Students create a Mandela-to-Mexico pipeline of generosity
“My group that organized this never thought that we would receive that amount of donations, but when we did, it made us really happy to see our school having that level of compassion.”
— Jillian Tompson, a senior at the Mandela International Magnet School
When I arrived at Santa Fe’s Mandela International Magnet School to pick up the clothing and shoes that these students had collected, I was stunned to see what Jillian, Sofia Beals, Jasmine Buenviaje and Ashley Hernandez had accomplished with the support of their principal, Randy Grillo, and teachers like Janssen King, their Spanish teacher, other students and their parents.
The leaders of the various humanitarian programs I work with on the U.S.-Mexico border are extraordinary individuals, whether they are assisting migrants or giving support to the permanent population there. But they need what I would call a “pipeline” of support — volunteers here who can gather together food, clothing, shoes, items like toothbrushes and toothpaste so people like my wife and I can take them down to the border. Mandela is the latest example.
There are a number of unique Santa Fe-based programs that work in Mexico.
Founded more than 20 years ago, La Casa de Amor para Niños, led by Jim and Pat Noble as well as attorney Eunice Herrera and other volunteers, has not only maintained a facility for teenage girls in Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico, but also provided scholarships for over 100 students there.
Amigo Fiel was founded by Carlos Garcia in 1992 and provides after-school services in the central Juárez area. In addition, Garcia, director of the NAI Mae
stas and Ward commercial real estate office in Santa Fe, and his brother, Hector, owner of Aztec Upholstery, manage Operation Christmas Child. It delivers roughly 800,000 Christmas gift packages to kids all over Mexico.
The First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe, with the leadership of Judy Crawford, has consistently provided clothing and other items for us to take to Mexico.
St. Bede’s Episcopal Church has been building homes in Juárez for more than 20 years under the leadership of Lydia Pendley.
Mandela is special because these volunteers are just students. Here are some quotes from the other three organizers:
“I really hope that Mandela can form a relationship with the shelters and people there to continue this drive,” Beals said.
“We thought that doing a clothing drive for shelters in Mexico would be a good opportunity for our school, especially because it emphasizes the idea of internationalism,” Buenviaje said.
“I would like to see other students do something similar to what my friends and I have done in the future, and I would like for us to have created a tradition that other students will be able to partake in for years to come. I also want to hear about how the shoe drive has impacted people in the shelters in Mexico for the better,” Hernandez said.
Principal Grillo added, “Our focus is to create international-mindedness — more than just travel, I believe in creating a meaning for experiencing a different culture. I hope we get a steady exchange with Mexico going. We were so close, pre-pandemic.”
Spanish teacher King agreed, saying, “I hope that this relationship grows and that eventually Mandela students will be able to travel to the border and volunteer in the border communities.”
As for our two recent trips to Mexico, where did we take the Mandela clothing and shoes? Not necessarily where I had planned originally. Part of the first carload went to Siguiendo los Pasos de Jesús, a nonprofit that has built over 500 houses on the west edge of Juárez in the last 20 years and that conducts regular food- and clothing-distribution programs.
The remainder went to a migrant shelter, Respettrans, by the international bridge in Juárez. It has been housing between 180 and 230 migrants, mostly women with children, from the Mexican state of Michoacán. Grecia Herrera is the director, but when she is away at her daytime job, the migrants manage the facility. In this case, it was the impressive 24-year-old, Gerardo Quevedo, who has been waiting for four months for an asylum hearing for his pregnant wife and him.
Half of the second load we delivered to the Colores United program in Deming. The Deming community put together an extraordinary migrant shelter in its armory in 2018 and 2019, which had to close when President Donald Trump initiated the Remain in Mexico program. Now, under the leadership of Ariana Saladares and Sandra Magallanes, they hope to open a new migrant shelter in addition to the weekly food bank for local residents. When I was there on Nov. 18, I saw the huge line of cars waiting for the food bank to open and realized there were significant needs here as well.
The second half of donations went to the Tierra de Oro migrant shelter in Palomas. This shelter has a new director, Nidia Yolanda Tejada, and she was reluctant to let me take photos. They typically house 30 to 50 migrants.
What I’ve realized is the human need isn’t confined to just migrants. It’s also not confined to Mexico. It’s invaluable, therefore, to be a part of this Mandela-to-Mexico pipeline and to be able to put the energy of the students and faculty at Mandela to this good use. We now have one carload of Mandela clothing and shoes left and will be making another trip this month. Thanks to these students, this will bring happiness to the border during this holiday season.
For the last decade, Morgan Smith has been documenting conditions on the Mexican border and assisting a variety of humanitarian projects. He can be reached at Morgan-smith@comcast.net.