Sin Fronteras

THURSDAY 4/29: Departure, Midnight Cheesecake, and Fun

2010-05-13T09:26:00.000-04:00

We, the Sin Fronteras Youth Group, would like to THANK YOU for all your support, and generous contributions!!! The individuals that went shared a powerful experience that will last a lifetime. So much was jam packed into this weekend that I will divide each post per day, as well as post pictures of the activities that we engaged in each day. I hope you enjoy this mini-diary of our incredible journey!!

Thursday: Departure, Midnight Cheesecake, and Fun

Around 6pm on Thursdays Apopka's Hope CommUnity Center's activity level finds itself at its nadir. The parking lot generally turns sleepy, except for the occasional burst of activity when a staff member leaves for the day. This was no usual Thursday for HCC; that was made clear when the parking lot began accruing piles of book bags, travel bags, blankets, and pillows. Departure was set for 7pm, and we anxiously awaited the arrival of the bus. Staff members and Chaperons scurried around the property collecting releases, making sure students were accounted for, handing out large paper shopping bags full of food from our pantry to folks that were dropping off their students, and reassuring concerned parents that their children were going to be just fine!

At around 6:40pm Sr. Ann Kendrick and Nilka Melendez called a circle so we could hold hands and ask for God's blessing on this journey. While we were engaged in prayer the bus arrived and the large crowd broke out into cheers and applause!

Immediately the students ran to grab their bags, pillows, and whatever else they had equipped themselves with for this journey. Almost in no time names were called out and all 34 students loaded up on the bus one by one...

We're going to Washington!!

Ivis + Josefina getting comfy for the 14 hr bus ride

The bus was huge!! It seemed spacious, clean, and comfortable! People quickly claimed their seats, and made themselves feel at home! We knew that when we were leaving, police were hired to stop traffic in order to allow the bus to be able to depart the building. We all, however, let out a collective sigh of relief when we were half way out of the building, and we realized that we had an authority figure stopping traffic more powerful that any policeman could dream of being... Sr. Gail!

Sr. Maureen on Left. Sr. Gail on Right...Look at her! No one would dare disobey the law in her presence!

I think we had been on the bus maybe 10 minutes, and those of us sitting at the front of the bus began to hear a chant growing from the back of the bus....

"Movie! Movie! Movie! Movie!"

We had decided, for this trip, to show movies that dealt with social injustice, persecution, and the survival of the human spirit. First movie we popped in was The Diary of Anne Frank. We were all very quickly absorbed into the film: the younger people in the crowd had just finished reading her diary, while the older people in the crowd had never seen this new adaptation of the book...

At some point the film ended, and the bus slowly transitioned into being very quiet and still (unless you were Sr. Ann or anywhere near Sr. Ann who notoriously cannot sleep). Youth group members, Americorps members and staff members all twisted their bodies into 'Pretzels' with blankets over themselves and fell asleep to the gentle rocking of I-95 thanks to the magnificent driving job our bus driver, Rafael, did. Our first major stop was sometime around midnight somewhere in South or North Carolina (can't remember too well now). Some of us got off the bus and headed towards the nearest bathrooms, while others stayed and stretched out their pretzled bodies. Then Nilka said lets break out the cheesecake, and thus midnight cheesecake fun began...

Pedro, Ivis, and Taryn chompin' on some scrumptious cheesecake

Ivis, Amanda, Maria C., and Evelyn

We began our adventure late on Thursday afternoon full of energy, hope and excitement!!

More posts, pictures, friends, and stories to come!!!

Thank you to the AMAZING Taryn Garland for her mad picture taking skillz!!!

Sin Fronteras Presents: Our Stories

2010-04-02T17:37:00.002-04:00

Support the Dream: Donate Today!!!!

March for America

2010-04-02T15:40:00.015-04:00

Thank you Taryn for being an awesome Photographer!!

ELI ON CNN!!!

2010-03-22T20:10:00.002-04:00

Pictures of the March coming soon!!!

Donate: www.hcc-off.org

HCC/Sin Fronteras meets the Walkers

2010-03-19T00:25:00.004-04:00

This is a video that was officially made by the Trail of Dream walkers, of their experience in Apopka, FL! We were so honored to have been able to walk with them!

Donate: www.hcc-off.org

Successful Fundraising Weekend

2010-03-15T08:27:00.002-04:00

Sin Fronteras raised $357.94 selling empanadas after mass this Sunday!

Thank you St. Patrick Catholic Church in Mt. Dora, and to All of our volunteers!!

Donate: www.hcc-off.org

Trail of Dreams' Walkers on CNN

2010-03-14T19:15:00.003-04:00

Donate: www.hcc-off.org

Making and Selling Empanadas in Mt. Dora

2010-03-08T16:59:00.013-05:00

Great Job Everyone!!! Thank you Sonia for allowing us to use your house!!!

Total Earned= $355.50

Sin Fronteras Car Wash 03/06/10

2010-03-08T08:39:00.001-05:00

Total Earned: $320.40

Good Job Everyone!!!!!!!

Voices of Sin Fronteras

2010-03-05T17:57:00.000-05:00

During one of our most recent meetings, the following questions were posed to our group of 50+ high school students. This what they responded:
Question: Why does going to Washington D.C. mean something to you?

Astrid, "My sister graduated last year and I see how much she is struggling [referring to her immigration status, and her limited possibility for higher education], and I don't want to end up like that."

Leo, "We have career goals, we want to pursue a profession. I do not want to continue to hide, because of my status." [translation]

Gezer, "To accomplish something! If they pass the dream act it will help a lot of people throughout the whole country...You never know who can be a doctor, because people are not given the option."

Sergio, The more we do the more we are going to get. If the students take an active role on this issue, it will show that much more how much we really want it [referring to the dream act]." [translation]

Joyce, "Getting to go to Washington is not something we do everyday...we get to be the voice for other people."

Gezer, "If we don't try nothing will be accomplished [referring to immigration reform]."

Leticia, "This is my first experience [getting involved in the cause]; I was born here, and I've seen a lot of people getting discriminated against, because they didn't have papers. I'm so happy that I walked for immigration! It was the first time I have ever done this in my lifetime...I wanna show that people who have papers want to do something for people that don't have papers."

Question: What the did the experience of meeting the walkers, and marching with them mean to you?

Mariana, "My first impression of them when they arrived was that they were a small group, but they had a great deal of passion. I think they are very brave. I believe that thanks to them something can change." [translation]

Leo, "I am doing it [walking] for a good reason. I am doing it for the Hispanic community... If we have a chance to change something we have to do it." [translation]

Astrid, "I felt super connected to them...I got to tell them my story." [translation]

Sofia, "I felt pretty cool, because I felt like it was something historic."

Michael, "It was good; we were doing it for a good cause."

Gezer, "I was impressed, that people were doing something."

Sergio, "I think that they are people who are very brave to do it. There were only 5 of them! I thought there would be more of them. Who knows if they will get there? They are still walking right now, and I think they deserve more than just an applause when they arrive in D.C. They deserve change." [translation]

Follow the Walkers: http://trail2010.org/

Donate Now: Hope CommUnity Center

We Shall Overcome!

2010-02-28T06:17:00.000-05:00

Hope CommUnity Center's Sin Fronteras Youth Group

2010-02-27T12:10:00.000-05:00