Border Community Alliance's mission is dedicated to bridging the border and fostering community through education, collaboration and cultural exchange. |
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We at BCA are meeting 2021 head on with a spirit of optimism and the fundamental high level of dedication we have always placed in advancing the diplomatic mission of nonprofit in our binational region. Central to that mission is education and it has been a real delight to resume public interpretation of the borderlands and BCA’s tour program with the inauguration of BCA’s Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area Tour this new year. Reconnecting and supporting our local partner nonprofit organizations in person (with proper precautions) by way of this new tour has been nothing short of reinvigorating to witness. It has been inspiring to see all that they continue to accomplish as well as their admirable resiliency in face of the pandemic’s challenges.
Perhaps this quality is subliminal since resiliency can be said to be a quiet lesson of our surrounding Santa Cruz Valley, forming part of the Sonoran Desert, the wonderfully unique environment that we are blessed to be surrounded by. An ecological zone resilient to some of the globe's most extreme temperatures yet teeming with life as the most biodiverse arid land of the world. It annually demonstrates the ability to spring back to life with the change of time and circumstance with the resurgence of the life-giving monsoons. We will certainly keep this quiet lesson from our beautiful surrounding nature in mind as we all persevere through this global public health crisis. Animo!
March 21 is World Down Syndrome Day and I want to cordially invite you to read this newsletter’s Social Investment Profile on Martha Elena Moreno de Avila of Asociación Down Nogales IAP, Down Syndrome Association of Nogales, Sonora. Many of you joined us on one of my favorite tours of Nogales, Sonora, the Gastronomic tour and learned about this special organization and its innovative Chef Skill’s program that teaches participants an occupational trade for life.
The author of this Social Investment Profile is Fall 2020 BCA virtual intern Ash Avila and this series she developed represents BCA’s goal of keeping our constituents aware of all of the wonderful grassroots civil society work that continues on and the importance of social investment in their community building initiatives. You can become a social investor in the Asociación Down Nogales IAP though BCA Mexico Pass Through Program here: www.bordercommunityalliance.org/donate or by calling BCA at 520-398-3229.
With a recent BCA board of directors meeting approval, March also brings the good news that BCA will be continuing with its tradition of an annual internship program this summer, albeit (like most things these days) in a virtual format. We plan to welcome 3 interns each assigned a unique portfolio in July for a six week internship. Stay tuned for further details.
Finally, celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with me by joining my Borderlands Forum presentation (see details below) and don’t forget to wear green or at least have some salsa verde with your corned beef and cabbage on the menu that day.
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Alex La Pierre,
BCA Program Director
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Summer 2021 Virtual Internship Drive in Memory of BCA Internship Founder, Peg Bowden |
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United Nations General Assembly declared March 21st as World Down Syndrome Day to raise awereness and to promote inclusion and acceptance for people with this condition as valued and equal members of the community.
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To read the full Social Investment Profile interview with Martha Elena Moreno de Avila
Interview and Social Investment Profile by: Ashley Avila, BCA intern.
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Did you know that southern Arizona's Santa Cruz Valley has been federally recognized as the nation's newest National Heritage Area (NHA)?
Join us on this nonprofit day tour where we will explain and demonstrate the significance of this designation to the public by way of a special itinerary of site visits. Acknowledging our unique local heritage resources in the Sonoran Desert, this day trip will weave together a colorful tapestry around the themes of culture, nature and history in Tucson and Santa Cruz County.
- Lunch and access to various site visits included.
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Pandemic protocols will be in place for this tour, including required mask, social distancing and use of guests own vehicle for transportation from site to site.
- Limited to 12 guests.
Detailed itinerary information and map will be provided a week prior to the date of the tour via email with registration. For questions, please write alex@bordercommunityalliance.org
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March Borderlands Forum Virtual Programming
We invite you to register, participate and make a donation towards the nonprofit to support our cultural programming!
If you need help registering for this event or if you've never done an online class before and want a little coaching, please call Suzy at
520-398-3229
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Cafecito with Jose Delgado
BCA Director of Operations
Join us for this afternoon coffee conversation with BCA's newest staff member, Operations Director Jose Delgado. In this forum, you'll learn about his background, connections to Nogales and his passion for nonprofit work in the borderlands. Jose will relate some of the challenges BCA overcame in 2020 and provide a look ahead in 2021 for the nonprofit organization.
Virtual Conversation / Q&A Session on
(With RSVP, link to Zoom meeting provided via email the day prior to the event)
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Los San Patricios:
Saint Patrick's Battalion & The Mexican-American War
by Alex La Pierre
Celebrate Saint Patrick's day with nonprofit BCA by joining us for this special forum presentation on a historical Irish connection to the wider borderlands region and Mexico. This presentation by BCA Program Director Alex La Pierre will cover the little known story of Irish immigrant soldiers who defected to and fought for the Mexican nation during the Mexican-American War which took place in between 1846-48. We'll explore some of the reasons and circumstances this defection took place as well as look at the special foreign military unit's war service and eventual fate. Finally, the Zoom presentation will highlight at how the service of the Saint Patrick's Battalion is honored to this day in Mexico.
Virtual Presentation / Q&A Session on
(With RSVP, link to Zoom meeting provided via email the day prior to the event)
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Tacos HMO Guía Mínima
Book Presentation
by Víctor Aranda, Julio Rodríguez & Aarón Lima
Let's talk about tacos! Take part in this special forum event with author Victor Aranda, publisher Julio Rodriguez and designer Aaron Lima, the Hermosillense creators of the book, Tacos HMO Guía Mínima (Hermosillo's Tacos: A Minimal Guide). In this virtual conversation moderated by BCA's Program Director Alex La Pierre we'll learn about the inspiration behind the recently published guide book spotlighting the Sonoran capital's touchstone taquerias and discuss the city's gastronomic geography and diversity. By way of the taco, this presentation will also explore the social, cultural and historical significance of the Sonora's carne asada tradition and cross-border culinary diplomacy in the Arizona-Sonora borderlands.
Virtual Conversation / Q&A Session on
(With RSVP, link to Zoom meeting provided via email the day prior to the event)
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Public History in the Borderlands
by Marya McQuirter
Marya McQuirter is director of the Public History Collaborative (PHC), a new initiative in the Department of History at the University of Arizona making space for collaboration in digital and hands-on projects within and outside of the university.
Marya will share PHC’s projects and workshops that took place before March 2020 and are taking place in the midst of COVID-19. She will also share her thoughts and questions as an individual new to thinking with and through (the) borderlands—understood and experienced intellectually, materially and physically. What does centering (the) borderlands do to how we think about the public and history and collaboration? She hopes that you will have your own questions and answers and that the presentation morphs into a conversation.
Virtual Presentation / Q&A Session on
(With RSVP, link to Zoom meeting provided via email the day prior to the event)
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BCA Announces Two New Spanish Programs for April |
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The Let’s Speak Spanish program, which will wrap up its fourth class in March, has now reached over 200 adult learners. To build on the success of this unique program, BCA is pleased to announce the start of two new classes offering a next step for our students.
Each class will meet weekly for four weeks during the month of April. Specific dates and times for each class will be announced on Monday, March 15*, with class registration starting on Tuesday, March 16. The registration fee for each class will be $60 or $40 for BCA members.
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Spanish Conversation and Grammar (Intermediate Beginners)
This class is designed for intermediate beginners who have completed the basic 7-week Let’s Speak Spanish program and are looking for the next step in their language development.
The course will feature a combination of language exercises and conversational topics to help students begin to conduct meaningful conversations. Each week we will explore a conversational topic (telling stories, recounting past events, etc.) as well as selected grammar concepts relevant to the conversational topic.
Each week, students will be guided through the language exercises and the conversations by native speakers serving as BCA facilitators. Jim Hoff, BCA’s coordinator of Let’s Speak Spanish, will serve as host.
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Café con Gabriel (Advanced Beginners)
This class is designed for advanced beginners who can use the basic verb tenses, are becoming familiar with Spanish sentence structure, and are comfortable asking and responding to questions.
Gabriel Andrade, a university teacher living in Aguascalientes, Mexico, teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) to students at the university and Spanish to employees of international businesses located in Aguascalientes. He also serves as a facilitator in BCA’s Let’s Speak Spanish program.
Each week, students in this class will study a brief video about an important aspect of culture in Mexico and use the video as a starting point for in-class discussion. The conversation in the class will be informal, and students will be encouraged to engage in a lively discussion of the weekly topic. Jim Hoff, BCA’s coordinator of Let’s Speak Spanish, will participate as a host and fellow student in the class.
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If you are interested in participating in either class, please check the BCA website on or after March 15* for specific information regarding class days and times. And if you have any questions, please contact Jim Hoff (jhoff@tegnos.org), BCA Board Member and Program Coordinator.
¡Buena Suerte! / Good Luck!
*We wish we could provide the specific days and times in this newsletter, but we are still working with our great facilitators to find the best times for them to participate and help us. Please check back with us on March 15. Thank you!
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Jan Saunders
After completing her Master’s degree in Latin American Government, Politics and Spanish, Jan left the East Coast for Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she raised a family, served as a volunteer fireman and EMT, later returning to academia as Department Chair at Saint Michael’s Prep School. Upon retirement she became a part-time resident of Green Valley where her life-long devotion to travel, study, and volunteer experience in Spain, Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica continues to foster an enduring interest and love of all things “south of the border.”
“During my years of involvement with BCA, I often think of Desmond Tutu’s advice that we must stop pulling our drowning brothers and sisters from the river and search upstream for why they keep falling in. The mission of BCA, implemented through social investment, travel, collaboration with cross-border nonprofits, and a respect for the rich Mexican culture, offers all members the opportunity to work up stream; and that’s where I want to be.” - Jan
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José A. López
José was born and raised on the Mexican border in Laredo, Texas; the son of a Mexican immigrant father and Mexican American mother. He served in the US Army after graduating from the University of North Texas and is the father of three children and four grandkids.
His life's profession has been in education, starting as a teacher in Texas and eventually became a K12 administrator. Holding leadership positions as principal and subsequently as Superintendent of schools, José later moved to California in 1994 and started teaching Educational Leadership at the California State University, East Bay. Since he moved to Tubac in June, 2019, he has been teaching hybrid and online courses and will be fully retired as of June 2021.
“It is important for me to contribute to the BCA community given my lived experiences as a son of a Mexican immigrant and as Mexican American.” – José
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Sara Martin
Sara retired to Green Valley after a 40+ year business career in Colorado. A native of the New Mexico borderlands, she has always been interested in the language, history and culture of Mexico and Latin America. Her involvement in BCA stems from a day trip to Magdalena in the spring of 2017, quickly followed by a Nogales tour, and she soon became an active volunteer at BCA.
“The value and importance of BCA to the Borderlands became clear to me when I had the opportunity to review the comments of people who’d experienced BCA Cross Border visits or enjoyed a Borderlands Forum program. BCA makes a positive difference as a unique resource for people to become more aware of our rich shared heritage with Mexico, to participate in social investment with our neighbor, and learn more about the life in the Sonoran Desert on both sides of the border. I want to help make that difference!.” – Sara
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Evan Kory
Nogales native Evan Kory holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music and a Masters of Music from The Juilliard School in historical performance. After living in NYC for 13 years Evan returned home to perform as an Artist-in-Residence at the Santa Cruz Foundation for the Performing Arts in Patagonia. He continues his work at SCFPA and is also the Arts Coordinator for the Santa Cruz County Superintendent’s Office. In addition to his artistic pursuits Evan and his family have owned and operated local businesses Kory’s Bridal and La Cinderella stores in Nogales since 1947.
“I have an affinity for our local history and border culture- BCA celebrates both and is an organization that creates meaningful bridges between the United States and Mexico. Our border region is a binational community and BCA brings into focus how beautiful and vibrant life on the border is.” - Evan
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Office Hours:
Office open by appointment only until further notice.
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Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 1863
Tubac, AZ 85646
Physical Address (no mail):
I-19 2221 E. Frontage Rd.
Bldg F Suite 201-202
Tubac, AZ 85646
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Office
Membership/Events: 520-398-3229
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