So much can be said about the clinic last week that we held at the Casa del Migrante or Immigrant Shelter here in Reynosa. We felt strongly that God was calling us to host the clinic there, although we didn't even know if the sisters would allow us to use the place. We were so glad when they agreed to go ahead with the clinic, even though it meant they would be giving up their space for a week.
Casa del Migrante is a shelter run by a few nuns. They house men, women and children who 1) are on their way to the states or 2) have been deported from the states. During their high times, they can have between 200-300 per day, and during their lower times, it runs about 60-80 per day. Each day new people arrive, many on their way north from Central or South America or southern Mexico. The shelter provides breakfast and dinner for the immigrants. The bulk of the people are asked to leave the shelter during the day to look for work. If an immigrant has been through a traumatic experience, such as kidnapping, assault, rape or illness, they are allowed to stay during the day. Generally, except in certain cases of trauma, the immigrants are given three days to either plan a trip back home or attempt to cross again. After three days they are back on the streets and must fend for themselves.
Because of the shelter's schedule, we were able to run the clinic from 9-4, which is between meals. The first couple of days is when we treated the bulk of the immigrants. Most were from Honduras, although we also saw people from Columbia, Nicaragua, and El Salvador (as well as from other parts of Mexico). We met a man whose feet were raw from walking, and who hadn't eaten in five days. We met several who had been kidnapped an held for ransom until their families were contacted and able to pay money. We met people who had just escaped from their kidnappers. We met people who had been tortured into giving up family information for their kidnappers to contact. We met people who had been beaten. We met people who had fallen off of the trains on their ride up, or who had held on to the train for up to 22 hours in order to cross Mexico. We met people with severe cases of gastritis from high stress, with severe cases of dehydration, injuries, and untreated diseases such as tuberculosis, diabetes, and hypertension. We met moms and dads, sons and daughters, all in hopes of making it to "the Promised Land" where they might make enough money to help ailing parents or hungry kids back home.
Our thought for this clinic was to address the physical needs of the migrant people, but also to impart some hope and faith. However, we quickly learned that we were the ones that need to be taught how to trust. Most of us do not know what it means to leave children or family behind, only to set out on a journey that almost undoubtedly will include some of the following: beatings, robbings, rape, kidnapping, hunger, exhaustion, dehydration, injuries and possible death. There is no promise that the two or three thousand dollars saved up for years to pay the trafficker will actually get them across. The trafficker may be just as likely to hold the immigrant ransom until the family scrambles to come up with even more money. Who weighs the costs of such a trip, such a life, and says that it is worth it? Even if they are successful in making it to the "Promised Land" it will mean living far from their children and in constant fear of being caught and sent back. We can't even begin to understand. Ultimately the people we hoped to give a little faith to taught us what trust looks like, leaning on God during the treacherous journey north through the desert, just like the Exodus story. They understood that our "crossing paths" was by His hand, yet another evidence of His provision.
I think for most of us, the experience was very significant in terms of opening our eyes to the realities of life in a developing country and life as an immigrant. We pray that God will send these immigrants forth as testimonies of faith, regardless if their journey takes them to the U.S. or back to their home country. On the wall of the shelter is a prayer for immigrants. In that prayer it mentions how Jesus identifies with those who must flee and are immigrants, because Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod. We thank Jesus that in a very small way we were able to identify with these people as well. May their stories stay in our hearts in minds. May God stir our hearts to compassion for those who are displaced and see so little option for survival.
