In Tijuana, a border metropolis between Mexico and the United States, ‘Proyecto Salesiano’ association network created an innovative structure that offers migrant women and children not only a safe place, but also the possibility of redesigning their future. It is a precious work, which Fondazione DON BOSCO NEL MONDO proposes to its supporters for Christmas 2024 donations.
Imagine being in a Latin American city of two million inhabitants, located at the northwest end of the border between Mexico and the United States. It is the border crossed by the most transited migratory corridor in the world: eleven million people on the move every year. Only a few kilometers away from you, there are the glittering suggestions of California, but in Tijuana you are simply immersed in the hostility of the semi-arid climate of Central America and exposed to the dangers of a social fabric characterized by inequalities and risks of marginalization. Finally, imagine being in that city as people who aspire to cross the border with the United States and find themselves in a suspended condition. Foreigners on the road, migrants on the border: tormented by the daily difficulties of satisfying their primary needs, oppressed by the impossibility of sketching an educational and professional path that allows them to think about tomorrow.
A place of hospitality for one hundred and twenty women and eighty children
The Don Bosco Salesian Shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, was born precisely in this scenario.
This structure, the result of the commitment made by Proyecto Salesiano Tijuana A.C., led by Father Juan Carlos Solís Pérez of the Salesian Province of Mexico Guadalajara, has a dual vocation: to be a place of protection and at the same time of rebirth. It is an ambitious challenge, worthy of the recipients of this initiative, namely women and children: those most exposed to the risks of violence, exploitation, lack of access to basic services; those who encounter greater difficulty in having opportunities for professional training and continuity of schooling, especially if they are migrants.
The building that houses the Shelter is now the home of one hundred and twenty migrant women between the ages of 25 and 50 and their eighty children, between the ages of 6 and 12.
Education, Psychological Support, Training, Health Care, and Legal Assistance: the 360-degree support offered by the Salesian Shelter in Tijuana
Thanks to the assistance offered by the Salesians of Don Bosco and an internal staff of twelve people, the women and children welcomed in the Shelter receive services to overcome the vulnerability of their condition and redesign their future:
- education, for children, in order to ensure school continuity;
- psychological support and professional training, for women, with a view to progressively recovering work autonomy and taking care of their socio-emotional state;
- health care and legal assistance for all residents.
Much can and must still be done to optimize the efforts of the ‘Proyecto’ in relation to its various objectives.
As regards professional training, after an initial cycle on relational skills, it will now be important to implement programs that strengthen the skills of the women welcomed in the Shelter in sectors with high employment potential, such as cooking and nursing.
The strengthening of legal advice will be equally crucial in the Salesian Shelter in Tijuana. Women and children who benefit from the Shelter almost always need appropriate assistance that support their asylum requests or any requests for documents needed to resume their journey safely.
The provision of continuous medical and psychological assistance is essential for any project concerning people: ensuring care allows for both physical well-being and socio-emotional recovery. In this sense, the Shelter project for women and children welcomed in the structure also includes weekly therapy sessions focused on stress management.
For children and teenagers, the challenge of the Salesians in Tijuana is, as always, the fight against educational poverty. In addition to the multi-grade educational programs proposed by the Salesian School of Don Bosco in Tijuana, based on age, guests will also be provided with courses and individual school assistance, with a view not only to continuity and maintenance, but also the development of new skills useful during the period of residence in the Shelter itself.
Finally, at the foundation of all the work of Proyecto Salesiano there is the complex and constant operation of the Salesian Shelter of Don Bosco. The efficient functioning of the structure is the basis for every other pillar of the project to exist and operate, and this means guaranteeing essential services every day, only apparently insignificant: three healthy, nutritious, and complete meals a day; clean and safe products during the stay of the users; regular access to drinking water, electricity, and toilets.
The campaign of Fondazione DON BOSCO NEL MONDO: transforming the border into a place of hope
To put the Salesian Shelter in the position to respond increasingly better to the needs of such vulnerable users, Fondazione DON BOSCO NEL MONDO has decided to promote this month the fundraising campaign ‘A refuge to be reborn in Tijuana: give hospitality and protection to migrant mothers and children, transform the border into a place of hope’.
The final goal of this project is the reconquest of autonomy by people. This objective is essential to escape from the distressing and paradoxical state of suspension of existence that is the condition of the displaced person, the refugee, the migrant, and thus allow women and children welcomed in the Shelter to definitively regain possession of their future.
