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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2009
NEWS
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Jon Goering/KANSAN
The region, which has weather ranging from scorching-hot days and freezing-cold nights, is an area. March and April. The migrants tend to move only at night because they are afraid of being picked up
In the safety of the first aid tent, the migrants might have been thinking that if they hadn't encountered No More Deaths in the middle of the desert, they would have had to turn themselves in for deportation. The reality, though, is that they likely would have died.
KU student Mohammad Basit, Lawrence freshman, decided to spend his spring break helping No More Deaths carry water to drop points on migrant trails. He was one of the volunteers who found Juan and his group. He said that at first he was apprehensive about the group of migrants.
"You're always seeing the negative side first," Basit said. "I thought for a second they might be dangerous."
But he said his perception quickly
changed. "They are just innocent people trying to make money for their families," he said, "and that's why they are traveling to the U.S."
Many who choose to make the crossing don't know how difficult the walk through the desert is and are often lied to by coyotes, people who make money by guiding groups. The organization found Roberto, a grandfather in his 50s, alone in the desert on March 19. He had been told it was a 10-hour hike to Tucson from the border. When No More Deaths located Roberto, he was still 63 miles from Tucson, barely able to walk and nearly out of food and water.
-Edited by Chris Horn
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Dalorph reflects in front of a shrine that was built in remembrance of a 14-year-old girl from El Salvador named Josseline Janiletha Hernandez Quinteros who died after getting separated from her brother while trying to join members of her family in the U.S. No More Deaths volunteers found her body. The volunteers relayed her story to the silent group of students. "That's a death that you know a lot about what the person was feeling right before they died and that's a huge weight." Dalorph says pausing afterward. "That's a lot," she says finally, "I had wanted to understand her experience, and suddenly I was just overwhelmed by it."
Jon Goering/KANSAN
The cross at Josseline's shrine stands as a reminder of the lives lost on the border
Jon Goering/KANSAN
KU students Samantha Collins, left, and Jessica Burger mark the water jugs their group left for migrants during a patrol. "They are families traveling with children," Burger said. "And it's just to make a better life. Some of them are even pregnant because if they give birth in the United States, their child is a United States citizen, and you have them dying just because they can't get basic water and food." When Samantha began the week, she was a little on the fence about the work the organization does. "I'm not supportive about illegal immigration," she says. "But I don't believe people should have to die trying to have a better life in the United States. I don't believe people should have to go through all of these hardships to cross the border."
Jon Goerina/KANSAN
Above: KU student Chase Hamilton listens to Jimmy Wells, a No More Deaths volunteer and patrol leader, during a routine water-drop hike through the mountains. Hamilton said that a person's legal status didn't factor into his decision to help someone in distress. "Although they are illegal aliens, it is humanitarian," Hamilton said. "If we don't help them, they're going to die. They need someone to help them, and I feel that's our place. Someone's got to do it, and if it has to be me, I'm going to be the one that does it."
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Left: KU student Garret Prather, left, stands at the border fence on the students' final day at the campsite. Prather said that the trip to the wall was largely symbolic, and that it was important to get a concrete picture of how the migrants' journeys began. He said that he had never had such an intense experience of hands-on learning. "It's one thing to hear about it on the news," Prather said. "But it's a whole different thing to witness it firsthand."
THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS
funded by
April 16,2009
PAID FOR BY KU
Applications are now available for the following leadership positions for the 2009-2010 Board of Class Officers.
Students, are you interested in leading your class next year?
...
Senior Class President * Senior Class Vice President * Senior Class Secretary * Senior Class Treasurer * Junior Class President * Junior Class Vice President * Sophomore Class President * Sophomore Class Vice President
...
If interested, please E-mail boco@ku.edu or grab an application at the
Student Involvement and Leadership Center, Room 400 of the Kansas Union. Applications will be due back to boco@ku.edu or to SILC by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 17. Results will be announced by Friday, April 24.
Don't miss this leadership opportunity and the chance to make a difference at KU
APRIL 17TH
CATERED BY: MACELI'S
SERVICES: 6PM JAYHAWK ROOM DINNER: 7PM KANSAS ROOM