Six Earlham College students and two faculty members participated in a Border Seminar, in conjunction with the Border Studies Program, for a week in May 2002. All had studied together for four months in Cuautla, Morelos, in the fall and were anxious to learn more about the border area that connects and separates Mexico and the U.S. We wanted to address issues of human rights, immigration, economic development, the environment and women's issues and we were glad to be able to use our Spanish language skills. Our goal was to listen to and to learn from a variety of people living and working in the border area of El Paso, Texas, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and Las Cruces, New Mexico. We also visited the border towns of Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua and Columbus, New Mexico, made famous by a Pancho Villa raid in 1916 and the following Punitive Expedition into Mexico led by General Pershing. We did indeed meet many people with many different perspectives and viewpoints and we would like to share some of the highlights of our trip.

For more information about arranging programs, seminars and visits in this border region, please contact borders@earlham.edu.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them

Our first visit was to the Maternidad La Luz in El Paso where we met with founder and director Deborah Kaley and learned about the work of the birthing clinic and midwifery school.

Gypsy Swanger, Resident Director of the Border Studies Program , talked to the group from a point above Interstate 10 near the University of Texas at El Paso overlooking the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo. This is a vew of the Mexico/US border fence outside of El Paso.

At Tierra Madre in Sunland Park New Mexico Lothar Fastje taught us about the concept amd construction of straw-bale houses. (http://www.tmadre.org)

Attorney Edgar Holguin at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso discussed issues of immigration and the programs offered by Las Americas. The Center serves international refugees and reaches out to the local immigrant community.

After a presentation at the Border Patrol Headquarters in El Paso, we were taken to the detention center near the border with our host and then driven along the border to see how the Border Patrol carries out its work.

Greg Bloom, editor of Frontera NorteSur -discusses current events with our group. Frontera NorteSur provides on-line news coverage of the US-Mexico border. It is an outreach program of the Center for Latin American and Border Studies at New Mexico State Unviersity, Las Cruces. A beautiful view driving from Las Cruces to El Paso along a fertile valley near the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo.

Crossing the Santa Fe Bridge from El Paso to Ciudad Juárez and a look through the fence on the bridge.

A view of the international bridge and the entrance into Ciudad Juárez and a picture of a popsicle stand in the city. German Sanchez, radio and and television commentator in Ciudad Juarez, talked to the group about issues confronting the city.

In Ciudad Juárez we toured two maquiladoras (assembly plants). These pictures were taken at the daycare at ADC, the only daycare program provided by a maquildora.

In Ciudad Juárez we stayed with families and here you see Cristina Sanchez, Family Coordinator for the Border Studies Program, sharing breakfast with us. Next was a trip to the market in the center of town and then an evening out.

One professor of Education and two historians at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez (UACJ) discussed with us many different challenges confronting the border region. The mini-seminar was followed by a tour of the University library and this is a picture of the group looking at a special collection of postcards from Chihuahua. We also had the opportunity to meet with the current mayor of Ciudad Juárez and learn about his views of the future of the city and the region.

After packing up the van and saying good bye to Cristina and to our host families, we headed down the Border Highway to Columbus, New Mexico and Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua.

At the historical museum in Columbus, we were fascinated to meet Angel Borunda, the Saturday host. He shared with us many aspects of his life, including his participation in the 1950 movie Salt of the Earth and his work organizing farm workers in California. The three girls were our unofficial guides in Palomas.

The monument at the entrance to the Santa Fe Bridge in Juarez is dedicated to the women who have been murdered in the city.

Final views on the international bridge between Juárez and El Paso, Mexico and the U.S.

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