The BUU Accompaniment Project
Stone cairn outside of BUU for those crossing the desert.
CLICK HERE to join us on Zoom, Sundays 2pm
Borderlands UU is on the journey of accompaniment. We are seeking to companion humanitarian aid groups that offer as they directly address the needs of people migrating through the Sonoran desert. As they meet with boarder crossers offering aid, we meet with them to support their life giving 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 when we cannot.
On this page, you will find an 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.
Below you can find:
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 when we cannot.
On this page, you will find an 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.
Below you can find:
- The Story of the Accompaniment Project
- Resources Naming the Immigration Crisis
- Online Links to Direct Humanitarian Aid Groups
- Forum Schedule and Recordings
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The Story of the Accompaniment Project
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. While we love our build & grounds, 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 is who he approached and 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 to overnight.
Ajo Samaritans, curious, but no initial needs.
Clearly, there was an opportunity to accompany these groups in their work. Our Board directed Rev. Matthew to work up building usage guidelines and explore each opportunity.
With the impact of the pandemic making in-person gatherings nearly impossible, Rev. Matthew changed direction. Instead of writing up usage guidelines, he worked with our Buildings & Grounds team (B&G) and developed a plan to add a washer and dryer to BUU. He started 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 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, 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. During the summer of 2020, a team of BUU members, evaluated establishing fiscal sponsorship. While there were no concerns about establishing a fiscal relationship, the team did express other concerns.
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 is developing opportunities for education, connection, and relationship while we are still in the pandemic.
Here is who he approached and 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 to overnight.
Ajo Samaritans, curious, but no initial needs.
Clearly, there was an opportunity to accompany these groups in their work. Our Board directed Rev. Matthew to work up building usage guidelines and explore each opportunity.
With the impact of the pandemic making in-person gatherings nearly impossible, Rev. Matthew changed direction. Instead of writing up usage guidelines, he worked with our Buildings & Grounds team (B&G) and developed a plan to add a washer and dryer to BUU. He started 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 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, 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. During the summer of 2020, a team of BUU members, evaluated establishing fiscal sponsorship. While there were no concerns about establishing a fiscal relationship, the team did express other concerns.
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 is developing opportunities for education, connection, and relationship while we are still in the pandemic.
Resources Naming the Immigration Crisis
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,"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 in early 2021. It seeks 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 Southern Arizona.
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Schedule of Presenters
February 21 - Borderlands UU February 28 - Tucson Samaritans March 7 - Green Valley ~ Sahuarita Samaritans March 14 - People Helping People March 28 - No More Deaths |
Borderlands UU Presentation |