We Are Not Alone: Chronicles on the Borders of Latin America and the Caribbean

Between 22 March and 1 April, Karen Pérez, coordinator of the JRS Tapachula office in Mexico, visited Colombia to share and learn from the experiences of the work carried out on the southern border of Mexico and the Colombian-Venezuelan border. The following text is a chronicle of Karen’s learnings and reflections, read it and immerse yourself in this journey of accompaniment to migrants and refugees on the borders of Latin America and the Caribbean.

In the month of March 2022 I received a very special invitation, I would have the opportunity to travel other borders beyond Tapachula, Chiapas in Mexico. That is how my journey through Colombia began, a beautiful, warm country with so many stories.

My wonderful and adventurous journey began on a Tuesday at the Tapachula airport, after a long flight I had the privilege of arriving at a place called Cúcuta, a city in Colombia located on the border with Venezuela, where JRS Colombia has rebuilt many lives and has been able to consolidate a firm path for many years, in which surely many people have also left seeds well sown to find what I am now going to share with you.

The first person I met was German Ortega (Coordinator of the Norte de Santander Office of JRS in Colombia); I met and listened to a leader committed to his team, with a broad vision and a huge heart to continue contributing to the mission of service, having so much clarity in the forms and processes told me that I would have a very enriching week, coordinating an office as large as that of Norte de Santander is not an easy thing, I thought. I also met a young, committed, friendly, responsible, energetic and dedicated team that embodies the essence of JRS, where dreaming together will always make it possible to build bridges in times of walls.

German Ortega and Karen Perez at the border cross between Colombia and Venezuela

I remember very well the activities in the field, visiting many neighborhoods with women leaders and committed to their own community, I shared with empowered women with so much strength that they taught me in a short time how encouraging it is to surround yourself with them and that everything can be built with collective work. I like to witness how JRS touches the hearts of young people, I was able to hear their proposals, their commitments and their dreams that no doubt with that spirit and strength they have, will materialize.

With these teachings, I want to bring to this moment the experience of feeling that we are not alone on the road, that is to say that the spirit of accompanying, serving and defending is present in the people we accompany, in the team and in these borders so hard, so porous and so full of emotions. I know that we always want to go forward, looking for ways to weave networks and reach out to those in need, that is where I could find this spirit of the mission itself, of feeling that there is a transformation and that we seek to take that extra step with each of the people who arrive and who leave with the hope to move forward.

I would like to say that in the end, all these activities aimed at construction reflect a communicated team, with a strategic and punctual vision, that goes straight to the clarity of the processes and the good practices that we have from what is collected in the field and grounded in the daily work, defining which are the roles and activities in which the issues that the context is marking us emerge, with specific methodologies that allow a broad integration of the team with all the support of the coordination.

Thank you very much for teaching me, for receiving me so warmly and for showing me that despite being more than 2300 kilometers away on the map, we share from heart to heart the mission of serve, accompany and advocate.