By Billie Greenwood

You probably don’t know me, but you know my work. I’ve been the Border Partners website manager almost since its beginning. I met Border Partners while volunteering in El Paso 15 winters ago. This winter I again helped process incoming immigrants in El Paso, folks seeking asylum in the US. 

Volunteering in El Paso is a different type of volunteering than writing and uploading photos for you. I was face-to-face with people I hear about on the news: 

• Haitians, 
• unaccompanied minors, 
• Central American migrants, 
• families who languished in Mexican shelters for months as they awaited the opportunity to enter the US.

All of them would have preferred to be back home. Wherever “home” was for them. But, they felt forced to leave. Some were forced by violence, others by poverty. These lucky “few” I served in El Paso somehow eluded the man-made barriers that trap most in peril and force them to remain in Mexico.

Border Partners, on the other hand, helps people be able to stay at home in or near the Palomas border. When living conditions improve, people don’t have to leave. Migration is hard. It’s better to help people stay.

Through its history Border Partners has weathered seasons of violence in Mexico. It remained stable throughout political shifts and election changes. It works respectfully with all people and has earned respect in return.

I’m proud of what Border Partners does. Even better, I love how they listen to people’s needs and partner—never dictate—to improve lives. 

Whatever we can do to help people stay home is very important.

by Morgan Smith

Sometimes what you remember most is not what you have seen but what you haven’t seen. In my ten plus years of working along the Mexican border what I haven’t seen is green – the green of fruit and vegetables being grown in people’s back yards. The reality is that communities like Palomas, Mexico or the area on the west edge of Juárez are “vegetable deserts.” Not only are vegetables not grown but it is almost impossible to buy them.

Border Partners, a non-profit formed in 2008 by Peter and Polly Edmunds of Deming and Helena Myers of Columbus, New Mexico is trying to change that in Palomas.

When they formed Border Partners, their two main Palomas issues were the lack of jobs and the poor health services. With a population of less than 5,000, no real industrial base and a long drive to the maquila plants outside of Juárez, job creation is always going to be a struggle for Palomas. In terms of health, however, Border Partners has been a leader and innovator.

Health is a huge issue in Mexico and particularly along the border. Seventeen percent of Mexican adults aged 20-79 have diabetes. It’s the third leading cause of death after heart disease and COVID. Mexicans consume more Coca Cola than any other country in the world with 634 8 ounce servings per year per person. ( The US is in third place with 403 servings per year.)

Before COVID, volunteer medical personnel from the United States filled some of the gap caused by a lack of government supported Mexican health care. For example, the non-profit Siguiendo los Pasos de Jesús (SPJ) located on the west side of Juárez hosted monthly clinics that were provided by volunteer medical personnel from El Paso.

Starting in 2015, the El Paso del Norte Health Foundation began providing grants to Border Partners for a variety of health initiatives in Palomas and the smaller communities to the south. In 2021 these initiatives included.

• Delivering more than 6,000 hot meals to 25 isolated seniors every weekday.
• Providing 922 free checks for blood pressure and glucose levels.
• Providing training for pregnant women in various pregnancy related issues.
• One on one counseling for 20 pregnant women and girls.
• School workshops regarding COVID prevention.
• Individual support to 42 gardeners who have greenhouses.
• Providing food for the community through its two large greenhouses.
• Offering 177 free Zumba exercise classes and organized one community bicycle event for 40 participants.
• Organizing three training sessions for its “promotoras” related to pregnancy, early childhood development and nutrition.

Making two deliveries a month of food to three small communities to the south– Modelo, El Entronque and Victoria. I participated in a delivery to Modelo last September and the need was enormous.

What Border Partners is doing, however, goes beyond simply providing food. The larger goal is to change eating habits and encourage the consumption of fruits and vegetables. In shot, to change the food culture.

What we focused on during my February 25 visit was the gardening project, an innovative venture considering the relative shortage of water, the very poor soils and the lack of a culture of producing or even eating vegetables.

The first step is to improve the soil by mixing manure from the nearby feedlots with what is called biochar, a charcoal that is produced by burning pecan shells. Border Partners has produced a biochar stove that can be used both for home heating and for burning these shells. It was designed by Bill Knauss of Silver City and Adrian Acuna of Palomas is building them in his metal shop.

Border Partners is now working with families to help them implement this for home heating as well as the production of the biochar.

In addition, 42 families already have home gardens and 12 of them have small greenhouses.

Border Partners also has two greenhouses of its own. ( A third is planned.) The carrots, cilantro, varieties of lettuce, and other vegetables are used in the preparation of the meals for the 25 seniors. In addition, some bedding is to be packed in small boxes and taken to local schools so that students can learn how to produce vegetables themselves. What’s obvious, however, is that it doesn’t take much space to produce enough for a family.

How will this turn out? Will the initial families stick with the program of making the biochar? Can more families participate? Will the students begin encouraging their parents regarding a change of diet.

I think also of the barren terrain in the area west of Juárez where SPJ works. SPJ has exercise programs and will soon, we hope, be able to resume its twice-monthly health clinics. But what about a vegetable program there modeled on the work of Border Partners?

For years I’ve been making monthly trips to deliver food and clothing to the border but that’s just for temporary survival. What Border Partners is doing very different and much more important; it’s a project that is permanently changing life styles and culture. Congratulations and best wishes.

Morgan Smith has been writing about border issues for the last decade. He can be reached at Morgan-smith@comcast.net.

 

By Polly Edmunds

Every day I spend in Palomas is wonderful but yesterday was exceptional! I learned even more than I usually do, saw impressive projects and was even more grateful for our hard-working staff.

It all began with an invitation to meet with Morgan Smith, a good friend of Border Partners (BP), at our office. He wanted to talk about the how my husband and I and Helena Myers had started BP. It was fun to talk with him in our office which is now back on the same corner as where we had our first meetings in 2008, to talk with women about what Palomas needed.  

Since growing healthy food was one of the first things those women said they needed. So, our conversation with Morgan naturally turned to how our gardening program has evolved over the years.  Early on, we began using manure from the stockyards in town to enrich the native soil.  Now we have found a source of manure that is well-aged rather than fresh. Using aged manure serves us better because it is useful in much less time because it doesn’t require a time-consuming wait.  

For the last seven years, we’ve added bio-char to our compost. Made from burning pecan shells in special stoves, bio-char holds nitrogen in the soil and releases it slowly to plants. Our Gardening Coordinator, Joel Carreon, told our group that now they are experimenting with growing plants in the manure/biochar mix alone without any soil.

They’re also planning to experiment with several different growing “soils” in our new (third!) community greenhouse. This experiment will demonstrate the difference that the type of soil makes in plant vigor and production. The soils will be:

• local dirt alone
• dirt with added bio-char and manure
• bio-char and manure alone

During our conversation, the Promotoras were busy making their daily lunch for seniors.  The menu included a main-dish salad with vegetables (mostly from the BP gardens) served on a tostada.  We all loved the samples they gave us!

Here’s the recipe: Veggie Salad with Soya and Lime

Just cut up equal parts of cabbage, carrots, celery and spinach. Add some dried soy granules (sometimes called texturized vegetable protein or tvp). Dress it with lime juice and a bit of salsa. Serve with chips or on a tostada. This is a taste of Mexico!

Then, the excitement started!  Staff were running into the office building and calling for water!  Flames spewed across the street from a pickup owned by the Volunteer Fire Department. The fire grew rapidly and was quite scary. In just minutes, the fire truck arrived to douse the flames. But, the truck was ruined.  Fortunately, no one was injured.

In the middle of all this we were pulled aside to meet the new Mayor of Palomas, Jose Adame, who had come to see what was happening.  

Then it was time to see some gardens.  We visited the community greenhouses which had winter greens in all stages of growth – from ready-to-pick to just starting to grow. Good planning, gardeners.

Next we drove south to see one of the home greenhouse gardens and meet Yolanda Garcia and her daughter who grow healthy vegetables assisted by our BP gardeners.

Our last stop was at the home of Jose Luis Munoz, one of our gardening staff, and his family.  His wife, Monica Montano, showed us all the environmentally-friendly methods they have incorporated into their backyard “farm”:  

• fruit trees and flowers watered with water from their washing machine;
• a BP greenhouse filled with vegetables and
• sheep, chickens, rabbits, and quail growing in pens.

As we were leaving Monica and Jose’s home, Juan Rascon, told us more good news. An official from the state government agency that assists adults who want to learn trades contacted him for more information about BP’s gardening program. They will make a visit soon to discuss it further.

This was truly an inspiring day. I’m very grateful for our staff for their hard work in maintaining the high quality of all of our programs and all of our supporters who make our work possible with donations of all kinds.

Teens have many challenges. The COVID pandemic has added more to the list of hurdles they must clear. Now, their school classes are held remotely. So, they’re unable to learn with peers. Socialization is also so important to the teen years. However, now there are very few social gatherings. And,  opportunities. Furthermore, all interactions require masks. It’s more important than ever that we all provide whatever resources we can to prevent teens from falling into depression.

For these reasons, Border Partners began a series of meetings specifically for adolescents in Palomas. This program will address some of the difficult issues they may be facing, particularly now during the pandemic. The sessions are open to all teens.

Our first session met at the Border Partners’ office in Palomas. Ten girls and boys from the local preparatoria/high school attended the January 27th session. A psychologist from the District Health Office in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua facilitated this one-hour learning module.

She addressed important topics such as depression, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety. The teens responded well to her promptings and were quite interactive. Many asked questions. As the meeting concluded, the attendees indicated that they would like to attend more sessions on this topic.

Offering a chance to gather in a safe environment gives the teens the opportunity for much-needed socialization. This benefit may be equally important as the information that they acquired. We noticed the teens were pleased to see one another and converse before and after the session.

In related good news, the second dose of COVID vaccinations that are available for children aged 12-17 will be administered in Palomas this week.

 

Again this year, the major activity of all staff was to respond to the critical need families and seniors had for food during the pandemic when work was so scarce and children were not in school from January until September.

During 2021, Border Partners staff:

• Prepared and delivered more than 6,000 healthy, hot meals to 25 isolated seniors every weekday.
• Prepared and distributed 2,092 food baskets to needy families in Palomas and three nearby communities. These baskets provided food for 6,396 people.
• Provided 922 free checks of blood pressure and glucose levels at the Border Partners office or in the community in 2021.
• Presented training for pregnant women on the following topics: child development, pregnancy care, nutrition during pregnancy, prevention of pre-diabetes during pregnancy, infant death prevention and child mental development.
• Provided one-on-one counseling to 20 pregnant women and girls, twice each week for four months, to answer their questions and provide information.
• Assisted the schools by providing four workshops for children on preventing COVID; and two workshops for parents: one on nutrition and one on children’s mental health.
• Donated soccer and basketballs and team shirts to the schools and, in November and December, gave one elementary school 600 sack lunches for children.
• Gave individual support to 42 home gardeners including who have greenhouses.
• Raised healthy food for the community in two large, year-round greenhouses.
• Offered 177 free zumba exercise classes and sponsored one community bicycle event for 40 participants.
• Presented four social gatherings for isolated seniors (36 people attended). At one of these, there was a presentation about maintaining mental health.
• In addition, the Promotoras attended three training sessions to learn new skills. The topics related to pregnancy and early childhood development and nutrition. After completion of the classes, they received an official certification.

Border Partners is hiring a General Manager to administer and oversee all operations and programs of the agency. An announcement of the position follows. A complete job description is found here: Join Our Team!

Description: The General Manager is responsible for the development, implementation, monitoring and quality control of all operations of Border Partners, and reports to the Board of Directors; provides effective professional leadership; ensures sound financial management; oversees all staffing functions; seeks funding opportunities and submits grant applications; and is responsible for community interaction both in the U.S. and Palomas, Chihuahua. The Manager makes frequent trips into Palomas, Chihuahua, and must be bilingual and knowledgeable of Mexican culture, values and practices.

Qualifications: Bilingual; experience in project/business management, strong communication skills, personnel management, financial management; preferred experience with non-profit organizations, and grant writing/reporting experience.

Location: This is a full-time position with the General Manager working from their home office; frequent trips to the Border Partners office in Palomas, Chihuahua are required; company car is provided.

Salary: Mid to upper $30,000 range.

Application Information: Deadline for receipt of applications is: January 31, 2022

Submit resume, letter of application and three professional references to:
Lucy D. Williamson, President,
Board of Directors, Border Partners
PO Box 1433
Columbus, NM 88029
307-760-9027
EOE

Border Partners, a 501(c)3 corporation in Deming, NM, seeks to unite people from both sides of the U.S.–Mexico border by sharing resources, ideas, and experience in order to improve life for people living in poverty along the border.