I currently work at La 72 Hogar-Refugio para Personas Migrantes, which is a shelter for Central American migrants and refugees in southern Mexico. In the shelter, we have four lines of work: humanitarian aid; human rights/legal assistance; structural change; vulnerable groups (women, LGBT+ identifying persons, and unaccompanied minors). I work in the area of structural change, and I also work with our sister project, an organic farm that employs members of the refugee community in town.
Working with students at Queens College through CERRU taught me a lot about being patient with projects and following things through until the end. As a social change fellow, there were plenty of moments where I felt unsure of my project or like I didn’t know what to do next. But through CERRU, I learned to be more consistent and patient, and try different approaches when something doesn’t work the first time. Those are skills that I’m still working on, but they’ve been really useful where I am now.
I hope to continue working with people, in whatever capacity I can be useful.