Reflection on a visit to the US-Mexico Border

Life at the U.S.-Mexican Border this summer focused much energy on the thousands of children escaping their homes in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. My work was making a home for and transporting many of the volunteers who came to the Border to help in the refugee shelter. Driving them to and from their demanding work and waiting for them in the shelter helped my understanding of their daily experiences.


Each evening as we shared around the supper table, bittersweet stories of mothers and children poured forth – stories of incredible fear and sacrifice, of risk and loss, of injury and death. There were stories, too, of great generosity and compassion.

The summer was one not only of giving but also of sharing. All of us who went to serve expanded our understanding of who our sisters and brothers are and that we can share more and more.

Ida Berresheim, CSJ

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