in my shoes

On the northern coast of Morocco lie two pockets of Spanish civilization.  Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish-governed, Spanish-taxed, Spanish-speaking and fully protected borders on the African continent.  Like most borders between developed countries and developing countries, this wall creates a lot of tension, strife and illegal trade opportunities.

The picture of the illegal trade route looks like this:

Thousands of poor Moroccan men and women wake up early to report to merchants on the Morocco side of the border.  They wrap their bodies with layers of goods transforming them into overstuffed snowmen.  They stuff more goods into bags that are twice the size of them and tie these bags onto their backs.  The weight is so heavy and the size so large that they hunch over to walk one to four kilometers to the border.  They wait in line for hours at border control while being shouted at and demonized by police.  When it is there turn, if they are lucky, they are permitted to enter without declaring the goods, without being checked for prohibited items, and without being asked for a visa.  They walk another several kilometers to the receiving merchant, and then begin the cycle again to try to fit two cycles of smuggling into the day.

When I was first introduced to the issue, my thoughts immediately jumped to “the workers are committing crimes,”  “the police and border control are corrupt,” and “the merchants must be mafia-like.”  As I listened to collaborations over the issue, my responses transformed into questions like:

• What circumstances have caused these workers to choose such rough and low-paying work?
• What is the responsibility of a government and individuals within a community to insure that every person has access to work that provides sufficient money, medical care, and education for families?
• Is it possible to create work that allows everybody to improve their economic status rather living in a vicious cycle of barely making enough to eat and maintain their current status?
• How can we stop illegal trade without demonizing and incarcerating the workers who trade as their livelihood?

I have always been one to vote for the underdog, so it’s not curious that my heart throbs now as well.  I am not sure yet how I can help the situation, but I do think just learning about it helps us become more aware of our world and how our decisions affect others.  If you are interested in learning more about the porters working along the border there is video in Spanish called “Cien Metros Mas Alla.”  Here is the link.

I have been working briefly with a human rights organization in Puerto de Santa Maria called APDHA.  APDHA has offices all over Andalucia, and although their work spans many topics, there is a strong emphasis on immigration.  Much of their work is affected by or connected in some way to the African continent . . . Morocco is just a stone’s throw away from the southern coast, literally swimmable if desperate enough.

So, naturally I found an opportunity to visit Morocco for four days to help the Morocco chapter.  I was surprised to find out upon arrival that my new co-workers and hosts were nuns.  But these nuns challenged every notion I had of nuns.  They weren’t donning habits or carrying rosary beads.  They only went to church on Sunday morning, their discussions never centered around the grace of God, and they never prayed in my presence (not even before meals).  On top of it, two of the sisters smoked and all of them drank beer!

The four women that I lived with exposed me to an entirely new sisterhood.  They live with other sisters in normal apartments around the world, embedding themselves into normal society with the specific purpose of serving the world in a way that uplifts communities.  The only physical feature that one could identify is their simple golden band that they wear on their right ring finger symbolizing their commitment to the church, God and the sisterhood.

These women work in human rights and have quite spectacular stories.  Some of them have worked with prostitutes helping educate them, connecting them to resources that can change their circumstances and insuring their medical care.  Others have worked with illegal immigrants from the poorest regions of the Sub-Sahara.  Now, they are creating an international non-governmental agency that studies, educates and fights for human rights, especially those of women, and especially in the most poverty-stricken, oppressed areas.

My work with the women was mainly building a start-up website for their new organization.  I also helped translate their newest project proposal to make it easier to collaborate with other local, non-Spanish speaking associations in Morocco.

If you are interested in seeing their work, supporting their cause, or just looking at the super-cool blogsite I designed, check out www.najma.blogspot.com.