BCA May 2022 Newsletter

Vol 47 NEWSLETTER

May 2022

The Border Community Alliance is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to bridging the border and fostering community through education, collaboration and cultural exchange.

Dear BCA Friends & Supporters,

We’re delighted to let you know about two upcoming trips that we have planned for Fall 2022 - Oaxaca and Kino Bay, Mexico.

First, we have brought back our very popular Oaxaca trip! Our April Oaxaca tour group gave this trip terrific reviews and we’re delighted to offer this trip again during October 14-22 and December 2-10, 2022. As one of our April participants put it: “When asked about my trip to Oaxaca with BCA, the one word that comes to mind is “magical”. Leslie, our leader, is fantastic, juggling schedules, taking care of individual needs, and ensuring each of us has the experiences we want. The local guides are very knowledgeable. engaging and fun. The second word that comes to mind when I think of this tour is "GO!" Oaxaca does, indeed, have a magic all its own: The amazing food, cultural wonders, historic churches, and beautiful people create a unique atmosphere that’s hard to describe.

For more information, pricing, and a sample itinerary for our Oaxaca trip, please go here. If you’d like to hold your spot, you can go here or our website at BorderCommunityAlliance.org. (Trip size is limited to 12 participants.)

We are also bringing back our Kino Bay trip, in collaboration with the Prescott College Kino Bay Center for Cultural & Ecological Studies. This experiential education trip focuses on community-based conservation initiatives, species monitoring, indigenous knowledge, and bio-cultural history. Located on the edge of the Sonoran Desert and shores of the Gulf of California, this region contains an incredibly rich, diverse, and unique desert, marine, and island ecosystem.

For more information about our Kino Bay trip and to see a sample itinerary, please go here. To hold your spot, you can go here or visit our website at BorderCommunityAlliance.org. (Trip size is limited to 12 participants).

We hope you’ll consider one of these trips in your fall travel plans and/ or one of our upcoming events that you can find listed below in this newsletter. We look forward to seeing you soon!

In borderlands spirit and community,

Celia Bavier

Executive Director

Fundación Del Empresariado Sonorense A.C.

Update

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Taller de Costura Guadalupana is a sewing workshop that meets biweekly in Nogales, Sonora. Teacher Lorenia Zamora, who was once a student herself, is now leading 45 women and runs a small business from the comfort of her home. Most of the women –Sonora and Arizona locals – have followed suit and started small sewing businesses as well. They make alterations and sew varying types of attire, from school uniforms to wedding dresses to festival costumes.

Here are photos of a beautiful costume made for May festivals in Mexico, sewn by Lorenia Zamora, teacher, and Fernanda Padilla, student, of the Taller de Costura Guadalupana, which is social investment project of BCA in our partnership with Fundación del Empresariado Sonorense, A.C. - FESAC. This costume is representative of the Baja California Sur state.

To donate funds for new sewing equipment and supplies, go to https://bordercommunityalliance.org/donate and choose "Guadalupe Sewing Coop" in the Mexican Pass Thru dropdown menu.

From the beginning BCA has had a close relationship with FESAC, a Nogales, Sonora-based community foundation. This unique arrangement allows us to provide pass through donations to FESAC and to specific NGO community organizations that BCA/FESAC supports. We strongly stand with FESAC in lifting up local community by changing the narrative from charity to social investment.

Borderlands Literature & Film Circle (BLFC) - Coming in May:

May’s Borderlands Literature and Film Circle will focus on borderlands poetry, with Javier Zamora, a Salvadorean poet in Tucson who has emerged into public focus with his award-winning poetry book “Unaccompanied” and his upcoming book “Solito” both dealing with his migration from El Salvador when he was nine. His poetry has appeared in Ploughshares, New Republic, American Poetry Review and elsewhere. He is currently a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University. Zamora will meet with us to discuss our questions after reading “Unaccompanied.”

His website is: http://www.javierzamora.net/

Photo by Dan Vera

The link below features a compelling conversation between Javier Zamora and author/former Border Patrol agent Francisco Cantu, reflecting on their travels together to re-discover the point at the U.S./Mexico border where Zamora crossed as a child. https://granta.com/wider-patch-of-sky-zamora-cantu/

The Borderlands Literature and Film Circle (BLFC) meeting in May will be on May 11, 10-11:30 am on Zoom. To register and receive the Zoom link go to BorderCommunityAlliance.org.

The BLFC group meets monthly, generally on the second Wednesday of the month. All are welcome!

Spring/ Summer 2022

Upcoming Events

Mark your Calendar for these Events:

May 3, 10am-Noon: Barrio Viejo, Tucson Walking Tour. Experience the rich history of Tucson through the Barrio Viejo walking tour. For over 100 years, Barrio Viejo was the heart of Tucson’s social, economic, and cultural life. This 90- minute walk will take you through the largest collection of Sonoran Row houses in the United States, in Tucson’s oldest remaining neighborhood. Your guide will discuss the history of the neighborhood, it’s architecture, and the individuals, businesses, and cultures that met there. The tour will end with a margarita (or other drink) and snack at El Minuto Café (included in fee). The tour is approximately one mile. Fee: $40 members; $45 non-members. Location: Meet at the El Tiradito shrine

May 7, 8:30am-1030 am: “The River Made Me: Nature & History Tour in Old Tubac”. Join NPS Ranger Rick for a fun nature and history tour of old Tubac and the Santa Cruz River. Experience historic Tubac, the Tubac Presidio, and the Anza Trail along the river below Tubac. Meet Ranger Rick of Tumacacori National Historical Park at the Tubac Presidio, then stroll 2 miles from the Tubac Presidio, a short walk along the river and back. Fee: $15 members; $20 non-members. Location: Meet at Tubac Presidio

May 11, 10-11:30 am: Borderlands Literature & Film Circle (BLFC) May’s readings and interview will focus on borderlands poetry, with Javier Zamora, a Salvadorean poet in Tucson who has emerged into public focus with his award-winning poetry book “Unaccompanied” dealing with his solo migration from El Salvador when he was nine. We’ll meet with the author by Zoom. Fee: $10

May 11: Nogales Cross-Border tour: Visit our partner nonprofit organizations in Nogales, Sonora, lunch & afternoon coffee (all day tour). Fee: $75 members; $95 non-members. (All day tour) (Proof of full COVID vaccination and masking required.)

June 22, 2pm: Humanitarian Aid in the Borderlands. Learn from attorney Amy Knight about the legal rights of migrants and humanitarian aid workers to receive and give humanitarian aid. By Zoom. $10 Suggested Donation

July 29, Summer 2022 “Borderlands Ambassador” Intern Reception & Presentations: Hear from and meet with our Summer 2022 Borderlands Ambassador Interns as they reflect on their six weeks in the borderlands. Reception - 5:00 pm; Presentations - 5:30 pm: Location: Tubac Center of the Arts

A donation of $10 is requested for events, unless a fee is required as shown on the event registration page. To register for events go to www.bordercommunityalliance.org or call Suzy at (520) 398-3229.

Borderlands Ambassadors PRESENTATION

Join us on

July 29 at 5pm

at the Tubac Center of the Arts

for a reception with and presentations from our 2022 BCA Borderlands Ambassador Interns. These six students will share their reflections from their six-week experience in our immersive borderlands internship program. Please register for this event at BorderCommunityAlliance.org

Volunteer Opportunities with the Border Community Alliance (BCA)

We hope you will consider volunteering with BCA to pursue our mission of bridging the border and creating community through education, cultural exchange, and social investment. Volunteering with BCA is a wonderful way to get to know other BCA supporters and others who live in the borderlands and to find out more about what we do.

Here are some ways to get involved:

Assisting at BCA events

– Set up for our Borderlands Forums, Breakfast & the Border, and other events

– Greet folks at our events and pass out BCA information; staff BCA table

Office help

– Organize our Borderlands Literature office library

– Write thank you letters to supporters

– Keep track of inventory of BCA merchandise and handouts

– Enter names and contact information into our BCA database

Publicity

– Put up flyers for BCA events & forums at set locations in Green Valley, Tubac, Tucson, Nogales, and other areas

– Place information for BCA events in local newspaper calendars (Green Valley, Tubac, Tucson, Nogales) and online sites

Be our BCA representative on BCA tours/ field trips

– Greet and check in trip attendees at trip meeting location with trip roster provided; greet trip leader

– Hand out nametags

– Collect waiver forms from trip participants

Join one of our BCA Committees to get more involved in BCA’s work

– BCA Working Committees include: Internship; Borderlands Forums; Tours; Fundraising; Borderland Literature & Film Circle; Finance; Planned Giving; Special Events; & Magdalena Film Committee

To volunteer at BCA, please contact Suzy at info@bordercommunityalliance.org or fill out our Volunteer Application at BorderCommunityAlliance.org. We look forward to seeing you at BCA!

Become a monthly donor to BCA

in the month of May

and receive a free denim BCA shirt!!

Monthly recurring donors are special to us here at BCA because they provide us with a predictable source of income each month - which is huge! When you become a monthly donor you help stabilize our budget and that makes it easier to plan successful programming.

During the month of May, if you become a monthly donor, you will receive a beautiful denim shirt embroidered with the BCA logo

(see photo - supply is limited).

To become a monthly donor, go to https://bordercommunityalliance.org/donate. Where it says "Make this a recurring donation", click YES. You can also call (520) 398-3229 and set this up over the phone.

Thank you for supporting Border Community Alliance!

Have a vehicle to rent, lease or loan us

for 6 weeks this summer?

BCA is looking for a 7-passenger vehicle to transport interns

this summer (June 20--July 29). If you have a vehicle you don’t use much and could do without for 6 weeks, please let us know. Contact us at cbavier@bordercommunityalliance.org or (520) 398-3229