MSDA students volunteer at U.S./Mexico border

CALDWELL, NJ — On Aug. 3, six students from Caldwell’s Mount St. Dominic Academy, along with two members of the school’s faculty, traveled to McAllen, Texas, for a week-long mission trip in support of the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, a charitable branch of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas.

Just a short drive from the border between the United States and Mexico, the CCRGV Humanitarian Respite Center is often the first point of contact in the United States for many refugees and immigrants after they are released from immigration detention centers operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to the CCRGV, the refugees who visit the respite center are primarily from Central America, fleeing their home countries to escape “human traffickers, domestic violence, organized crime, gang violence and extreme poverty.” With the goal to provide compassionate care in a safe environment, and to help prepare them for the next stages of their journeys, visitors to the respite center typically stay less than 24 hours, and receive legal orientation and general information, along with many simple things most did not have on their long trek to America — warm meals, safe drinking water, hygiene products, a warm shower, a clean change of clothes, safe temporary shelter, medical supplies and care, and transportation services.

For the six rising seniors from the Mount — Carmen Aguirre of Wayne, Emma Clifford of North Caldwell, Siobhan Lavery-Loos of East Hanover, Cecilia McKiernan of Essex Fells, Caila Przyhocki of Morris Plains and Edith Zurita of West Orange — the journey to McAllen served as an extension of the service work they do as students. The Siena Community Service program empowers each student to discover, respond to and become more personally involved with the needs of others, and learn that being of service is a privilege and an opportunity for growth. MSDA Dean of Academics Marissa Muoio and campus minister Sister Lena Picillo both served as mission trip chaperones.

“During the course of our conversations with the refugees that first day, we learned they primarily came from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala,” Muoio said. “They traveled to the United States by raft via the river, rather than crossing the bridge in Mexico by foot, which can be extremely dangerous because of the heat, as well as the risk of being kidnapped and trafficked, raped or murdered by the cartels.”

The Mount students and chaperones spent their time at the respite center performing various tasks, such as helping individuals and families — including a group of 12 expectant mothers from Cuba — select a few items of new clothing, serving warm meals, entertaining the children to provide some of the first real moments of relief for exhausted parents, and listening to and learning the stories of those they met. In just one week, the group from the Mount crossed paths with close to 1,000 people who felt the risks of leaving the only home they had known were far outweighed by the danger of staying.

  Mount Saint Dominic Academy