Day 2: Here They Come!

“they are coming ... told 500 today with 150 at our site”

I guess it’s unusual to get notified by ICE when and how many will be coming. We had decided to go out to breakfast because breakfast here, organized by the nuns (volunteers from Midwest), is cold cereal and warm milk; figured out the warm milk is because in Mexico they have to boil water (it's contaminated) to mix the powdered milk, so here when they add the powdered milk they go to the microwave and heat the milk and the water and then put the cold cereal in so we thought this would be congested since there’s about 125 people trying to heat milk in one microwave!



We met 2 former volunteers from another site. Great breakfast and then back to work. There are so many children in this group, beautiful little ninos and nitas, many of whom are have been running a fever have a cold sore throat, some just a little crying. Nurse Patti to the rescue with meds! When the first bus arrived, the first thing is to sit in the large room that is the dining hall; they’re given instructions on what the procedure will be. They are orderly lined up (I set out chairs... so it turned into like a musical chairs), as a family went in to meet with the intake counselor to go over their papers confirming how many and their ages and names, then the next families would move up to chair line! They seem so happy here, as they sat with only the clothes on their back!

Once through the intake counselor, they take their papers over to a place in the same room where they get their room assignment, then they go through and they’ve given him a little bag of toiletries, then they move on to be taken to the room past the clothing room where I was working today to show them where they are. When they got to the rooms they were to take a shower or clean up come back to the clothes room, pick out some clothes (although some decided to take the shower after they got the new clothes which made more sense to me). It was such a joy to see the look on their faces when they saw all these clean clothes that have been donated from people from all over the place and jackets hats mittens a shortage of children’s clothing...a shortage of jeans for the guys they were looking for that but so thankful for anything. They got laughing and some of the little kids were just dancing, it was just so sweet. I tried to keep organized what size is where which-- small medium large-- I was in the women’s and girls... Men’s room was down the hall with their clothes...

Lunch arrived from a family ready to serve 100 people-- pasta, beans, and chicken dish of some apples. They were so hungry, especially the children! We barely made it through getting everybody processed, when the next bus load arrived! We had a little bit left from lunch, so we gave out tiny amounts because that’s all we had. Process begins again. This group seemed to contain more teenagers with a parent, usually a dad, and several very young families... The site coordinator decided to train me in the housing set up because I would be here for a longer time, and the person that was doing it would be leaving very soon, so I tried to learn that job. Sister Margaret shared how she developed the job and sure is a time when I wish I knew Spanish! When they brought their intake form to us, we had to mark for the adult (dad) and two children, a girl six and a boy 4. They all sleep in the same bed, and we would put another family in the other bed if the room has two double beds. This was recorded on several forms. Then they were moved along the line to get their toiletries and go to their room.

Back in the clothing room I don’t think I shared with you that each person gets one side of underwear, pair of socks, pantalones, shirt and jacket or coat with the hat if we have them. All day long people from all over the place were bringing clothes and they had to be sorted. One gentleman said he lives four hours away and he made this trip twice a week to bring clothes, some new some used some I tossed. Dinner time: over 150 people lined up to go through a delicious meal prepared by the students of two colleges, one in Philadelphia and one in South Dakota, come for an immersion experience with the local Lutheran church. They prepared, served the meal, and sat with the families because many of them knew Spanish. What a gift!! So there was much laughter, they are talking and sharing stories, with different games going on involving the children. It was beautiful to watch. Truly God at work spreading hope and love. This Lutheran minister, herself from Columbia, takes in students from all over for this immersion experience. Yesterday the students talked to a lawyer and then got to sit in on a court case; they said it was very hard.

What a hope to see these young folks engaged!

This evening I got trained in the end of night procedure for transportation duties. Have to switch postings as they are moved at the times when they will be taking the bus or the plane to their sponsors, usually a relative or a friend who has bought their ticket. They're clustered by the times that they will leave, and it’s posted on the board and then volunteer drivers and/or the van (which is paid for by donations) will take them to the bus station. Someone usually goes with them who speaks Spanish so they can explain how to pick up the ticket, how to get on the right bus. They have little notes that say "I don’t speak any English and I have to make a transfer; will you please help me get on the right bus to my destination." So it’s very well organized. In the morning they’ll come down and look and see if their sponsor called and what time they will be leaving. They are given sandwiches and snacks and water for the trip, any medicine and lots of hugs and prayers for when they do but they will depart. Lots of hugs which need no language.... feeling so blessed to be part of this caring organized effort!