“So what’s next, Leisha?”

Alright, time for the inevitable: face that question that’s been asked to me about a bajillion times in the past… well, entire year! (More, recently, however.)  “So what’s next, Leisha?”
End-of-year retreat for the Tucson/Borderlands site is the beginning of August, w/ the transition retreat for all national YAVs at Ghost Ranch the 17th-21st of August.
After, [...]

Oaxacan Tears

Written on
1 April 2008
I met Maria one night as I was entering into the Migrant Resource Center for my evening shift.  Sitting there on the bench inside the door, it was clear from Maria’s facial expression that she was in pain.  With a very swollen ankle and a leg full of thorns, Maria had made [...]

YAV Newsletter #4

Dear friends and family,
It has changed from winter to springtime here in the borderlands.  Yes, believe it or not—it was a cold winter! Perhaps not the negative amount of degrees like folks have seen back home, but 20 and 30 degrees can feel like a negative temperature when heating systems lack at home and at [...]

YAVs on bikes and trikes

The following was written for Southside Presbyterian Church’s monthly newsletter this month. Enjoy!
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Have you noticed more people carrying helmets and water bottles into worship during the last few months?  As you may know, in previous years the YAVs have shared house cars for transportation.  This year, the YAVs are living without a house car, using [...]

I am

going home.
 That’s what I’m doing.
And it feels good to say it. Better yet, it feels good to think it. I am going home.
It’s not that I haven’t been a gusto on the border. Don’t get me wrong. I love the border. But what I love more is being in a place where people care for [...]

YAV Newsletter #2

Dear friends and family,
There’s something about laughter that makes me think that, without it, the world might not be able to continue on. In a place that could be, and often is, considered the site of small-scale warfare including arms, vigilance, and blatant denial of basic human rights, it seems that laughter might not be [...]

Charge to Migrants

Reality

Expression

I struggle with expressing my thoughts. In the mind, I probably wouldn’t hesitate to sometimes consider them profound. Spoken with words, or written, as the case may be, there always seems to be a lack of a certain something. This often leads to the thoughts being left in the mind. This is maybe the main [...]

The media catches on from time to time

Group holds vigils to honor immigrants who died in Cochise County
By Jonathon Shacat
Herald/Review
Published on Thursday, October 11, 2007
DOUGLAS — Nobody knows who Juan Jose Ontiverosi was. But that doesn’t mean his life should be forgotten.
Each Tuesday evening, Healing Our Borders holds a vigil in Douglas to pray for families of immigrants who have died in [...]