Not a Drop to Drink
Wednesday, 07 September 2011 22:16
The truck jolts along the rocky tracks that lead to the next water station early one May morning. “We're trying to take death out of the immigration equation,” says John Smith, a volunteer with Humane Borders. “We're not law enforcement, we're putting water out in the desert to keep people alive.”
Smith, an 81-year-old retired clergyman, has been filling and monitoring water stations with Humane Borders for the past year. Like most volunteers with this organization, he got involved through his church and plans to keep going “as long as I'm healthy.”
Humane Borders was founded in 2000 to “create a humane and just border environment,” according to their website, and they believe the most direct way they do this is with water stations. There are 35 stations throughout the most remote areas of the southern Arizona desert that are currently being maintained by Humane Borders volunteers, said Executive Director Juanita Molina.
These stations are maintained year-round, but as a result of the intense heat of Arizona summers, more trips are necessary in the summer months. Stations consist of one or two large bright blue water barrels with spigots sticking out the front and stickers proclaiming “agua” on the side, and each station is equipped with a tall blue flag so it can be spotted from far across the desert.
Placement of the water stations is determined by migrant traffic, Molina said. Information from Humane Borders' own experiences as well as from Border Patrol, the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office and other organizations like No More Deaths and Coalicion de Derechos Humanos is consolidated to decide where the water stations are needed the most. 
Water stations can also be moved, depending on shifts in migrant routes. The patrolling patterns of Border Patrol also affects placement of water stations, because areas with many stations then become more heavily monitored by Border Patrol.
Humane Borders has “made a very conscious choice to follow the letter of the law,” and as a result, only put water stations where they have official written permissions and permits, whether from the state, county or private landowners, said Molina.
Molina also said that they also have a good relationship with Border Patrol and so far haven't run into any problems with them.
It's rare for volunteers to run into migrants while out in the desert, because they go out during the day while migrants travel at night, Molina said, but it can happen.
At any given time, there are 25 to 30 volunteers with Humane Borders, which is staffed almost entirely by volunteers with only two full-time positions. Molina, the organization's executive director, and Pablo Peregrina, the operations manager, have the only two official positions.
The organization is “predominantly faith-based” and most of their volunteers come from different churches around Tucson, said Molina.
Smith, who got involved this way, says his favorite part of volunteering with Humane Borders is being able to do something that “makes a difference in someone's life.”
Thirsting for Life from Kelsey Jensen on Vimeo.
Written by Kelsey Jensen You are reading Not a Drop to Drink articles
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