Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Changes in the news


A couple of months ago things really began changing at the bus station.  News stations across the country began covering Caravans of families coming up from Central America.  We had been seeing steady numbers of migrants and asylum seekers but suddenly numbers were being reported that made it sound totally out of control.  Actually, a newspaper had misquoted a weekly number coming up from the border as being a daily number. 

We always try to be vigilant of the security of the the families.  We watch for strangers who might be paying too much attention to these young families.  The possibility of someone taking advantage of them when they are in a strange place with different language and culture makes them very vulnerable to being exploited.  Even when the press is trying to cover this situation we try to keep pictures from being taken which could be used later to identify them to ones they are escaping from or mark them as easy prey for trafficking.

During this busy time, we got a request from a Univision reporter from Los Angeles who was trying to follow up on the stories about the increasing numbers.  We checked for approval for an interview and then agreed that we could meet outside after we helped the group who were presently getting ready for their buses.  One mother was tending to a young boy who obviously was sick.  A volunteer doctor was at the bus station that morning and her opinion was that the boy needed to be seen in a clinic before travelling on.  We communicated this to the mother who trusted us in this circumstance even though it might mean that her trip would have to be rescheduled because of the delay.  It must be so hard for a mother to put her trust in strangers especially with the care of her child.  We value that trust.

The reporter waited patiently even while observing this possible emergency.  EMS was called and as they loaded the child in an ambulance, I requested that no pictures be taken of this mother and her son.  As we reassured the mother and got her contact information for follow-up, I looked up to see the reporter pointing out that his cameraman had turned the camera to the wall to honor our request.

After the ambulance left for a local hospital things finally settled down enough for Lucretia to be interviewed both in English and Spanish.  The reporter told us of his connections to San Antonio and expressed his thanks for the things IWC is trying to do for the families we serve.  The video below was released quite a bit later:

The boy was later released and the family was able to continue their journey.  Our prayers continue always for the families who have come so far and endured so much on this journey.  We offer a little help along the way, wishing that we could do more.  Sometimes I think that the most that we give is the knowledge that there are people here who care.

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Changes in the news

A couple of months ago things really began changing at the bus station.  News stations across the country began covering Caravans of famili...