THE END! The participants of the group all flew back to their homes today. We have all learned a lot and have started planning how we might be able to use the knowledge we acquired once we are back on campus. It really was a GREAT summer. Thank-you shout-out to the Borderlinks staff, to all the site placements, to all the homestay families and to everyone else involved in helping us learn about this very important issue.

If you would like to participate or learn more about the DukeEngage in Tucson, AZ program, please click HERE.

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Our last Delegation is finished! We started off the day with a visit to the San Xavier del Bac Mission where we toured one of the city’s oldest missions, visited the adjacent museum and climbed a monument on a mini mountain. After that, we did a body reflection with one of our leaders where we reflected on our experiences during this summer a bit more. We later headed over to Tooley’s for lunch and then paid a visit to the Restoration Project in Tucson which is a project that offers aid and overnight housing to immigration detainees released from Arizona detention centers. We finished off our day with a succesful community dinner where all the members presented our skits and our individual final reflections. We also wrote letters to ourselves (to be mailed to us soon) which put an official end to this program. Tomorrow we have a free day, a group dinner at night and on Tuesday morning we fly home bright and early. :)

To learn more about the San Xaviar del Bac Mission, click here.

To learn more about the restoration project, click here. To become a fan, click here.

Delegation Day 1 was a success. After the screening of 389 miles with LuisCarlos Davis, we had a skype chat with Nadeen Bir of Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF). Here we talked about future opportunities and about what we planned to do once we returned to school. Following this presentation, we met with Jason of PanLeft Productions where we saw some of their latest work in which three of our participants appeared. Later that day we spoke with Mike Wilson, a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation where we discussed the issues of immigration and humanitarian aid. Delegation Day 1 ended with a dinner (Director Charlie Thompson also present) at El Parador where we celebrated the birthday of one of our members, Susan Wang. Delegation Day 2 (yesterday) was also a great success. We began with a presentation by Miguel Ortega and his work in community organizing and street theater; the participants took what they learned and implemented it into skits (2) of their own revolving around immigration issues. We relaxed a bit after by eating lunch at the Tamale Company and going swimming at the home of Ken (one of the original founders of the Sanctuary Movement) and MaryEllen Kennon (volunteer of Cross Street Ministries at the Southside Presbyterian Church). Later that day we met with leaders of the ScholarshipsA-Z organization where we heard the personal stories of two undocumented students and the struggles they face in obtaining higher education. The day was finished with a reflection where the group was able to think about their experience this whole summer and share it through collages. Today we are participating in the last day of our Final Delegation. More news about that later :)

To learn more about Student Action with Farmworkers, click here.

To learn more about PanLeft Productions, click here.

To learn more about the Tohono O’odham Nation, click here.
To learn more about the stance of the Nation and individual tribe members on the issues of undocumented immigration, please conduct a simple google search.

To learn more about Miguel Ortega and his work, click here.

To learn more about the Tucson Tamale Company, click here.

To learn more about Kenneth Kennon and the Sanctuary Movement, click here.
To learn more about Cross Street Ministries at the Southside Presbyterian Church, click here.

To learn more about ScholarshipsA-Z, click here.

The participants of the program completed their last day of work yesterday! Today we begin our final Delegation with Borderlinks. We’ll start with a screening of 389 miles: Living the Border, a documentary about the section of the AZ-Mexico border by LuisCarlos Davis.

To learn more about 389 Miles: Living the Border, go to the following links:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/389miles
http://www.389miles.com/

Week 7 is almost over. On Wednesday, the group had their community dinner and presented the interviews the conducted with Tucson locals. We had dinner with one of the homestay families on Friday, and visited the Tohono O’odham Nation Cultural Museum on Saturday. The group went out to a local restaurant today to watch the Women’s World Cup Final (USA 2(1) – Japan 2(2)), and will be finishing off the weekend by going to the movies to watch “A Better Life” and eating out at an Afghan restaurant. 4 more days of work and one delegation to go before the summer program comes to an end.

To learn more about the Tohono O’odham Nation, use the following links:
http://www.tonation-nsn.gov/
http://www.tonation-nsn.gov/cultural_center_museum.aspx

For a review on today’s World Cup Final, click HERE.

To learn more about A Better Life, click HERE.

The weekend came and went. The group took a trip out into the community to learn about rainwater harvesting and then helped prepare a couple of trees for the process. We learned a bit more about sustainable living, and the many ways we can live without wasting energy etc. This evening, we head up to Phoenix to watch Club America play against Monarcas Morelia (two Mexican soccer teams); definitely a cultural experience.

To learn more about rainwater harvesting, click here.

You can also visit America‘s or Morelia‘s official pages.

It’s been a while! A lot to report: The group moved back to Borderlinks from their homestays this past Friday. We went to Cascabel, AZ for the weekend where we made a stop at Sleeping Frog Farms to learn more about sustainable living and helped make bokashi (a compost). We spent the night at the community center in Cascabel then hiked and toured alternative living homes in the area. The group made it back to Tucson on Sunday, and watched Food Inc to finish off the weekend. On Monday, the group took a trip to the Titan Missile Museum, and then celebrated the 4th of July with one of our homestay families. This week, the group will finish their 4th week at their internship placements and DukeEngage coordinators will visit each one of us at our placements.

To learn more about Sleeping Frog Farms, click here.

To learn what bokashi is, click here.

To learn more about Food Inc., click here.

To learn more about the Titan Missile Museum, click here.