Bring on the heat, DC!

Since my last post, things have calmed down a bit in terms of the intensity that was felt at the center that day. While the threats from the shopping center owner still exist & they have indeed ordered 'no loitering' signs to be put up on his property that'll be followed up with police enforcement, we haven't actually heard from him since then. The workers don't seem too concerned about it and after many discussions we believe (& hope) that he has already invested much into the center to have us close down without much notice. Of course there are more political issues involved, but that's the general gist of it. As for a huge praise, Saturday we had 17 jobs go out, tying with the record high of the center!! The center has its fair share of ups and downs, keeping us all on our toes every day. Even through this anticipated week of heat advisories, we are ready for it all at CLRC!

Yesterday we began doing individual interviews with the workers. So far it seems to be a constructive way for people to unfold themselves through their life stories, many of whom admit they haven't been asked or haven't wanted to openly share with other people before. We're hoping to compile some stories of the workers to share anonymously in publications or the website so that people have a better idea of what the center stands for and who it represents. I most probably will also be using them for my capstone(s) next year for Spanish & Sociology back at Gettysburg. Devin, Molly and I created a set of questions that covers anything from religious beliefs to family life, from their future goals to their immigration motive & process.

As Gregory Boyle claims in his book Tattoos on the Heart (which I highly recommend), we should seek to illustrate compassion by standing in awe at what individuals who are poor or marginalized have to carry rather than stand in judgment at how they carry it. I've certainly started to get a glimpse of what this could look like after a young worker shared with me his traumatic past that forced him to make a spur of the moment decision to leave his family and home behind, risking his life on the way to what he saw as safety and an improved life. True, I've taken classes on Latin America and learned about the treacherous guerrilla warfare, current existing violence and drug trades. I've heard how it is difficult to cross the border into the US. But to put a face to these realities with someone who I've come to know over the past few weeks is an unfamiliar happening. While I can't immediately relate to anything that he has experienced, I can try to provide kinship that many of them long for by spending time with them and getting to know them better.

Those who are unhappy have no need for anything in this world,

but people capable of giving them their attention. 

-Simone Weil