26 de Mayo 2010
Community, Refuge, Consciousness and Building Bridges
Dear friends,
In April, we gathered for a Casa family photo and picnic. Volunteers, guests, neighbors, friends, and Mexico City Quakers squeezed together in front of the Casa’s beautiful (if weathered) purple tile façade for the picture. Everyone then made their way by Metro, bike, bus and car to Chapultepec Park for an afternoon of food and fun. The Casa picnic, our beloved breakfasts, the guest lounge and kitchen, the George Fox Library, and our rich schedule of events are just a few of the spaces in which the Casa family takes shape.
The Casa is an interwoven community. The Casa breakfast table is always a quick window into our community, and these days the house is full of friends from around the globe. In the last week, students from the University of Michigan and from Wilmington College have shared the dining room with migrants and refugees, Peace Brigades International volunteers, a group from the Migrant Rights Center in Zacatecas, historians on their way to the archives, translators, and other Casa volunteers, guests and breakfast regulars. The Casa gardens have welcomed the beginning of the rainy season’s afternoon thundershowers. Spring is in the air, and we are getting ready for a big summer.
The Casa is a refuge and sanctuary. Our work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Mexico and with Sin Fronteras is also blooming. Since we last wrote to you in February about our work with Haitian refugees, we have hosted 33 migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking. That’s five women, four men, two kids and one baby from Honduras, in addition to asylum seekers from Brazil, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Nepal, Iran, Guinea Conakry, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Argentina and Colombia. Friends of ours who work at the federal Mexican Commission to Help Refugees (COMAR) recently told us that refugees who start out at the Casa are better able to integrate into Mexican society. A refugee from Brazil, who lived at the Casa for two months and returns often to visit, told us that “the Casa was her healing.” These guests enrich our community more than words can say. We want to thank all of you who responded to our last email. Your donations make the Casa’s commitment to “hospitality in solidarity” possible.
The Casa nurtures awareness and reflection. Volunteers study and learn with each other and in turn, educate the Casa community about the roots and realities of poverty, migration, and environmental concerns. Staff from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sin Fronteras, and COMAR gave a day-long workshop to all our volunteers about the right to asylum in Mexico. The Migration Committee has begun a series of skill-sharing presentations and workshops designed for migrant-rights activists in Mexico called “Dialogues on Migration, Asylum and Human Rights.” The Economic Justice Committee also continues to participate in and host “La Escuelita,” a study group focused on local currencies. In this photo, the 2009-2010 team gather on the roof for a going-away celebration in honor of Stephanie Noll, Crosby Davidson, Ben Watts, and Charlotte Gordon.
