Hola chicos!
A lot of you have asked what it is like living and serving at El Centro San Juan Diego and I am excited to share with you my day to day experiences. My day starts around 7 am when I wake up and get ready to head out the the Refugee Center. My walk to the shelter is about 30 minutes and it is quite the journey. I am terrible at directions so I hold my phone google maps walking style and follow it around the Chihuahua baseball stadium, under a highway, past a few friendly homeless people that wave at me like clockwork, and up a big hill to the center.
When I enter El Centro San Juan Diego, I am always greeted by the refugee families as they are finishing breakfast. After breakfast, we all work together to clean the Center from top to bottom. All of the refugees, even the children, get mops, cleaning supplies, etc. and get right to work. Once the Center is clean, the refugees start helping us prepare for the new group of refugees coming in. We create hygiene bags for the new group consisting of toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, and other hygiene supplies. We also clean up all of the bedding to make way for the new group. We organize the clothing bank so that it is ready for the new families, etc. It is amazing to see these people who have only been here for a day, stepping right up to help the next group coming in.
Just as an example, one of my jobs was to get all of the recycling ready for a volunteer to come pick it up. Now when I say “recycling”, I mean hundreds and hundreds of boxes that had been accumulating in the yard. All of these boxes needed to be squished and organized so that they could easily fit in the van. Alone, it probably would have taken me all day to do just this one job. However, because we work like a family here, I asked some of the refugees if they would be able to help me. In just a few minutes, I had over 15 people helping me squish the boxes and organize them so that they all fit inside each other for easy transportation. Some of these refugees spoke only their native indigenous language (Quiche), some spoke Portuguese, none spoke English, some were 5 years old, and some were 85, but we were all working together to help support the Center. It was (and always is) such a beautiful thing.
Throughout the day, the volunteers work to schedule transportation for the refugees to go home to their sponsor. A sponsor is a person in the United States that has told the government that they will care for and support this refugee and help them follow through with the next immigration steps. We call each sponsor to make sure they have bought a plane or bus ticket for the refugee. We make bags for the refugees to bring with them on the next step of their journey consisting of sandwiches, blankets, water, snacks, and a small toy for the children. Some of the refugees have to take a bus for days to get to their sponsor so they really appreciate this bag of goodies to help them get through the rest of their travel. For example, one refugee is actually going to Hartford, CT! And it is going to take him and his daughter 3.5 DAYS to arrive.
Throughout the day, many of the refugees start leave us to head to their sponsors. The volunteers, like myself, go through a large volunteer driver list to see if anyone can bring them to the airport or bus station. It is amazing how many volunteers we have from El Paso that are willing to drive. Then we give the refugee their bag of goodies, a nice big hug, and wish them well. Most refugees only stay at the center a night or two so we don’t get to spend too much time with them but every single one I hug as they say goodbye leaves a mark on my heart.
During all of this, we are waiting for the next group of refugees to arrive. They arrive in a big school bus with 2 armed guards. The guards are normally not very friendly and I always wish they could just smile. The refugees (normally 40 families or so) get off the bus and are wrapped in their tin foil blankets from the detention center. They often haven’t eaten anything substantial for days or bathed. Many are sick from being in such close quarters where germs can spread easily.
We greet the refugees with a big sign that says “bienvenidos” and shuffle them into the comedor where we immediately give them a nice, warm caldito (soup). As the refugees eat, we explain to them that we are not with the government, we are a Refugee Center made up of volunteers and we are here as a family. We tell them the rules of the Center (shoes always on, everyone helps, etc.) and let them know the next steps: intakes, clean clothes, shower!
The first step is the intake. This is where each refugee family meets with one of the volunteers, goes through their paperwork, and calls their sponsor. Intakes are where I feel most useful throughout the whole day because I get to use my language skills to make the family feel comfortable and make them feel like someone really cares about them. I get to do all of the Spanish and Portuguese intakes (more on that later). During the intake, you greet the family, go through all of their immigration paperwork to make sure that it is okay, and call their sponsor. This is often the first time that the family gets to talk with their loved one in the United States and it is amazing to be able to watch them hear the voice of their mother, husband, etc. for the first time in a while. We explain to the sponsor that they need to by a bus or plane ticket for their family member and to call back when they have purchased it.
The family then goes across the street into another part of the center that hosts the clothing bank. Volunteers have worked hard to make the clothing bank look like a little clothing boutique. There is a small room for men, another for children, and a back room for the women. The clothing bank, or Roperia as we call it, has lots of donated clothes. Most of these refugees have been traveling with the same pair of clothes, socks, and underwear for weeks and they are extremely happy to be able to change into something new. Each refugee gets a clean pair of pants, a shirt, undergarments, socks, and a coat if they are traveling somewhere cold.
Once they have picked out their ropa, they are directed to the hygiene station where they get a baggie full of soap, shampoo, etc. and then move on to take the first hot shower they have had in forever! After getting clean, it is normally time to eat dinner and everyone gets together to help cook, serve, and clean. During this time, volunteers are working the phones scheduling the bus and plane tickets for the new refugees, making the to-go bags, and sending the last group of refugees on their way.
The next day it starts all over again with the new refugees becoming the veterans and getting ready to welcome in the next group of 40 families. It is a never ending process but a beautiful one.
So that’s it! A day in the life of a volunteer at Centro San Juan Diego! Hope you are all enjoying the snow!
Senora Traub
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