For the sixth consecutive summer, beginning on Saturday, June 6, 2009, No More Deaths volunteers will engage in a season of direct action 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 and in northern Sonora, Mexico, in challenge to a lethal and cruel policy that places migrants systematically on the receiving end of violence: that of vigilantes, coyotes, law-enforcement agencies, and a weaponized landscape. Apply for full-time volunteering (that is, one or more full weeks) at least four weeks in advance; the weekend volunteer application is due the Monday before the initial training weekend. See below for more on these two volunteering options.
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.
As always, those under 18 who wish to volunteer must be accompanied by an adult.
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. We ask that you carefully consider your capacity to work in such an 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. We are working in a hostile law-enforcement environment—again, not an uncommon situation for humanitarian field workers globally. Our work, though legal, is a challenge to the federal government's strategy of "deterrence" of migration, which relies on death as a deterrent against a misdemeanor offense. Not surprisingly, we sometimes find our work targeted through legalistic means, such as federal littering citations. If you opt for desert work, 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.
Schedule options OPTION 1, FULL-TIME VOLUNTEERING: Applicants are asked to commit to volunteering one or more full weeks (Saturday to Saturday). The schedule for volunteer placements includes a mandatory two-day training session before beginning work; departure for the field on Sunday afternoon; site orientation and field-specific training on Sunday and Monday; and a mandatory debriefing discussion on the Saturday of departure. More detailed schedule information will be sent to volunteers before they arrive.
For your travel plans, you should arrange to arrive in Tucson on the Friday before your training. Overnight housing will be provided. We recommend arriving Friday morning, if possible, in time to attend the daily "Streamline" immigration prosecutions in federal court at 1:00 pm. Following final debriefing, you should plan to leave Tucson on Saturday afternoon or early evening.
OPTION 2, WEEKEND VOLUNTEERING: This option is especially designed for residents of southern Arizona for whom Option 1 is not feasible due to work or other obligations. We ask you to sign up to get trained on one weekend (or you can split it up over two weekends) and then work in the field at least two weekends. Work weekends are considered to last 48 hours: from Friday at 7 pm to Sunday at 7 pm. Carpools will leave from Southside Presbyterian Church (317 W. 23rd St. in Tucson) on Fridays: be there between 5 pm and 6 pm to check in.
Just like full-time volunteers, we also ask you to attend a Saturday morning debriefing to help process the experience. After your initial commitment, you can sign up to work more weekends by emailing the Volunteer Coordinator. Application deadlines Please complete the full-time volunteer application (Option 1) or the weekend volunteer application (Option 2), depending on which option works best for you. Based on your application, you will be assigned to one of our desert camps, to an aid station on Mexico's border with the United States, or to a project in Tucson (see Placement opportunities below).
For full-time volunteering, you must submit your application at least four weeks before the date you plan to be trained.
Application deadline
For volunteer placements beginning
Application deadline
For volunteer placements beginning
May 9, 2009
June 6, 2009
July 11, 2009
August 8, 2009
May 16, 2009
June 13, 2009
July 18, 2009
August 15, 2009
May 23, 2009
June 20, 2009
July 25, 2009
August 22, 2009
May 30, 2009
June 27, 2009
August 1, 2009
August 29, 2009
June 6, 2009
July 4, 2009
August 8, 2009
September 5, 2009
June 13, 2009
July 11, 2009
August 15, 2009
September 12, 2009
June 20, 2009
July 18, 2009
August 22, 2009
September 19, 2009
June 27, 2009
July 25, 2009
August 29, 2009
September 26, 2009
July 4, 2009
August 1, 2009
For weekend volunteering, it is only necessary to submit your application by the Monday before you plan to be trained.
Cost It costs a lot to run a four-month 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, commensurate to the costs we incur for each volunteer.
Full-time volunteers, please raise funds according to the following schedule:
New volunteers:
Returning volunteers:
First week:
$
140
($20 per day)
First week:
$
105
($15 per day)
Second week:
$
105
($15 per day)
Second week:
$
70
($10 per day)
Third week:
$
70
($10 per day)
Third week:
$
35
($5 per day)
Fourth week:
$
35
($5 per day)
Fourth week and beyond:
$
0
($0 per day)
Fifth week and beyond:
$
0
($0 per day)
Weekend volunteers, both new and returning, are asked to raise $40: $20 per weekend for the first two weekends worked in summer 2009. Further contributions are not required, though welcome.
You need to submit this money in advance or on arrival. Our preferred way of receiving it is on arrival in the form of a check, made out to "UUCT–No More Deaths." You can also make an online donation. Donations should be made "on behalf of" the person who will be volunteering.
In addition to monetary support, we heartily encourage you to bring material donations. We always need more medical supplies, socks and men's clothes.
Scholarships While we must ask our volunteers to help offset our operating costs by fundraising or donating out of their own pockets, we do not want that request to prevent an otherwise willing and able volunteer from applying. Therefore, we offer the possibility of volunteer scholarships for both full-time and weekend volunteering. If you would like to be considered for one, please fill out the scholarship application and submit it with your volunteer application. What to bring A packing list will be included in pre-arrival information. You will need a sleeping bag. If you receive a desert placement and you want to sleep in a tent, you will need to bring one of your own. Foodstuffs will be provided (cooking is done by volunteers), but you should bring your own if you have special dietary needs beyond vegetarian/vegan.
Placement opportunities The following projects are available for summer volunteers; placements will be based on needs and on volunteer preference, and can change on a weekly basis. (See also the more in-depth descriptions of No More Deaths' projects.)
Southern Arizona Desert Camps The desert camps provide critically needed water, food, and medical attention to migrants in the process of crossing the Arizona desert. Using our extensive knowledge of the Southern Arizona desert we patrol different trails twice a day and sometimes more, providing aid to anyone in need, regardless of their immigration status.
Daily activities: an average of 8–12 miles of hiking per day, mapping trails, camp maintenance, preparing direct-aid materials for distribution, evaluating migrants’ need for advanced/emergency medical care.
Great if you: are physically fit, possess skills in wilderness medicine, wilderness survival, or search and rescue, enjoy camping and the outdoors, have an above-average tolerance for sun and heat, prefer working as part of a relatively large volunteer team. Northern Mexico Aid Stations The aid stations provide food, water, medical care, and information about local social services to repatriated migrants who have just suffered incredibly traumatic experiences. In addition, we have undertaken an ongoing abuse-documentation campaign to bring to light the systematic violations of migrants’ rights.
Daily activities: preparing food for up to 1,000 people a day, providing medical care, documenting human-rights abuses, sitting with migrants and helping them decide what their next step might be.
Great if you: speak Spanish well, can be on your feet for several hours at a time, are good at relating to and supporting people, don’t mind flies, heat, dirt, and a sometimes irregular schedule, prefer working as part of a relatively small volunteer team, like the idea of collaborating with local volunteers on the border. Tucson-/Phoenix-Based Advocacy and Organizing Our direct-aid projects require lots of support, from shuttling volunteers to securing water donations. No More Deaths also collaborates on efforts that advocate for an end to the systematic abuse migrants suffer.
Daily activities: collecting and distributing donations, working on abuse-documentation projects, going to court, providing support to direct-aid projects, spreading the word about No More Deaths and the border crisis.
Great if you: have experience in community organizing or publicity, are a good phone person, and are self-directed.
All projects can put medical, legal, and Spanish skills to use! Regardless of where they are placed, all successful No More Deaths volunteers are compassionate, energetic, flexible, and team players. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Questions? Contact the Volunteer Coordinator (
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) or see the FAQ.
The aid stations provide food, water, medical care, and information about local social services to repatriated migrants who have just suffered incredibly traumatic experiences. In addition, we have undertaken an ongoing abuse-documentation campaign to bring to light the systematic violations of migrants’ rights. 