AZ Border Experience ABST

¡Hola a todos!  Our day started really early since we had to drive to Nogales, AZ once again. Before  we actually hit the road, we had to pass through the Pio Decimo Center to pick up our great alumnus, John Lohse.  After driving for one hour, we arrived at Nogales Border Patrol where we were kindly greeted by three officers, one of which was Border Patrol Agent Sergio Leones Jr. who coordinated our experience. Once we signed in, we had a very thorough presentation about their job description and the responsibilities that come with it. They seize any kind of illegal contraband; monitor areas by using sensors, cameras, and tracking skills; protect wildlife and vegetation; and attend classrooms or meetings to inform the public about their duties and why life as a criminal is not worth it. Most importantly, they care about the safety and well-being of people.  We briefly saw their command center, and afterwards separated into two groups to drive by the border ...

¡Hola familia!  Today we got down to business once again to complete our landscaping project within a large basketball court-sized lot near the Pio Decimo Center. Fortunately, we had access to a couple of gas-operated weed whackers, as well as 100% participation from our team. We completed the project (check out the before-and-after pictures below!), and the lot may eventually become a playground for the residents of the apartments operated by Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona.  After that, we went into Pio Decimo Center and helped with the intake of some non perishable food donations. Franklin and Dave also assisted with shoveling compost into a new receptacle while the girls had a fun singing session. At noon, we headed to Eegee’s restaurant to fuel ourselves for our one-hour drive to Nogales, AZ. The slushees there were great, brain freeze and all!   When we arrived at Lourdes Catholic School in Nogales, we were greeted by two students, ...

Bienvenidos to our BEEautiful blog!  This morning we split our forces between landscaping at the Pio Decimo lot and painting at the John Valenzuela Youth Center (JVYC). The landscapers continued working on weeding the Pio Decimo apartments, while the other force painted murals in various locations around the JVYC.   The group reconvened for lunch, and today we experienced Sonoran hot dogs and authentic tacos from local food trucks.  After lunch, we received a tour of the JVYC. John Valenzuela was a law enforcement officer who gave his life in the service of young people. The youth center was founded in his honor to actualize his dream of a better life for local kids. They just recently planted a pollinator garden, so our paintings were “bee-themed”. Once the children got out of school, we were able to assist with the after school program. A little girl named Penelope took a quick liking to Rachel and stuck with her until she was picked up by a parent. Be...

Hello everyone! Welcome to Day 3 of our Arizona Border ABST trip.  We started off the day with donuts and headed to Casa Alitas, a migrant center in Tucson. We were greeted by Sara who explained to us what Casa Alitas strives to accomplish. Casa Alitas is a center that helps migrants who have recently crossed the US-Mexico border. They provide many important resources including shelter, food, transportation set-up, and can help migrants connect to sponsors if they have lost their original sponsor along the process. We gained insight into some of the political policy behind recent changes in immigration, in addition to the history of Casa Alitas, which essentially started overnight. In fact, the house that we are currently residing in is where the program first started and it has since grown into a huge center that is able to take in up to 180 guests at one time.  After getting some background information and going on a quick tour, we started our volunteer work for the d...

¡Feliz Lunes desde Arizona! (Happy Monday from Arizona!)  Today our group embarked on our first day of true service here in Tucson, AZ. After a telling conversation about the one person each of us would choose to have a meal with (anyone dead/alive and real/fictional), the group took a short ride over to the Pio Decimo Center and was welcomed by our friend, John Lohse. Not only is John a member of the Catholic Community Services board, but he’s also an engaged volunteer at the Pio Decimo Center. After arriving, we were oriented on all of the services that the Center offers to the Tucson area by John and Marcia, the executive director of Pio Decimo Center. The Pio Decimo Center is a branch of the Catholic Community Services (another name for Catholic Charities) of Southern Arizona, which provides services to a portion of the state that is approximately the land size of Pennsylvania. The Center offers numerous programs to aid low-income individuals and families including a foo...

Hola from Arizona!  Today, our ABST team was lucky to spend the day with John Lohse, our alumni guide for the trip, who was gracious enough to show us some of Tucson’s finest sights. We started with an early morning stop at Gate’s Pass, a beautiful overlook where we could see miles and miles of Arizona’s natural, cactus-filled landscape. Then, we drove through some windy and bumpy terrain to reach our next destination: The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.  John led us around the museum, pointing out some of the larger wildlife exhibits as well as some key aspects of the vegetation native to the area. The javelinas and river otter as well as the lush cactus garden were definitely some crowd favorites!  Next, we headed for the Mission San Xavier del Bac , nicknamed the “White Dove of the Desert.” Here, we took the time to explore the gorgeous mission started by Father Kino, and even climbed up to a cross overlooking the mission grounds (and surprisingly, no one was inju...

We departed Gannon on a yellow school bus at 2:25am headed for Pittsburgh International Airport. It was cold, bitter cold in the early morning; however, the smiles of the teams (both AZ Border and Navajo) warmed up our hearts. Our ride south on I-79 was cold inside the bus as many of us had our eyes closed trying to sleep and never falling asleep. We were blessed with a safe trip as our bus driver did a wonderful job. Our flight was in the early morning out of Pittsburgh. As we flew west we were riding away from the eastern sunrise. In time the sun caught up to us and the Midwest was covered in a beautiful blanket of frost. The arrival into Phoenix thawed us out of the cold of Erie. It was sunny, very warm, and beautiful blue skies. We had a 40 minute delay to get off the flight which only enhanced the anticipation of beginning our ABST trip! As we exited the Phoenix airport we waited in line in a busing terminal for a bus to take us to a rental garage for our van. In the term...