Week #13 sweeter than honey

A sad highlight last week was the discussion we had at a protocolario event with the United Nations' refugee agency's (UNHCR) Mexico office to mark our church's contributions to their programming to assist refugees and internally displaced persons in Mexico. Media focus is often on the immigration pressure on the southern US border without delving into the magnitude of the challenges in Mexico. Mexico is among the top five countries worldwide in terms of asylum-seekers with people from110 nationalities requesting international protection this year. Mexico isn't only a country of origin and transit for refugees and asylum-seekers en route to the US, is has also become to a refugee destination. As context, Canada has had 26,585 refugee applications this year (January to September) while Mexico has had 127,796 (January to October). The US has indicated it will accept up to 125,000 refugees annually for resettlement but those rejected entry into the US add to the homelessness pressure in Mexico which includes those displaced by drug cartel violence. They said the homeless shelters in Mexico are bursting at the seams with many more sleeping outside on the streets than inside, including women and children. 

Our work tasks this week included following up with implementing organizations on paper work and confirming dates for the protocolario events to close projects by the end of the calendar year if possible. We went to one of these events at World Vision today and we have been assigned to go to another couple of them this coming week. We are not in the photo as, like when I worked for the Government of Canada, we do the background work and set things up for church ecclesiastic officials to engage with the implementing partners. Our church's banner is the little one to the far left.  

We took an Uber to the World Vision event. The driver was telling us about all of things people have left behind in his car, including a small child.  He said he picked up a mother and her three children and took them to their school. The mother sat in the front seat and the kids in the rear. He said the mother spent the entire trip looking at her smart phone. When they got to the school the kids bailed out and he took the mother back to her house. She thanked him, jumped out and went into her compound. He said he got about 50 meters down the street when he heard the rubbing of a coat sleeve against the the body of a coat.  He stopped and looked in the back seat behind him and to his horror saw one of the children still buckled in and sleeping, leaning against the door.  He backed up and rang the buzzer on the mother's compound.  She answered the door and asked him what was wrong, stating that she had already paid him on the Uber App. He apologetically explained that one of her children was still in his car....he said he still feels bad that when she woke the child up she gave them a stern scolding, he didn't think that was very fair.  The photo below is of the compounds where people with houses live.  Given there is no rule of law here, so you protect yourself according to what your means allow (the most secure placed have armed guards at the gate 24/7, less secure places have high voltage wire atop the compound walls, razor wire, shards broken bottles and dogs in descending order of security.  All first floor window have sturdy iron grates or bars on them.  

  

With respect to other daily life things here in Mexico, this is a photo of the sidewalk that leads to the chapel where we attend Sunday meetings. Even though it is a relatively opulent neighbourhood, navigating on foot requires billy-goat dexterity as every house or lot owner builds their own sidewalk and it appears that a level is something not often used. Imagine trying to get anywhere in a wheelchair or with a walker.

On Friday and Saturday we walked through two different neighbourhoods that are more representative of this country, much more alive and much more lively. Sister Schlachter said she was itchy just at the sight of the ferrel dogs laying around - again, the sidewalks are a similar patchwork as the one's above except there are holes, electrical wires and dog doo doo. You need to keep one eye downward and the other upward because things protrude from poles and walls at our head level. I tripped while we were out and about on Saturday but I was able to save my face by planking. 

In the same neighbourhood I found a place to get my hair cut ($13 with the tip) and a place to get my favourite shoes resoled ($30). There is also a panadería although it was closed on Saturday, it being the Jewish sabbath. Most of the stores on that street were closed but businesses one street over were mostly open because the owners are not Jewish, or so said my barber.

 

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