volunteer rescued us both. "He's asking if he can keep the dinosaur," she said. Could he keep the dinosaur? Of course he could. It was big and cumbersome and broken but he had fallen in love with that toy and he had nothing else. Of course he could keep the dinosaur.
After the group left I wondered where they were traveling to. I wondered if that dinosaur would be enough to occupy the little boy on a long boring bus journey. I wondered who would meet them at their final destination, where they would live, and what life in the US would mean for them. I didn't even know their names so I knew I would never have answers to these questions. Except now I do. After reading the article I know that Kenneth and his dad Wilmer were heading to Lincoln, Nebraska to live with Kenneth's aunt. Lincoln is a LOOOONG way from Tucson. I hope that dinosaur kept Kenneth entertained on what was probably a three day bus journey. Not knowing what happens to the people we help is difficult for me. Watching them head down the long hallway to a plane, or climb the steps onto a bus, and knowing that's the last I will ever see or hear of them is hard. I always cry. And I cried when I saw that photo of Kenneth at the bus station hugging that broken dinosaur toy as if it was the best toy in the world. I hope by now he has more toys to play with. I hope he likes his new home. I hope he has been received with kindness in Lincoln, Nebraska. I hope ... .
The article I mention above is a little out of date now (link here) - tens of thousands more asylum seeking families have arrived and non-profits along the border are struggling to cope - but it's worth reading to get an understanding of what the refugees face. This is a more recent article showing how the crisis has escalated. (Link here.)
As always the Alitas program is in need of donations:
Disclaimer: The opinions in this blog are mine alone and do not represent an official Alitas account. Any mistakes are mine and mine alone.
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As always the Alitas program is in need of donations:
- Aid to migrant women and children - how to donate.
- Official GoFundMe for the Alitas program.
Disclaimer: The opinions in this blog are mine alone and do not represent an official Alitas account. Any mistakes are mine and mine alone.
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