A Turning Point

Time feels different after turn of the year. The February things that felt far away are now only a few weeks away. And although I still have about 6 months here, I am starting to feel a sense of urgency to cross things off my Tucson bucket list. The last 4 months have been very focused on settling in and forming routines. Now that I am quite settled and comfortable in this space I am finding myself craving new experiences and spontaneous adventures. I have filled this need in a variety of ways from seeking new hiking and biking routes to starting new gardening projects.

You may have heard, Title 42 was not overturned and the Biden administration has made further steps to limit who and how people are aloud into the US. I may expand further on this in a future post, but I mention it now only to say that at Casa Alitas the number of guests that come to us each day has greatly decreased. Monday we had less than 50 people come through the welcome center! Each day since the number of families have slowly been increasing.

This period of relative quiet has given us the opportunity to regroup which has been much needed. This week I was able to train from our expert volunteers in the airport. The "airport escorts" guide people through the process of printing their boarding passes and sometimes even accompany them through security and to their gate. There are still so many things for me to learn at Casa Alitas and so I took advantage of this quiet week to try out some new jobs.

Less people meant I was able to make more personable connections with people. Spot the little boy playing peek-a-boo behind the tarp.

The SOOPers (Service Opportunities with Our Partners) have arrived! Also through Mennonite Mission Network, they live in campers in the church parking lot for a few months while they volunteer with local non-profits. It has been a joy to have a lively space to come home to and I am looking forward to relationships that stem from this time.

Oakflat

This weekend we were blessed with the presence of Sarah Augustine in our community. Sarah is the author of The Land is Not Empty and a co-founder of The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery. She spoke to the church community challenging us to leave behind constructs of colonial thought and inviting us to join the Indigenous ways of living. The weekend also included a day trip to the San Carlos Apache reservation. While there we talked to Wendsler Noise Sr. who introduced us to the importance of the sacred site which is called Oak Flat. This site is under threat of mining, so conversation lingered around what it means to see the land as place from which we gain spiritual guidance and stepping away from a perspective of extraction.

To learn more about the Apache stronghold and updates on Oak Flat, go to their website: http://apache-stronghold.com/index.html

A couple big thoughts from the weekend that I am still pondering over:

• Charity is not solidarity: Charity requires a power imbalance which does not allow for right relationships. Power must be relinquished for true equality to be practiced.

• We live in a closed system: Everything we do effects everyone else. Our resources are limited. The mindset of extraction is not sustainable.

Bonus Pictures from when my family visited!