Monday April 4th

Meeting in the morning with students at the other university, “Tec Superior” a four year school, with many students studying mecatronics, a combination of mechanics and electronics. One of the students dances for the famous Ballet Folklorico which I saw years ago in Mexico City; another invited us to a baseball game on Sunday.

Disaster strikes!!! The camera is lost. Don't know how we will add pics to blog from here but we haven't given up.

Our afternoon visit to the CASA DEL MIGRANTE was poignant and sobering. Run by a Catholic church, we toured this way station for migrants from countries south of Mexico who make their way through the country and up to the US by train, by foot, etc. We saw their crammed dorms, dining area, place where they keep their shoes (sanitation), and medical room where doctors sometimes treat them. It's one thing to hear & read about these people but quite another to meet them. Many jump trains and are victims of the Zeta – Mexican gangs which abuse them through kidnapping/ransom – even though they hardly have a cent to their name. They can only stay for an overnight, with some exceptions. There were boxes of clothes & shoes and food donated by Mexican stores, including WalMart. They come for the dream to make money for their family. One man from El Salvador left 5 children to find work. I had a very frank talk with another young man from Honduras, who wanted either to wash dishes or work in the field, but hardly spoke English, so I wrote those words on a little paper for him. He had facial bruises from being pushed out of a train by the Zeta, before he could escape. I was frank about the difficulty at the border and and the attitude of illegals with our present political climate. I asked permission to take his picture (now lost) along with the three university students who helped with translation. It seemed like the only moment he looked a little happy. I said with this picture I would remember him and pray for him. (Good thing I had on my dark glasses).