Guests

During my time there

Unlike last week, we have had many guests come during these 8 days. They arrive in groups of 2 and 8 and 12 and sometimes more. Some days no one comes, others there are 14 people at once. Some weeks no one comes, during others we receive many visitors. It has been like this since NMD started. For the most part they are adult men, mostly in their 20s or 30s although there are people who look older too. They arrive after days of walking in the desert. Their shirts are often stained with sweat and they wear clothing that is usually dark. Some walk in briskly, others stumble in.

They are a small number of the hundreds of migrants from Mexico and countries in Central America who cross Arizona every day. People come in at all times of the day, and when we see them the people left at camp spring into their roles. The Spanish speaker invites them to the med tent, and the medical person assesses them. Things to look for are signs of dehydration- sometimes salts need to be given. Food and water can’t be given immediately in all cases, sometimes our guests are unable to take it down. We try to not call them migrants when we talk with each other; they are more than that to us. They are friends who are in a bad situation that they have done nothing to deserve being in. It is our privilege and honour to host them. Usually they are given right away, after it is safe to do so. After a medical checkup, they are given tubs with warm water where they put their feet, and then the treatment for blisters takes place.

While this is taking place, the other volunteers in camp are preparing a meal. Usually eggs and tortillas and vegetables. One group of migrants who came to the camp have not had food in two days, people sometimes come in literally starving. Our volunteers also pack bags of clean clothing as well as some cans of beans and snacks and water or Gatorade bottles for our guests to carry when they leave. People are welcome to stay with us as long as they need to; every one of them is a patient. Almost all have came in dehydrated to an extent, and almost all have blisters. No doctor would discharge a patient while he or she is still sick, and we feel that our guests no best when they can move on. No one wants to stay longer than necessary; not because they do not enjoy our company but because getting to where they need to get in America means being able to find a job, and that means enough money can be earned to send back to their families back home and that they can eat. For those whose families live in the US already, getting home means seeing their loved ones.

It is very hard to watch them go. Our friends who have came into camp have lived through some horrific ordeals in some cases- we heard a man tell us about how a group he was in was attacked by bandits who beat everyone and stole their food and water- out in the desert that is a potential act of murder. Others have almost not made it, still others have had to make the horrific choice of leaving a person behind who couldn’t walk anymore. We watch them leave, always they thank us for being there, but in reality we didn’t do that much. We only provided things that every person should have access to- food, water, clothing, and letting our guests know that, in our eyes at least, they are not ‘illegals’ or ‘aliens’ or criminals. They are people like us, no different from us in any way, except that they live on the other side of the border in a country whose leaders have traded its people away in corrupt dealings with our leaders who overlooked the massive human rights abuses taking place and the consequences millions would face for some extra money.

They leave to continue their travels, and I pray for them that they will get to their destinations alive and well and be able to support themselves and the people they love.