No More Deaths provides summer volunteer opportunities to groups and individuals wishing to provide direct aid in the US–Mexico borderlands, where people continue to suffer and die in migration unnecessarily and in unacceptable numbers. We will mobilize as humanitarian-aid and human-rights workers in the Arizona desert in challenge to lethal and cruel policies that systematically place migrants on the receiving end of violence.

It is very important that you review all of the following information and understand the volunteer expectations before applying to the No More Deaths summer volunteer program.

Project Placements

Desert Aid: No More Deaths has an ongoing humanitarian presence in the desert migration corridor south of Tucson, utilizing both a fixed base camp and intermittent mobile camps. Our efforts are concentrated in an area 5–20 miles from the international border, and focus on upholding the most fundamental human right—life itself—by providing basic humanitarian assistance to those in need. Desert Aid volunteers will participate in a variety of activities including providing water, food, and medical attention to migrants crossing the Arizona–Mexico border. Volunteers participating in the desert aid program should be comfortable with camping, extreme heat, strenuous physical activity, high stress situations, and flexible/irregular daily schedules.

Desert Aid volunteers are expected to:

●      Commit to first, and above all, service.

●      Provide your own transportation around town.  If you are coming to NMD as part of a group you are also

responsible for providing transportation out to the desert.  This transportation MUST be 4 Wheel Drive.

●      Follow our protocols and the principles of Civil Initiative.

●      Attend the training and the “taking it home” activities.

●      Provide your own outdoor gear for volunteering in the desert (packing list will be provided).

Agua Prieta Migrant Resource Center: The Migrant Resource Center (MRC) is located on the Mexican side of the Douglas-Agua Prieta border, immediately after the Immigration and Customs building.  The MRC serves repatriated migrants and migrants in transit with humanitarian aid, orientations of the city's services and options, and abuse documentation.  Migrants repatriated to Agua Prieta have recently suffered a traumatic experience of crossing the desert, being detained by the Border Patrol, and deported.  The vital services we provide help migrants get back on their feet and return home (if they desire).  Tasks and volunteer activities include: greeting newly arrived migrants and explaining the MRC and its services, preparing and giving out burritos and coffee, helping migrants make phone calls, conducting abuse documentation interviews, filing missing persons reports with the Mexican Consulate, organizing clothing and hygiene packets, sweeping/mopping, and other general activities.

As of April 2012 the MRC is serving an average of 30-50 people a day and the busiest days have been almost 200 people.  No matter how many people we serve, we hope to offer as much as we can with the resources we have, which includes our volunteers' time.  MRC volunteers will be placed with other volunteers, and the coordinators are just a phone call away.

The MRC is a binational project of Frontera de Cristo, a Presbyterian border ministry; the Catholic parish Sagrada Familia; No More Deaths; and volunteers from both sides of the border.  Though many of the organizations and volunteers supporting the MRC do so out of religious conviction, there is no requirement that any volunteer hold any creed, and we render service without regard to the beliefs of migrants and without evangelizing.  Housing and transportation within the city (by bicycle) is provided by Frontera de Cristo either in Douglas or Agua Prieta.

Agua Prieta Volunteers are expected to:

• Speak at least a beginner's level of Spanish.
• Be willing to make mistakes, and learn!
• Be willing to spend a good deal of your time at the Center, though we'll try to get you out to see the "sights" of Douglas / Agua Prieta (such as they are).
• Take the opportunity to meet new people, and be willing to be flexible and work through difficulties and misunderstandings.
• Provide your own transportation (personal vehicle, rental car, or public transportation around Tucson and to Agua Prieta).

Program dates

Summer programming begins at 5 p.m. on the first Friday of each session and ends on Friday at 10 p.m.  Programming runs for 8 total session (16 total weeks) from June 8^th-September 28^th. This year we will be trying out a new model for summer programming.  Sessions will run for 2 weeks and volunteers will have the option of staying for one week (session a) or two weeks (session b).

Session 1A: June 8-15

Session 1B: June 8-22

Session 2A: June 22-29

Session 2B: June 22-July 6

Session 3A: July 6-July 13

Session 3B: July 6-July 20

Session 4A: July 20-July 27

Session 4B: July20-August 3

Session 5A: August 3-August 10

Session 5B: August 3-August 17

Session 6A: August 17-August 24

Session 6B: August 7-August 31

Session 7A: August 31-September 7

Session 7B: August 31-September 14

Session 8A: September 14-September 21

Session 8B: September 14-September 28

Cost

Summer volunteers will pay a $50 non-refundable, registration fee and a volunteer fee.  The volunteer fee structure is detailed below.  The $50 non-refundable registration fee will reserve your slot in our summer programming and will be applied to your total volunteer fee once you arrive in Tucson.  The volunteer fee varies for new volunteers, returning volunteers, and groups.

Groups and Group Discounts

We strongly encourage potential desert aid volunteers to apply with others as part of a group. We find that volunteers participating in desert aid as part of a group from a single home community experience a number of advantages.  First, groups are able to work collectively to prepare for their trip, including raising the necessary funds.  Second, groups provide a natural and pre-existing network of support while participating in work that is extremely challenging and potentially traumatic and help ease the often difficult transition back to volunteers’ home communities. Finally, the existing affinity between members of groups and the shared analysis that may be developed while participating in desert aid provide a good starting place for taking next steps and organizing for migrant justice when volunteers return to their home communities.

For these reasons, we offer volunteers who apply as a group (of three or more people) a $25 per person reduction in volunteer fees. If you intend to participate in desert aid, please consider applying as a group and contact us if you have any questions.

Financial Support

We do not want the request of a volunteer fee to prevent an otherwise willing volunteer from applying. Therefore, we offer the possibility of volunteer fee waivers for volunteers that cannot meet the full costs of NMD programming. If you would like to be considered for one, please email the volunteer coordinator at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Fundraising

It costs a lot to run a year-round humanitarian-aid campaign, and feeding, housing and transporting volunteers is just one part of that. Although you are already giving of your time and passion and limited resources to volunteer with us, we must devote our limited resources to the needs of people in migration, not hospitality for volunteers. That is why we ask you to raise funds for a donation.

We encourage you to use this fundraising request as an opportunity for people in your community to learn about and support your time volunteering. Ideas for fundraising previously used by volunteers include spaghetti dinners, salsa dance nights, house parties, presentations to your church/school communities, letter-writing campaigns to friends and family, appealing to businesses for sponsorship, and more. We expect that you view your involvement with No More Deaths beyond your arrival in and departure from Tucson; committing to our mission without physically being on the border is an essential part of awareness-raising and movement-building. Hopefully you will view your volunteer experience with No More Deaths as a short but intense part of what you hope to accomplish, instead of viewing it as the goal itself.

Eligibility

We invite people of conscience everywhere to join in this effort. Participation requires no special skills or background—though we'll use them if you have them!—only a commitment to putting one's beliefs into practice. If you are willing and able to tolerate a degree of emotional intensity, stress, and physical discomfort for the sake of something you believe in, and physically able to work hard under the hot sun, we urge you to join us this summer.

Safety

Volunteering with No More Deaths is not risk-free. The places around the world where humanitarian-aid work is done are typically unsafe or at least uncomfortable places. The Arizona–Sonora border region is no exception. The dangers this region poses to humanitarian-aid workers are relatively minor in comparison to other global trouble spots. They are also nothing compared to the dangers that people in migration face. Still, they are very real. The border region is an increasingly lawless and increasingly militarized zone—a paradox familiar in other parts of the world as well.

Apart from that, our work can be very stressful, we meet people who have suffered and are suffering greatly, and the potential for secondary trauma is high. We ask that you carefully consider your mental and physical capacity to work in this environment before you apply to join us. It is of great importance that we be able to focus all our efforts on providing direct assistance to those in need.

Legality

We are very clear about the legal parameters of our work in the desert, and cover them extensively in training. We do not do anything illegal. Unfortunately, this does not mean we are immune from legal threats and challenges. You should carefully consider your willingness to accept the legal risk. Individuals in more vulnerable legal situations to begin with—non-U.S. citizens, for example—need to weigh this particularly carefully.


Transportation

No More Deaths summer volunteers are expected to provide their own transportation around Tucson and to training sites.  Due to our limited number of vehicles, groups participating in desert aid work are expected to provide their own transportation (MUST BE 4 WHEEL DRIVE) out to the desert camp.  Individuals should contact the NMD Logistics Coordinator ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) to arrange for transportation to the desert.

Agua Prieta volunteers are expected to provide their own transportation from Tucson to Agua Prieta.  Agua Prieta volunteers will need to use a personal vehicle, rent a car, or reserve space on the shuttle service to Douglas. More information on rental packages will be provided in your pre-arrival package.  However, this is a cost that should be figured into your fundraising activities.

What to bring

A packing list will be included in pre-arrival information. Housing (floor space in a donated building) will be provided during your stay in Tucson.  All volunteers should come with their own bedding (ie. sleeping bag and ground pad).  Desert aid volunteers will be sleeping outdoors in a camping-type environment: there is no housing or bedding provided. If you want to sleep in a tent (as opposed to under the stars), you will need to bring one.  Agua Prieta volunteers will have housing provided.

Application and Application Deadline

In order to participate in NMD’s summer volunteer program you MUST submit an application.  Each session has an application deadline which we ask you to honor.

Session 1A: June 8-15

Session 1B: June 8-22

Application Deadline: May 18

Expect to receive confirmation of volunteer placement by: May 25

Session 2A: June 22-29

Session 2B: June 22-July 6

Application Deadline: May 25

Expect to receive confirmation of volunteer placement by: June 1

Session 3A: July 6-July 13

Session 3B: July 6-July 20

Application Deadline: June 1

Expect to receive confirmation of volunteer placement by: June 8

Session 4A: July 20-July 27

Session 4B: July20-August 3

Application Deadline: June 8

Expect to receive confirmation of volunteer placement by: June 15

Session 5A: August 3-August 10

Session 5B: August 3-August 17

Application Deadline: June 15

Expect to receive confirmation of volunteer placement by June 22

Session 6A: August 17-August 24

Session 6B: August 17-August 31

Application Deadline: June 22

Expect to receive confirmation of volunteer placement by June 29

Session 7A: August 31-September 7

Session 7B: August 31-September 14

Application Deadline: June 29

Expect to receive confirmation of volunteer placement by July 6

Session 8A: September 14-September 21

Session 8B: September 14-September 28

Application Deadline: July 6

Expect to receive confirmation of volunteer placement by July 13

Application

When you are ready, please fill out the summer 2012 volunteer application.