Border Community Alliance's mission is dedicated to bridging the border and fostering community through education, collaboration and cultural exchange.
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I write to thank you for your support these last three weeks as BCA has gone through a gigantic reset as has our whole world, it seems. Our spring tours promised to be the most successful ever, with new ventures and full enrollment. Somehow, we managed to go from
disbelief
(“This can’t be happening”) to
action
, cancelling everything through May 31 and refunding registration fees to about 200 of you. I’m very proud of the way our Board of Directors and Staff responded and know that many of you feel the same way about this great group of people. I’m also amazed at the
creative adaptations
we are making, holding our first virtual Board meeting March 31 and hosting our first digital
Borderlands Forum
event April 3 (see below). Alex and Magda generated seven strategies in response to the new reality created by the coronavirus pandemic, strategies that we’re implementing now. Please join us anyway you can. Meanwhile, remember also our Mexican partners, the staff of the NGO’s and the vendors we use for our tours. In other words, remember Kiko, Gilda, Paco, Katie, Carmen, Jorge, Alma, Giovanny, Stevan, Lucia, Father Alejandro, Jacki, Adolfo, Yolanda, and others. These are the people who work at ARSOBO, ATIC, FESAC, Los Paredones, La Posada, Deijuven and BYTE. And if you’d like to make a donation to support our Mexican partners, you can do so through our website or by sending a check to BCA. Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, said we don’t get to choose our difficulties, but we do have the freedom to decide how we will respond. During this crisis, we want to continue to be social investors, encouraging one another especially those on the front lines.
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An update from the
San Juan Bosco
Migrant Shelter
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The good work of borderlands civil society does not end! The San Juan Bosco Migrant Shelter continues to receive hundreds of migrants that are served daily despite the public health pandemic of COVID-19. In addition to their basic necessities like food and utility costs, they also need additional sanitation supplies like masks, sanitizer gel, gloves and other materials given the reality of the outbreak.
Alma Cota de Yanez, the director of our partner organization in Nogales, FESAC, sent a plea for funds to her Sonoran partners for the shelter and the Kino Border Initative this past Monday.
She just got the reply from them:
$250,000 pesos ($12,500 USD approx), diving 50% for each of the two entities. In the spirit of our alliance, BCA is hoping to match those funds from the US side, from you - our constituency! We encourage you to donate to San Juan Bosco Migrant vía our
website to meet these urgent needs, or by calling us at 520-398-3229 or sending a check written out to Border Community Alliance but designating SJB Migrant Shelter in the memo line to our address: BCA, PO Box 1863, Tubac, AZ 85646.
Gilda Louriero, who has run the Shelter with her husband Francisco and family for nearly 4 decades, received this great news on April 1, her birthday! Let's continue to celebrate her and her selfless work by making a social investment.
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Have you had a chance to view our first
Borderlands Forum digital offering
yet?
BCA's newest staff member, Education and Research Specialist
Magda Mankel
has an exceptional and insightful presentation on
The Migrant Trail
that
you can access here
.
After watching the presentation, be sure to also mark your calendars for this
Friday April 3rd at 2 pm
for a
Virtual Q&A
via this link:
meet.google.com/mqx-xaoa-zss
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Pilgrimage to Magdalena: A Video Odyssey
by Mike Foster
For over 300 years, thousands of people have journeyed to
Magdalena de Kino
, a small city in Sonora that serves as the final resting place of the missionary priest, Padre Kino. The pilgrimage ends with a fiesta, celebrating the practices of many indigenous groups and religious traditions. You’ll be amazed at the cultural and ethnic diversity, just 60 miles south of the US Border.
Upload on
April 16, 2020
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Al-Andalus Abroad
AFRICAN AND ARABIC INFLUENCES IN MEXICAN GASTRONOMY
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Looking for something interesting to read in this time of social distancing? BCA's program director Alex La Pierre authored an article entitled Al Andalus Abroad: The African and Arabic Influence in Mexican Gastronomy, that was published in
El Palacio,
the magazine of the Museum of New Mexico. You can read it online here:
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOY GODFREY
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Many of you have been a part of and participated in
BCA's cross border tour program
and the nonprofit would like to feature some of your favorite
photographic memories
of past cultural exchanges to include them in future editions of our newsletter so please send them via email as attachments with short descriptions to:
alex@bordercommunityalliance.org
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Would you like to help nonprofit from the safety and comfort of home?
With the elimination of all of our in-person cultural programming through May, Border Community Alliance is calling on all interested BCA friends to serve as
volunteer grant writers
and
grant applicants
. This critical task will aid in developing additional sources of funding for the furthering of the nonprofit's mission during these challenging times.
If you are interested in volunteering with BCA please contact us at
info@bordercommunityalliance.org
with application (
download the
BCA Volunteer application
here on our website
), details on your interest and/or CV or please give us a call at 520-398-3229.
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Shopping on Amazon while you stay at home?
Use
smile.amazon.com
to let Amazon make charitable donations to
Border Community Alliance
every time you place an order! To find out more and to set up, please click
here
.
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Office Hours:
Office is currently closed until further notice
.
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I-19 2221 E. Frontage Rd.
Bldg F Suite 201-202
P.O. Box 1863
Tubac, AZ 85646
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Membership/Events:
520-398-3229
Office:
520-419-1960
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