Volunteering General Info
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Volunteer Opportunities: Spring Break 2010 |
No More Deaths is proud to be conducting its third consecutive Alternative Spring Break program. The program runs for three weeks from March 6 to 27, on a Saturday-to-Saturday schedule.  Please fill out the 2010 Alternative Spring Break volunteer application to sign up for one of those weeks. You do not have to be a student!
This year, for the first time, Spring Break volunteer placements are available not just in the desert, but also in Nogales, the principal border town in the region. Hundreds of men, women and children are deported here daily, and we need volunteers with skills in Spanish, first aid, social work, legal advocacy, and human rights advocacy. See below for a fuller description of the Nogales project.
We already have commitments from several student groups that will be participating in the desert-based volunteer program (see the Toolkit for more information). If you are not a member of one of those groups, please be advised that our desert camps have already reached capacity for week 2 (March 13–20) and week 3 (March 20–27).
The cost of participation (besides your time, passion, and travel expenses) is $140 for the week, which covers food and all other basic expenses. We encourage you to raise this money by fundraising in your community.
Nogales 2010 Spring Break Project
We will be working directly with deported migrants in Nogales, addressing their practical needs on a basis of solidarity and justice. Each week's team will put together the observations and testimonies they make and collect into a group-written report (the drafting of which will probably continue after the week is over), summarizing the state of human rights for migrants deported in Nogales, as the volunteers experienced it during their week of participation.
The week will begin in Tucson with a thorough introduction to the situation and the work, continuing the next day after we move to the border. A team of volunteers (including 2 of "us" Tucson-based people in support roles) will live in an apartment in Nogales, Arizona, a short walk from the port of entry that is the single busiest deportation site on the Mexico–U.S. border. We'll use the apartment as a living space as well as a place to work on compiling and synthesizing the raw materials for our report.
Our direct work with migrants is on the Mexico side. Based on the needs of the migrant population, we have three essential roles to play: a medical role (first aid, advice and referrals), a resource role (property recovery, information/orientation, phone calls to family), and a rights role (abuse documentation, complaints and legal referrals). The volunteer training will address these roles specifically.
Anyone is welcome to participate in this project, but we are especially looking for volunteers with medical training or a background in social work or advocacy (human rights, legal, other), to make sure we have those skills represented on the team. Volunteers who lack functional Spanish will have difficulty being fully effective, but there is more room for medical volunteers whose Spanish is limited. Please fill out the 2010 Spring Break volunteer application to sign up, and check the box that indicates you are open to a placement in northern Mexico.
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