The flow of people towards the Mexican border with the United States does not stop. In Tijuana, the Casa del Migrante of the Scalabrinian missionaries continues to offer not only hospitality but also training
«In this period we need a lot of help, we are in the coldest months. Help us collect gloves, hats, sweaters, jackets and scarves to give to the people we host.” This is the appeal of the Casa del Migrante in Tijuana, on the border between Mexico and the United States, a welcoming community, despite the difficulties. Here, where temperatures drop below zero at night, even in the first days of the year there was no lack of presence of caravans of women and men arriving from various countries on the continent to try to cross the border.
«The House of Tijuna is a refuge that has served migrants in the region for more than thirty years – explains Crystal Lucero, of the Scalabrinian congregation of the missionaries of San Carlo. Psychologist and responsible for relations with the university world, the doctor illustrates a work that brings together hospitality for those fleeing from hunger and violence, and a support system made up of professionals and people of good will.
In these thirty years the operators have created a multidisciplinary model to provide answers to those who knock on the doors of the Migrant House. There are various areas of intervention: social service, legal guidance, health and psychological assistance, projects for entering the world of work… All this offers real possibilities to those who have decided to change their life and country.
«We have started a specific program for children and adolescents – explains Lucero – offering assistance for hospital treatment and providing food and clothing to those who arrive here with the bare minimum. Our objective is the social inclusion or reintegration of migrants.”
The activities involve a large group of young people who make themselves available to those who arrive tired, cold and hungry. The volunteers come from Baja California and other states of Mexico and remain to live temporarily in the religious structures, where they provide various services, from the canteen to the distribution of clothes. «We can welcome migrants thanks to the service, many people who live in Tijuana and the surrounding area, who come for a few days to support us in various sectors, from cleaning to the selection of medicines, as well as students who carry out social service or professional internships here», Crystal Lucero clarifies.
The work of the Scalabrinian missionaries is directed not only to assistance but also to the training of migrants who arrive at the gates of the USA with the desire to change their lives. A couple of years ago they inaugurated a second location, the Scalabrinians’ Training Center for Migrants (Cesfom), a community place with an educational vocation, where courses, lessons and workshops – in English and Spanish, welding, carpentry, air conditioning maintenance air conditioning, hairdressing, manicure and decoration – are provided completely free of charge to anyone, thanks also to the commitment of a teaching group.