"When we are asked to share a story, we share similarities, differences, and we delve into the grey areas. Humanizing an issue means taking out the statistics, numbers, and percentages and viewing this human rights issue with the purest of humanitarian lenses. Our faith ought to impact the decisions we make while accompanying the migrants and ranchers of Nogales."
Those are the words of junior Jude Horning, one of eight students making the annual mission trip to Nogales, Arizona, and the Kino Border Initiative. This year, the students are guided by English teacher Mr. Mike Strauss '86, Mission Trips Director Mr. Tony Krzmarzick and Jesuit Novice Mr. Alex DeWitt, n.S.J. '12.
As a Jesuit, Catholic organization, “the Kino Border Initiative strives to respond to the most critical needs [of migrants] by respecting the God-given dignity of the human person and by fostering bi-national solidarity through humanitarian assistance, education and research/advocacy.”
Immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border is a hot-button issue in the United States, and trip participants have spent months researching and studying about this important political and social issue. But as Horning writes, the trip is more about policy and history--it's about the stories of people who try to cross the border, border security officers, local residents and agencies that work with these populations.
While on the trip, the group is posting periodic blog updates, which you can access HERE.
The Kino Border group departed on April 5 and will return to school on Friday, April 13.