Members of the “El Otro Lado-El Paso” group.
The week of November 9-12, a group of students and faculty at Cathedral High School in El Paso, TX completed a pilot program to introduce the border immersion program, El Otro Lado, to the school.
Begun 10 years ago by Lasallian educator Alma Mejia-Garcia at San Miguel High School in Tucson, AZ, El Otro Lado focuses on awareness and education about immigration and refugee issues, including the harsh realities faced by those seeking to come from Mexico and Central America to the United States for a better existence.
Student participants during their orientation.
15 Cathedral students and several faculty and community members participated in the school’s trial run of the four-day immersion, which took place at locations in both El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Mejia-Garcia and current San Miguel El Otro Lado coordinator Kenenna Amuzie attended as observers.
The four days of “El Otro Lado-El Paso” began with a welcome dinner at the Cathedral Brothers’ Community residence, followed by on orientation for the students on the El Paso and Ciudad Juarez borderlands. On day two, the students traveled to Cd. Juarez to learn about how globalization affects both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The remaining immersion days involved learning about a variety of border issues, including the challenges for persons seeking asylum. The students also meet with local community organizers and with U.S. Border Patrol agents.
With a presenter at the U.S.-Mexico border.
During the immersion, the group was joined by Dylan Corbett, director of the Border Hope Institute, and Dr. Nick Natividad, Assistant Professor and ethnic studies instructor at Nevada State College. Corbett and Dr. Natividad presented on Catholic social teaching and helped the students process the week’s experiences.
According to the week’s organizers, Office of Campus Ministry staff members and Lasallian Volunteers Sheila Garcia and Rebecca Hulick, much of the success of the pilot owed to the strong relationships that the school’s Campus Ministry has created with local community partners.
Organizers Sheila Garcia (L) and Rebecca Hulick.
Following Pope Francis’ call to serve and aid those along the border, Cathedral High School is part of the San Francisco New Orleans District’s commitment to follow that call. Garcia and Hulick expressed their hope that an El Otro Lado immersion program at Cathedral will educate persons on issues along la frontera and ignite a fire within the young Lasallians that come to learn about the border that truly reinforces that “we are all Lasallians without borders.”
Story contributed by Sheila Garcia, Office of Campus Ministry, Cathedral High School, El Paso, TX.
