MY SPIRITUAL AND SOLIDARITY JOURNEY IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
By Alba Mota
Monday, July 25, 2011
Arriving at Tenosique, a southern Mexican small town, on Saturday, July 23rd a day after the ending of the Caravan going to Cuba via Tampico, Mexico. Tenosique looked like a quiet town at first glance, it might be so if you are not aware that there´s a migrant refugees hosting hundreds of migrants coming from south America towards the North looking for “El sueño Americano” or for better luck since both are not the same in human terms. The Mexican government with the support of the local Catholic church protect and feed the migrants coming mostly from Honduras and few from El Salvador and Guatemala.
Ironically enough, I am staying with the women on a second floor of the church, since most are not very religious including me. The women would ask me the reasons for being there and I had to confess that I did not know I was going to be at a migrant refugee until the day before. I would explain to them that my reasons are beyond a parallel travel upstream looking for material means.
My journey, different from them, is more of a spiritual and solidarity one. Since a while ago I wanted to be in touch with my spiritual self in a cosmic way, I came to search for how I could learn about people´s struggle so I don´t forget my own self. Surprisingly in human terms, I have encountered a situation that have left me with so much feelings and thoughts, listening and learning firsthand about the reality of crossing a border, specially for women, whom most of them get raped as much as 15 times just from the border line of Guatemala-Mexico to the migrant refugee, some miles away, a reality hidden by the media and not related to mine.
I want to get in touch with others who are being denied access to the most basic of human needs, dignity and sovereignty over their body and soul, amazingly enough, I have met with brave women who have left everything behind even being shy since they have to get used to extend their hands to ask for money to whomever is passing by. And even thought, they are abused and taken even of their shoes, they have a smile to give when you treat them with love and respect.
Today is a big day for migrants like those women and many more, we are going to be waiting for the migrant train, called “La Bestia” (The Beast),the arrival should be at 3am, some of them are not coming back to the refugee, luckily, they are going to be gone for new lands for them. Today we are all going to hop on the migrant train up North as part of a Caravan for Peace...calling for peace for migrants who are abused and ripped of their money and their sense of humanity, who are murdered and discriminated against. This Caravan for peace is also for a massacre that happened a couple of years ago in Tenosique by an organized criminal mob. I am joining this Caravan because I am yelling for peace in silence. I am yelling for the cease to violence…I am this Caravan because I am yelling for human being to respect and love each other, as that the only law we should obey since everything else will fall into place.
Alba Mota (Bronx) was a participant in the Peoples Movements Assembly Southwest Tour
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