Thousands of items litter the United States-Mexico border, left behind by migrants, such as Yolanda Gonzalez Garcia, who attempted to cross the border with her 18-month-old daughter, Elizama, in 2000. Just 14 miles north of the border, Yolanda put the last bit of her water into her baby’s bottle before succumbing to heat and dehydration in the deadly desert heat.

Los Desconocidos, a nonprofit sewing and artist cooperative that began with the intention of cleaning up the Sonoran Desert, is now working to turn that trash into treasure, to provide awareness of the situation and to help people like Yolanda. She unfortunately lost her battle with the desert, but future migrants may have hope, thanks to Los Desconocidos.
Jody Ipsen, founder of the group, was inspired to find a way to use the items left behind by immigrants when she joined the Samaritans - a humanitarian organization that provides water, food and medical aid to migrants crossing the border - in their daily patrols of the border region.

“I thought to myself, ‘Why aren’t we recycling and reusing these things?’” Ipsen said of the bottles, cans and clothing items she encountered on the walks.

She began recycling the materials she found and soon realized that she could do more.

The organization, which started in Jan. 2008, began with a simple mission: Reduce, reuse, recycle and restore the desert, while helping families affected negatively by migration.

Ipsen, along with ten other core volunteers, have taken to turning scraps of material, washed several times, into a clothing line. The proceeds go toward providing education and training to Latin American women and children. The intention is to ensure that families struggling economically will be able to develop the skills necessary to rise out of extreme poverty.

Currently, Los Desconocidos helps eight families, including Yolanda’s daughter Elizama, who currently lives with her grandmother in Oaxaca, Mexico.

“It is our dream that Elizama will complete her education and learn vocational skills or go to college so she doesn’t have to migrate,” Ipsen said.

The clothing line, made up of purses, bags, and clothing for children and adults, has grossed approximately $1000, all of which has gone to the eight families that reside in the U.S., Mexico and Central America. The items are sold at various fairs around town, such as the Tucson Peace Fair and Music Festival held in February. The organization is also working on their website, which they hope will be a means for the public to learn about the organization and purchase items from the “funky but chic” clothing line.

Quilt Square

Jody Ipsen

Los Desconocidos, which translates to “the unknowns,” is a name Ipsen feels strongly relates to the work the organization does.

“The items left behind are from migrants that we will never know, and some of those who die remain unknown forever,” said Ipsen. “This past year, while looking for a missing pregnant woman on the Indian Reservation, we came across the skeletal remains of someone who may never be identified. It is our desire to bring migrants into the light of our hearts and remind others of the reasons they cross into the United States.”

The organization’s desire to make visible the unknown has culminated in a quilt project that serves as a fundraiser for migrant families and to raise awareness of the thousands of deaths that occur in the harsh arid desert of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Tattered jeans found in the desert are cut into 4 x 4 inch squares and sold for $4. Each square will be decorated with the name of a migrant who died crossing the border. So far, 30 people have contributed to the project. Douglas High School’s English Language Learners program in Douglas, Ariz. has lent its hand to the project as well.

“We are hoping to get an art endowment so the quilt can travel through the U.S. and possibly around the world,” Ipsen said.

Ipsen is also working on a book entitled When the Women Wept: Cries from the Migrant Trail , which weaves together the stories of migrant women told from the perspective of U.S. complicity.

“Many Americans think they are victims of corrupt governments but my research proves otherwise,” Ipsen said. “I’m trying to answer the question: Why are these countries poor? We’ve crippled the economies in Latin America through policies like NAFTA and CAFTA.”