Another Busy Week at the Casa YMCA – Tijuana

(Originally posted July 2008)         

It has been a very exciting week here at the Casa YMCA in Tijuana. Along with assisting the Casa with daily cooking/cleaning and working with the migrant youth, I have continued to work with four young adults from Mexico City as they complete a week of service at the house.

The group has had a difficult time leaving behind their sheltered world of iPods and cell phones in order to understand the lives of the migrant youth that pass through the Casa. Although they speak the same language and come from the same country, their lives couldn’t be more different.

Everyday the Casa YMCA receives a steady flow of migrant youth, each with a unique yet familiar story of leaving his or her home and attempting to travel to the United States in search of the “American Dream.” Although there is much misinformation about life in the United States, the reality these kids face in reuniting with their families in search of a better life is quite certain. Through listening to their stories each day and night, I have learned to better appreciate all of the opportunities that I have in my life: family, health, home, education, job opportunities, ability to travel and good quality of life.

Almost every young adult that has past through the Casa this week had attempted to cross the border in order to reunite with his or her family, although sometimes with other motives as well, often work and education. Many are traveling alone, others are traveling with cousins or friends (but they are often separated as migration authorities separate adults from children and men from women.) These kids are very determined to reach their destination and in the short time that I’ve been here, I have seen some of them two or three times. For example, Diana just arrived back at the Casa today. She was here a few days ago for using false documents at the border. She attempted again yesterday with the visa of a different person. She wants to reunite with family in the U.S. after her mother passed away in Durango.

One boy, Jhonathon, gave us quite a scare this week when he fell off the bunk bed in the boys dormitory. After a quick sprint to the hospital to get five stitches in his head, he recovered at the Casa for the afternoon. That night, he left the Casa to try his luck again at the border. He was returned to the Casa the next day.

Another young boy of twelve years spent a few days with us this week as he was deciding where he should go from here. Luis Fernando arrived at the Casa del Migrante (a men’s shelter here in Tijuana) and was brought to the Casa YMCA because of his age. He was escaping a difficult home life in Sinaloa. He tried traveling to Jalisco and then hoped to find his mother somewhere in Los Angeles, California whom he hasn’t seen or heard from in three years. As he recounted his stories of traveling on top of trains across great stretches of Mexico, I was reminded of a book I would like to recommending to anyone reading this note. “Enrique’s Journey” by Sonia Navarro tells the story of a young man from Honduras that leaves home in search of his mother in the United States and travels, as many migrants do, on top of trains across Mexico to arrive at the border.

The biggest news at the Casa this week was a special visit from Mexican singer Julieta Venegas. Julieta Venegas is the spokeswoman for UNICEF in Mexico and is especially working for improving the situations for migrant women and migrant youth. On Saturday night she gave a concert here in Tijuana, her hometown and spent Sunday learning about the services for migrant youth, specifically the Casa YMCA. Casas YMCAs director, Uriel, lead her, her crew and her family on a tour of the process that migrant youth go through with immigration authorities. Then, she came to the Casa here in Tijuana to learn about the services they provide, see the house where youth stay and meet the staff. She spent about two hours at the house, talking to us and touring the facility. I was honored to have the opportunity to meet her and I am so very happy that such a well-known figure is shedding light on the life of migrants. She was very kind and relaxed. When she asked where I was from, I was very surprised that Julieta Venegas replied, “Wisconsin, that’s the state known for cheese, right?”