The BUU Accompaniment Project
Stone cairn outside of BUU for those crossing the desert.
Borderlands UU is on the journey of accompaniment. We are seeking to companion humanitarian aid groups that directly address the needs of people migrating through the Sonoran desert. As these groups meet with boarder crossers offering aid, we meet with them to support their life giving and life affirming work.
We recognize that each group's mission and goals are unique, their approach to direct aid ranges from saving lives in the desert to the abolition of the government agencies enforcing policies deadly to migrants and many actions in between (read details below). Accompaniment means that BUU will journey with each group as they live into their mission and goals. With our mission, "We care," and our resources we travel alongside each group as they achieve their goals and honor their work as we cannot.
On this page, you can ask any question or make an observation about any aspect of the Accompaniment Project.
Additionally, your will find information and answers here in the overview of our Accompaniment Project, resources to learn more about the current immigration crisis, and links to learn more about each direct humanitarian aid group.
We recognize that each group's mission and goals are unique, their approach to direct aid ranges from saving lives in the desert to the abolition of the government agencies enforcing policies deadly to migrants and many actions in between (read details below). Accompaniment means that BUU will journey with each group as they live into their mission and goals. With our mission, "We care," and our resources we travel alongside each group as they achieve their goals and honor their work as we cannot.
On this page, you can ask any question or make an observation about any aspect of the Accompaniment Project.
Additionally, your will find information and answers here in the overview of our Accompaniment Project, resources to learn more about the current immigration crisis, and links to learn more about each direct humanitarian aid group.
You can find this information below:
- The Story of Our Accompaniment Project
BUU's journey so far...
- Resources Naming the Immigration Crisis
Interviews, reports, essays in video and written form naming the scope of the immigration crisis in the Arizona borderlands.
- Direct Humanitarian Aid Groups
Descriptions and links to the five groups serving in the Sonoran Desert.
- Accompaniment Project Recordings
Information and videos about our 2021 forums.
- Our UUA's Statement of Solidarity
The UUA's pledge to accompany its congregation's when facing injustice.
The Story of the Accompaniment Project
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The BUU Accompaniment project began in 2019 when Rev. Matthew approached our Board of Directors with a proposal: offer BUU's buildings and grounds to accompany the five direct humanitarian aid groups in Southern Arizona in their work. We love our building and grounds, yet there are many times during the week and often on weekends that we are not using them. With the Board, Rev. Matthew pondered, "If we approached direct humanitarian groups offering the use of our buildings and grounds when we are not, what might we do together?" The Board was intrigued and asked him to find out what the interest might be.
Here what he initially heard:
People Helping People, aid in doing laundry.
No More Deaths ~ No Más Muertes, space to hold periodic small group meetings.
Green Valley~ Sahaurita Samaritans, space for weekly small group meetings.
Tucson Samaritans, space for visiting university students to overnight.
Ajo Samaritans, curious, but no initial needs.
These responses demonstrated that there was an opportunity to accompany these groups in their work. Our Board directed Rev. Matthew to work up building usage guidelines and explore these opportunities.
With the impact of the pandemic making in-person gatherings nearly impossible, Rev. Matthew shifted gears. He worked with our Buildings & Grounds team (B&G) and developed a plan to add a washer and dryer to BUU. He initiated a GoFundMe online fundraiser to purchase, install, and buy supplies for the washer and dryer. With the help of over 15 people (most from outside of BUU) and gifts from the Green Valley ~ Sahaurita Samaritans, the Tucson Samaritans, and our Unitarian Universalist Service Committee the entire project was quickly funded. B&G took up the work and by September 2020 had a fully functioning laundry room up and running.
With the change in accompaniment needs a new request emerged in the Spring of 2020: the Ajo Samaritans invited BUU to consider a ministry and fiscal sponsorship of their organization. They envisioned a relationship similar to the one UU Church of Tucson has with No More Deaths, Good Shepherd United Church of Christ has with the Green Valley ~ Sahuartia Samaritans, and Southside Presbyterian has with the Tucson Samaritans. During the summer of 2020, a team of BUU members, evaluated establishing fiscal sponsorship.
As Rev. Matthew has worked with Members and Friends of BUU, it has become clear that there are concerns about the Accompaniment Project. It is his assessment that these concerns are primarily arising because there is no connection between BUU and direct humanitarian aid folks. In response, he developed the Path to Accompaniment forum series as an opportunity for education, connection, and relationship while we are still in the pandemic. The forums have proven to be more than he had hoped reestablishing connections among the five groups and building them with BUU folks. (Learn more about the forums below.)
Here what he initially heard:
People Helping People, aid in doing laundry.
No More Deaths ~ No Más Muertes, space to hold periodic small group meetings.
Green Valley~ Sahaurita Samaritans, space for weekly small group meetings.
Tucson Samaritans, space for visiting university students to overnight.
Ajo Samaritans, curious, but no initial needs.
These responses demonstrated that there was an opportunity to accompany these groups in their work. Our Board directed Rev. Matthew to work up building usage guidelines and explore these opportunities.
With the impact of the pandemic making in-person gatherings nearly impossible, Rev. Matthew shifted gears. He worked with our Buildings & Grounds team (B&G) and developed a plan to add a washer and dryer to BUU. He initiated a GoFundMe online fundraiser to purchase, install, and buy supplies for the washer and dryer. With the help of over 15 people (most from outside of BUU) and gifts from the Green Valley ~ Sahaurita Samaritans, the Tucson Samaritans, and our Unitarian Universalist Service Committee the entire project was quickly funded. B&G took up the work and by September 2020 had a fully functioning laundry room up and running.
With the change in accompaniment needs a new request emerged in the Spring of 2020: the Ajo Samaritans invited BUU to consider a ministry and fiscal sponsorship of their organization. They envisioned a relationship similar to the one UU Church of Tucson has with No More Deaths, Good Shepherd United Church of Christ has with the Green Valley ~ Sahuartia Samaritans, and Southside Presbyterian has with the Tucson Samaritans. During the summer of 2020, a team of BUU members, evaluated establishing fiscal sponsorship.
As Rev. Matthew has worked with Members and Friends of BUU, it has become clear that there are concerns about the Accompaniment Project. It is his assessment that these concerns are primarily arising because there is no connection between BUU and direct humanitarian aid folks. In response, he developed the Path to Accompaniment forum series as an opportunity for education, connection, and relationship while we are still in the pandemic. The forums have proven to be more than he had hoped reestablishing connections among the five groups and building them with BUU folks. (Learn more about the forums below.)
Resources Naming the Immigration Crisis
Fordham University
Department of Theology
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On April 7, 2021, the Fordham Theology Department hosted the Rev. John Fife in a dialogue engaging faith in action here in the borderlands.
Below you will find the video from that event and a link to "Civil Initiative" by the Rev. Fife, a chapter from Trails of Hope and Terror: Testimonies on Immigration edited by Miguel de la Torre. (both used with permission) |
CLICK HERE to read or download "Civil Initiative" by the Rev. John Fife.
No More Deaths - No Más Muertes
NMD has been both meeting people in the desert and researching the root causes of the deaths of those crossing the border. CLICK HERE to go to the NMD's webpage thedisappearedreport.org to read the three parts of the report "Disappeared." Or click on the links below to get animated summaries.
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Part I:
Deadly Apprehension Methods |
Part II:
Interference with Humanitarian Aid |
Part III:
Left to Die |
Interview with the Rev. John Fife
The Rev. John Fife is a retired Presbyterian minister, human rights advocate and a founding leaders of the Sanctuary Movement in Tucson. CLICK HERE to access an interview with Caitlin Breedlove, former Executive Director of the Side with Love Campaign, and host of the "Fortification" podcast.
Links to Direct Humanitarian Aid Groups
People Helping People
http://phparivaca.org/
Formed by Arivaca citizens in an effort to provide organized aid to the many migrants who come through that community. A supply aid office is located in the town center staffed by local citizens, folks from the No More Deaths and some Samaritans. The office also provides informational pamphlets, lends and sells books, music, and t-shirts.
PHP leads an effort to close the internal Border Patrol checkpoint on Arivaca Rd. and hosts events and educational workshops in the community, such as Know Your Rights Trainings, Medical Trainings, Spanish Classes, and presentations about the border/prison industrial complex and other border crises topics.
http://phparivaca.org/
Formed by Arivaca citizens in an effort to provide organized aid to the many migrants who come through that community. A supply aid office is located in the town center staffed by local citizens, folks from the No More Deaths and some Samaritans. The office also provides informational pamphlets, lends and sells books, music, and t-shirts.
PHP leads an effort to close the internal Border Patrol checkpoint on Arivaca Rd. and hosts events and educational workshops in the community, such as Know Your Rights Trainings, Medical Trainings, Spanish Classes, and presentations about the border/prison industrial complex and other border crises topics.
Green Valley~ Sahuarita Samaritans
https://www.gvs-samaritans.org/
A diverse group of volunteers who render aid, emergency medical assistance, food and water to migrants in distress crossing the Sonoran Desert in the Tucson Sector of the Arizona/Mexico border with the primary objective of preventing death.
Samaritans is a mission of Southside Presbyterian Church since 2002 and Green Valley–Sahuarita Samaritans formed in 2004 and meet at the Good Shepherd UCC church in Sahuarita. They drive in the desert on a weekly or daily basis supplying water drops, searching for lost or injured migrants and assist weekly at El Comedor, a soup kitchen mission of the Jesuits in Nogales, Sonora for migrants recently deported. Samaritans also attend Operation Streamline in Federal Court to be witnesses and a kind presence to migrants in that process and have cooperative relations with the Border Patrol agents in the field. .
https://www.gvs-samaritans.org/
A diverse group of volunteers who render aid, emergency medical assistance, food and water to migrants in distress crossing the Sonoran Desert in the Tucson Sector of the Arizona/Mexico border with the primary objective of preventing death.
Samaritans is a mission of Southside Presbyterian Church since 2002 and Green Valley–Sahuarita Samaritans formed in 2004 and meet at the Good Shepherd UCC church in Sahuarita. They drive in the desert on a weekly or daily basis supplying water drops, searching for lost or injured migrants and assist weekly at El Comedor, a soup kitchen mission of the Jesuits in Nogales, Sonora for migrants recently deported. Samaritans also attend Operation Streamline in Federal Court to be witnesses and a kind presence to migrants in that process and have cooperative relations with the Border Patrol agents in the field. .
No More Deaths ~ No Más Muertes
https://nomoredeaths.org/en/
An official ministry of the UU Church of Tucson, a coalition of community and faith groups. Founded in 2004, an aid camp SE of Arivaca was established where medical aid and respite are rendered to migrants found in the desert and mountains. Participants are often college students on break or summer leave.
The ministry utilizes hiking search methods, water/food drops on trails, medical aid, overt civil actions around human rights issues, and research. They have published studies of neglect and abuse of migrants by Border Patrol, treatment in detention facilities and other human rights issues related to migrants.
https://nomoredeaths.org/en/
An official ministry of the UU Church of Tucson, a coalition of community and faith groups. Founded in 2004, an aid camp SE of Arivaca was established where medical aid and respite are rendered to migrants found in the desert and mountains. Participants are often college students on break or summer leave.
The ministry utilizes hiking search methods, water/food drops on trails, medical aid, overt civil actions around human rights issues, and research. They have published studies of neglect and abuse of migrants by Border Patrol, treatment in detention facilities and other human rights issues related to migrants.
Tucson Samaritans
http://www.tucsonsamaritans.org/
Samaritans is a mission of Southside Presbyterian Church since 2002. A diverse group of volunteers who render aid, emergency medical assistance, food and water to migrants in distress crossing the Sonoran Desert in the Tucson Sector of the Arizona/Mexico border with the primary objective of preventing death.
http://www.tucsonsamaritans.org/
Samaritans is a mission of Southside Presbyterian Church since 2002. A diverse group of volunteers who render aid, emergency medical assistance, food and water to migrants in distress crossing the Sonoran Desert in the Tucson Sector of the Arizona/Mexico border with the primary objective of preventing death.
Ajo Samaritans
http://www.ajosamaritans.com/
The Ajo Samaritans was founded in early 2012 to respond to this crisis of death and disappearance in the deserts and remote mountains around our hometown at a meeting facilitated by Tucson Samaritan Brother David Buer at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. Church members and other Ajo residents were inspired to learn more about the border crisis and methods of mitigating death and suffering in the desert in and around Ajo.
http://www.ajosamaritans.com/
The Ajo Samaritans was founded in early 2012 to respond to this crisis of death and disappearance in the deserts and remote mountains around our hometown at a meeting facilitated by Tucson Samaritan Brother David Buer at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. Church members and other Ajo residents were inspired to learn more about the border crisis and methods of mitigating death and suffering in the desert in and around Ajo.
Forum Schedule and Recordings
"The Path to the Accompaniment Project" is a forum series offered in 2021. It sought to share background and information about each groups mission and make or renew connections among BUU folks and the five direct humanitarian aid groups active in the borderlands.
Schedule of Presenters
February 21 - Borderlands UU
February 28 - Tucson Samaritans
March 7 - Green Valley ~ Sahuarita Samaritans
March 14 - People Helping People
March 21 - Ajo Samaritans
March 28 - No More Deaths
April 18 - Margo Cowan
February 21 - Borderlands UU
February 28 - Tucson Samaritans
March 7 - Green Valley ~ Sahuarita Samaritans
March 14 - People Helping People
March 21 - Ajo Samaritans
March 28 - No More Deaths
April 18 - Margo Cowan
Borderlands UU Presentation |
Tuscon Samaritans Presentation |
Green Valley ~ Sahuarita Samaritans |
People Helping People |
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Ajo Samaritans |
No More Deaths |
Margo Cowan
- Our UUA's Statement of Solidarity
"As Unitarian Universalists, our faith calls us toward moral action affirming the sacredness of all life, regardless of repressive laws and legal consequences designed to criminalize our actions."
- The Power of Presence: Your Struggle is Ours, October 7, 2020
The Unitarian Universalist Association has issued an unprecedented statement of solidarity with member congregations like Borderlands UU. Rev. Matthew was invited into the crafting this statement alongside leaders of our faith from across the country. CLICK HERE to read the statement in full.
- The Power of Presence: Your Struggle is Ours, October 7, 2020
The Unitarian Universalist Association has issued an unprecedented statement of solidarity with member congregations like Borderlands UU. Rev. Matthew was invited into the crafting this statement alongside leaders of our faith from across the country. CLICK HERE to read the statement in full.