Spanish Not Required

by Elizabeth A. DeMerchant, IHM 

I do not speak Spanish, and yet I volunteered in McAllen, Texas, for two weeks to aid the immigrants crossing the border into Texas. I visited the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen and Casa del Migrante and migrant camps in Reynosa, Mexico.

At the Humanitarian Respite Center, we helped make sandwiches and fill food bags for families to take on their bus or airplane journey. We also filled clothing requests so each guest would have clean clothes for their travel. Whenever time allowed, I enjoyed playing puzzles and games with the children.

There are several migrant camps in Reynosa. Each camp held about 3,000 people when I visited the sites. The “lucky” families live in a tent while many people live under blankets covered with plastic trash bags. Each camp only has enough food to feed 400 to 500 people. It was raining the day I visited the camp with Elvia and the Jesuits. The camp was hot and muggy as well as muddy. They were the worst living conditions I have ever seen.

On my first day in Reynosa, Mary Elaine read the children a library book about origami followed by making an origami boat. We had researched online how to make the boat, and we had samples of boats on the tables. I was working with the older children (about 7+). After the children were seated at the table, I held my index finger up to my lips and said, “Shhhh.” Then I pointed to my eyes, followed by pointing to the children and myself. Each child was given a piece of paper. They followed along as I folded my paper. Sometimes, I would need to help individual children with their folding. Each child made their own origami boat and decorated it. Amazingly, there was no talking during the folding. It wasn’t until we were done folding and the children were decorating that a girl tried to talk to me in Spanish. I could tell she was upset and complaining about the boy next to her. I didn’t know what to say. So, I pointed to myself and said, “No español.” She looked at me in disbelief or confusion. A boy sitting beside me said, “Inglés?” I nodded my head yes to him. He told her I speak English. The little girl stopped complaining as it was not getting her any response. Everyone went back to
decorating their boats. Two days later, the same children used Lego to make forms of transportation. I only knew how to say “moto” (motorcycle) and “combi” (van) in Spanish. I said, “Moto…combi”, and then raised my hands up as much to say, “Go.” The children went to making vehicles and then building other things to go with the transportation. The children knew how to get my attention. They would bring me things they made and get me to take things apart for them. One boy tapped me on my head. When I looked up at him, he pointed to another boy as he pretended to bite a Lego. I said the universal language of NO! I tapped my tooth. The boy nodded, and everyone went back to the building. When I started picking up the Lego, the children also picked up the Lego.

All children, whether they are in Peru, Guatemala, Ghana, Mexico, or the United States, want attention and to be loved. Lego transcends languages. Love transcends languages.

For more information about our nter-congregational community at the Texas-Mexico border, click here.