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To have a good trip, you should know...
It's an Adventure
In may ways the border region is a country unto itself. It is important
that we, as a group, approach our time on the border -- particularly
on the Mexican side -- in an open-minded, adventurous manner.
We ask that you come prepared to be flexible. Our plans may change from
one day to the next, and we sometimes experience difficulty trying to
stay on a fixed schedule in Mexico. No matter what happens, we'll have
fun and we'll learn.
Spanish
It is not necessary to speak Spanish in order to participate in a BorderLinks
trip. A BorderLinks staff person will translate for group activities
and meetings. However, you should be aware that for those people who
do not speak Spanish, it will sometimes be difficult to communicate
verbally with people we meet. Most participants view the obstacles to
verbal communication as an opportunity to explore alternative ways of
forming bonds with the people they meet.
Living Arrangements
In Tucson we will stay together in the BorderLinks complex which includes
a dormitory facility for up to fifty people. The facility is often shared
with the Semester on the Border students. Cooking and cleaning tasks
are shared by the group.
Most groups will spend several days in Mexico and our living arrangements
there may vary. Luxuries that we're accustomed to in North America,
such as hot water or even running water, may not be available. Many
of our groups stay at the Casa de la Misericordia (CM) in Nogales. The
CM campus is on a one acre lot. Besides kitchen and dining hall facilities
where a hot lunch is served to about three hundred kids each day, the
property includes dormitory style housing and shower/bathroom facilities
with hot, running water.
We are aware that some folks have special physical needs, and we try
to be as sensitive as possible to those. If there are special considerations
that cause you to wonder about your ability to participate in a trip,
please contact the BorderLinks coordinators and we'll do all that we
can to accommodate you.
Personal Stress
Obviously, the trip is not a relaxing vacation. Rather it is a time
for new ideas, relationships, study and reflection.
It is important for you to recognize that this trip will be physically
and emotionally draining. You will be expected to adapt quickly to living
with a new group of people, some of whom you may never have met before.
You will be bombarded with a lot of new information and experiences
-- much of which may be difficult to understand and process fully. You
may experience some level of culture shock -- the poverty that we will
see will probably be difficult to absorb -- and feel uncomfortable some
of the time.
We believe that feeling uncomfortable is an important part of learning.
The experience has been very positive for those who have come, and
we hope you'll join us.
Health and Safety
Please refer to the section Health
Information. BorderLinks will provide safe drinking water and respond
to any other health or safety situations that arise. We ask that participants
bring a water bottle to carry with them to be refilled with safe
drinking water throughout the trip.
Both Education and Service
Many people ask us how they can help when they come to the border. Our
commitment is to educate people who are concerned about these issues
in order to help them respond appropriately. We hope that our participants
will leave BorderLinks prepared to work for structural change in response
to the endemic problems here on the border. By the end of our trip,
our staff works with each group to think carefully about what those
"next steps" might be.
We know that performing some kind of service or work project provides
a point of entry for some groups to learn about the border. Also, while
we're clearly interested in responding to the structural systems of
oppression that are at play here, we have also made a growing commitment
to respond to the more immediate needs of the residents of Nogales,
Sonora. Those projects are focused on developing Casa Misericordia into
an active community center that will become a support system in all
kinds of ways for residents in the surrounding neighborhood. As a result,
BorderLinks is now offering action/reflection trips based at the Casa.
The BorderLinks Program Coordinator can help you to design an experience
appropriate to your group.
Every BorderLinks group, even those that are more oriented toward service
and work, will be asked to do the hard work of education and analysis
around social and political conditions in the border region and the
larger economic and immigration policy questions at work here. In addition,
faith-based groups will do both the educational work and the work project
in the context of Biblical reflection and sharing about their own faith
experiences.
Special
arrangements need to be made for the action/ reflection trips. Group
leaders should be in touch with the BorderLinks office more than six
months in advance since we often require representative adult and youth
leadership participation in planning workshops held in the fall and
spring prior to a groups arrival.
Group Responsibility and Participation
It is important to recognize the importance of experiencing this trip
as part of a community. We will be living, eating, learning and discussing
together during our trip.
Past trips have taught us that it is disruptive and hard on the group
when participants skip some of the sessions or come and go during the
week. For this reason we ask that you commit yourself to be a part of
the entire trip. If you have family or friends that you would like to
visit in the area, please try to schedule extra time with them before
or after our time together.
Occasionally someone arrives for one of our trips without having arranged
appropriate immigration papers to enter Mexico or re-enter the U.S.
after being in Mexico. If it becomes impossible for one of our participants
to cross the border or remain with the group because of that person's
own failure to take responsibility for his or her travel documents,
we will attempt to make the participant as comfortable as possible at
our campus in Tucson while the rest of the group continues their trip.
We will not be responsible for providing staffing, program or meals
for that individual.
Discernment
The BorderLinks staff reserves the right to remove a participant from
any or all activities in the event that his or her behavior is disruptive,
inappropriate, or dangerous to himself or herself or to anyone else
in the group. If a participant is asked to leave the program, that person
will be responsible for his or her own travel, food, and lodging thereafter,
and will forfeit all fees paid to BorderLinks. Minors will not be left
without appropriate adult supervision, but they will be separated from
the group and arrangements will be made with their guardians for them
to return home.
Emergency
Contacts
In order to focus fully on your trip and the other participants, please
make an effort to leave work and other concerns at home.
During our time in Mexico, BorderLinks staff will have regular contact
with co-workers in Tucson. In the case of an emergency, please advise
family or friends to call the BorderLinks office at (520) 628-8263 so
the message can be relayed to the BorderLinks staff with your group
in Mexico.
If there is a medical or family crisis that must be dealt with outside
of office hours, you may reach Delle McCormick at (520) 623-7718 or
her cell at (520) 204-6295.
Note that Arizona does not have daylight savings time. During the winter
months we are on Mountain time, and in the summer we are on Pacific
time.
Call us at 520-628-8263 or email
program@borderlinks.org
BorderLinks is a bi-national education and service organization.
We have not-for-profit status in the US and Mexico.
© 1987-2002 BorderLinks. All rights reserved.
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