Old Maps No Longer Work

I first encountered this poem this spring in a Circle of Trust group in which I participated at All Souls Episcopal Cathedral in Asheville. Given all I am experiencing on this journey, these words are touching a place deep within me. I need to sit and be quiet with them.

Old Maps No Longer Work

I keep pulling it out -
the old map of my inner path.
I squint closely at it,
trying to see some hidden road
that maybe I’ve missed,
but there’s nothing there now
except some well-traveled paths.
they have seen my footsteps often,
held my laughter, caught my tears.

I keep going over the old map
but now the roads lead nowhere,
a meaningless wilderness
where life is dull and futile.

“toss away the old map,” she says
“you must be kidding!” I reply.
she looks at me with Sarah eyes
and repeats, “toss it away.
it’s of no use where you’re going.”

“I have to have a map!” I cry,
“even if it takes me nowhere.
I can’t be without direction.”
“but you are without direction,”
she says, “so why not let go, be free?”

so there I am – tossing away the old map,
sadly fearfully, putting it behind me.
“whatever will I do?” wails my security
“trust me” says my midlife soul.

no map, no specific directions,
no “this way ahead” or “take a left”.
how will I know where to go?
how will I find my way? no map!
but then my midlife soul whispers:
“there was a time before maps
when pilgrims traveled by the stars.”

It is time for the pilgrim in me
to travel in the dark,
to learn to read the stars
that shine in my soul.
I will walk deeper
into the dark of my night.
I will wait for the stars.
trust their guidance.
and let their light be enough for me.

Joyce Rupp OSM

To the Desert Camp with No Mas Muertes

Today I move from my little "monastic cell" at FCC to Southside Presbyterian Church where I will be trained by No Mas Muertes folks before heading into their Arivaca desert camp tomorrow. Each day we will go on two water patrols, hiking 8-10 miles and leaving water in strategic locations along the migrant trail. We will also be available to offer medical care if we encounter persons in distress. Then on Wednesday I come back to Borderlinks for a Seminar for Educators which will be held primarily in Nogales, Mexico. Thus, I will have no computer/internet access. I will record my thoughts in a journal and offer reflections when I return.

Pray for me and my fellow volunteers as we go . . .

Carlos found alive!

Yay! The guys are so relieved that Carlos was found. He's in a detention center and will be deported, but at least he's alive. Thank God!

Vandalism and Being Lost in the Desert

Today I went out on another water station run with Humane Borders, this time to an area near Arivaca, with Gene, Felipe, Adan, and Memo. As we approached the area of the first station, we did not see the blue flag flying on the horizon as we expected. Rather, upon arriving, we found the flag poles bent and thrown in a tree, the flag ripped, and the barrels drilled with holes to drain out the water. I scanned the immediate area, a little nervous at the thought of vandals, while the guys set to replacing the barrels. As I retrieved the bent flag poles from the trees, I said to Memo “I can’t believe some people are so mean.” I was both angered and saddened that there are people who would rather let human beings die in the desert than provide them with life-saving water. I don’t care about political persuasion or what one believes about “illegal immigrants” - denying someone water in this desert is a death sentence. It is murder.

Today was particularly difficult for me, not because of the vandalism, or the heat, or the motion sickness from driving (or bouncing and jerking) through the desert. Rather, it was because of the two young men who traveled with us. Adan and Memo arrived in Tucson on Tuesday morning from LA. They are here looking for Adan’s brother, Carlos Vasquez - a son, a brother, a brother-in-law, and a dad of 4-year-old daughter, Carla. Carlos left Nogales with a group and a “smuggler” on Thursday. Adan spoke to him on a borrowed cell phone on Saturday around midnight as he was being left in the desert by the smuggler. The brothers spoke again on Sunday about 4:00 p.m. Carlos indicated he was in physical distress and lost in the desert.

Adan showed me a picture of Carlos and his daughter, Carla.

There has been no word from Carlos since Sunday. It’s now Thursday. Today the temperature is 104 degrees. Adan and Memo are frantic. They’ve been to Border Patrol, the Sheriff’s Office, hospitals, the Medical Examiner. They’ve called the cell phone company to try to locate him through a signal on the phone – but the phone is off, probably a dead battery. No sign of Carlos – alive or dead. As Adan says, it’s the not knowing that is so difficult. His mother in LA is distraught. His family has been through this before. His cousin died while crossing and was found three weeks later barely recognizable and with all four limbs missing.

This time, it’s his brother. Adan and Memo are staying in the room next to me at First Christian Church. Each day they search, they wait for phone calls, they contact various agencies, they pray. I pray, too. The men and women crossing this scorching, harsh, vast desert to feed and provide for the basic needs of their families are no longer images on a movie screen or people I read about in books. I’ve been with Adan and Memo, the family of one lost in he desert . . . I’ve seen a picture and heard stories of Carlos (and Carla) . . . I even helped them look for him today. Please, God, let him be alive . . .

Trial of No Mas Muertes Volunteer

The trial of No Mas Muertes volunteer, Walt Stanton, who was charged with littering when he placed gallon jugs of water in the desert in Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, has been taking place in Tucson the last three days.

Click for local Tucson TV news report.

From Democracy Now Headlines:

"No More Deaths Activist on Trial in Arizona

In Arizona, a human rights activist from the group No More Deaths went on trial Monday for leaving plastic jugs of water in a National Wildlife Refuge near the US-Mexico border. The activist, Walt Staton, says the water jugs were left to prevent migrants from dying of dehydration. The US government has accused Staton of “knowingly littering” in the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge. The group No More Deaths has worked for years to provide humanitarian aid to migrants. Over the past decade, nearly 2,000 men, women and children have died while trying to cross the border into Arizona."

Check out the No Mas Muertes (No More Deaths) website for more information.

Finally, the response letter from Rev. Robin Hoover, the pastor at First Christian Church (where I am staying) and the Founder and President Emeritus of Humane Borders.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement from Humane Borders

Re: Conviction of Walt Stanton for littering

Walt Stanton, a volunteer for the group No More Deaths was convicted of knowingly littering on the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge while actually placing life-saving jugs of water out to help reduce the numbers of migrants dying on that property.

Well, here we go again! The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is continuing to show blatant disregard for the value of human life on USFWS property. Apparently, the local land managers are slow learners. Apparently, nothing has been learned since May 23, 2001 when 14 dead migrants were recovered along with 12 partially mummified survivors on the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge after refusing Humane Borders permission to install water stations on known trails. A recently retired executive for USFWS recently said, “That wasn’t our best day.”

Water in the desert means life. Water is placed in the desert to save lives from California to Texas. Then Deputy Director of the Department of Interior, Lynn Scarlett, wrote a memo supporting cooperation between land managers and humanitarian groups. The presence of water stations and water drops are statistically significant in reducing migrant deaths. These things work, and they have the approval at the highest levels of government.

If rational and reasonable, a land manager—especially of a refuge—would choose to have water on the refuge to reduce the numbers of deaths of a migrating species called humans. But, no!

There is no refuting that the United States Border Patrol and the management and law enforcement officials of the USFWS appear to be in collusion to run interference with efforts to save lives in the desert. Without the Border Patrol calling in the BA law enforcement agent and further investigating the incident, Stanton could not have been prosecuted successfully. Humanitarians are being targeted. Migrants are not prosecuted for littering. Border Patrol agents are not cited for damaging habitat even though study after study has shown the presence of the Department of Homeland Security personnel and equipment to have a very deleterious impact on the environment.

It is an affront to human sensibilities for a southern Arizona jury of peers to side with the government that will allow persons on this property to hunt, kill, drive over vegetation, scatter wildlife and not set a bottle of fresh, clean life-saving water out for a human being in distress. The incongruities are actually a sin. That word gets thrown around too much, but all righteous people—religious or not—should be indignant at the result of this misappropriation of authority, jurisdiction, and power at such a low pay grade.

Humane Borders will immediately and formally apply to place and maintain water stations on the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge at or as near as possible to the sites that have been frequented by No More Deaths volunteers. We believe that the Refuge personnel can redeem themselves by indicating to the greater public—even the nation—that they are uncomfortable with the numbers of deaths of migrants on that property and that they are willing to work to ameliorate the human damage that is occurring on their watch.

Absent such permission, Humane Borders will do everything possible to politicize the deaths on this property.

Rev. Robin Hoover, Ph.D.

Founder and President Emeritus

On Behalf of The Board of Directors

Humane Borders, Inc.

Approved June 3, 2009

Water Run, Border Patrol, and Court - Oh My!

Today was a busy day. It began at 7:00 a.m. with meeting Barbara, the lady who does this run every Tuesday, and Bob, a first time volunteer from a Catholic Church in town, at Human Borders for our water stations run to the Ironwood Forest. In this 100-mile, round-trip we checked on 4 water stations. The trip took us about 4 1/2 hours.

As we drove we shared in conversation with one another. It struck me that each of us differed in our political views around immigration, yet we all agreed that human beings should not die needlessly in the desert because of heat and lack of water.




After lunch I went to the courthouse to witness Operation Streamline where about 70 migrants were being prosecuted for illegally crossing the border. I'm still learning more and want to be accurate in disseminating information, so I'll write more later. (I wasn't able to stay for the entire proceeding.) I'll be going back possibly on Friday, and for sure next Thursday with Borderlinks. My one noticing was how disengaged the migrants' court appointed attorneys were during the whole process. They read newspapers and played on their Blackberrys and cell phones, never seeming to pay attention.

After court, I headed to the Tucson Sector of Border Patrol to meet Jimmy, the Chaplain and Community Relations Director. He spent most of the time showing me maps of the area and talking about the various migrant trails. Then he showed me the vehicles with all their technology. He wouldn't show me the processing area, as he said they were worried about the spread of swine flu - and he was protecting me. He was a nice guy and let me hear bits of the Border Patrol story, but its what he didn't say that I'm more interested in hearing. I can't wait to have more conversations with the folks from Borderlinks, No Mas Muertes and Humane Borders.


Today's experiences obviously need much more processing. But, it's late and I need a break . . . Hasta luego.

Food Kits Delivered to Humane Borders

Today I met Adria at Humane Borders. Together we unloaded the food kits that the Warren Wilson students had collected and that I transported from NC.

Once the work was complete, Adria gave me an orientation to Humane Borders. Here she is explaining the maps that show migrant deaths (red dots) and mark water stations. Humane Borders does a lot of work to document migrant travel in hopes to place water in strategic places to reduce and eliminate migrant deaths.

I took some time this afternoon to visit Saguaro National Park where I learned a lot I didn't know about the Saguaro cactus. (Today's venture gives me some idea of my living conditions in the desert next week. OK, so I didn't need to see all the rattlesnake information. YIKES! Pray I don't see any real ones - or any tarantulas.)

It was certainly a HOT one today. When I returned to the car, Gumby was melting. Note that my car is registering the temperature to be 113 degrees.

Tomorrow I'll make a water run with Humane Borders in the morning, meet with Border Patrol in the afternoon, and have a dinner meeting with No Mas Muertes desert working group.