Alex Kanan, vieographer, was helping out with the tour and got this great video of some families who were able to meet and embrace because of the extra access granted. The garden attracted people from both sides of the border and from all walks of life and they were able to meet and hope to collaborate together in the garden in the future.
Eco-border kites Sep 17th
¡Salsa sin Fronteras! Binational Salsa Dancing Aug 20th
This was a great event. David Mariano, the binational Salsa instructor really acomodated the class for all levels and to fit perfectly our binational location. He had us doing moves toward the fence and really made it feel like we were dancing with each other even as if there were no fence between us. David and the rest of Los Guayabero dancers did an awesome Cuban Salsa Roulette at the end. Check them out on Facebook!
Tu'un Davi/español/English Language Cultural Exchange June 25th, 2011
This event was a great success. People were talking and getting to know each other through the border fence the whole time while learning a new language and culture. Here's a video from Frontera (the biggest news paper in Tijuana) that really gives a good taste of the some of the Mixtec learning that took place.
Fandango Fronterizo IV May 21st, 2011
This event, organized by a bi-national network of "Jaraneros" was once again a successful music and art trascending borders. There were over 100 people attending and the Fandango continued in Playas afterwards. This is the biggest of the dozens of Fandangos that this San diego/Tijuana network of musicians does. All the Fandangos are usually open to the public and often are used to raise funds for philanthropic causes. They also put on workshops on both sides of the border, often for free. Click here to find out about upcoming activities that the "Sociedad Sonera Tijuana - San Diego" is organizing.
This was best attended Signing Through event yet! There were A LOT of people from the deaf community on the Mexican side and a total of around 80 people all together! Many people from the deaf community were able to communicate with friends on both sides of the border and the experience was eye opening for a lot of "oyentes" (word in Spanish that deaf people use for hearing people). There people participating from "Amor por el LSM", "COCUT", APSOR, and others. Here are a few pictures and we hope to have some video soon.
Salvemos la playa March 26th, 2011
Salvemos la Playa is a community based effort that has spread across the entire city of Tijuana to Tecate and Rosarito. Over 10,000 volunteers picking up thousands of tons of trash!! This year Border encuentro was in charge of an important part of one of the 26 sites located behind the Yogurt Place restaurant in El Cañón de los Sauces right up against the Border fence. The volunteers which came from a student group at CETYS university in Tijuana and other students who separated from the larger beach site to come help, did a fantastic job! They went into the canyon a week before the event and mapped out a route through the trees and overhangs as not upset any of the native flora while getting as much of the trash out as possible. We were disappointed that bi-national help we were hoping for from the Scouts Explorers group didn't come through in order to complete the cleaning of the same canyon on the US side. After the cleaning some people from different sites met at the garden for a talk from Carlos Bustamante, expert in native flora of our region who educated us on the importance of natives and the detriment of invasives. Finally, a few people joined us at the end to make and fly kites made of trash we had found throughout and leading up to the day. The event was very one sided and the literal cooperation and friendship connection across barriers was missing. Symbollically, it was fulfilled as the explorers came early in the morning and did some cleaning up on the Mesa. We're doing all we can and working with other groups to get the bi-national literal x-border aspect at the garden back.
Binational Garden Anniversary and Seed Bombs Nov. 20th, 2010
El grupo de los 12 made it out in the rain! Thank you to Tijuana Calidad de Vida for the tarp to make the native seed bombs. The rain helped us plant on both sides. We were able to toss and and drop seed bombs onto the US portion of the garden through the fence and the rain helped push them into the ground. The seed bombs are made of nutrient dirt, clay, and native seeds. They are a lot of fun to make! Some neede time to dry so we'll be planting more on Sat December 4th. Come on out! We planted new natives and trimmed down some of the plants.
Kids from both sides showed off their kites made out of discarded materials and had fun with some opportunities to talk to each other through the fence. Check out our Facebook site for photos and video. And here's a link to some media coverage. Watch our future soar!
Reduce/Reuse/Recite Sep 25th, 2010
After cleaning the beaches, canyons, and river beds some of the volunteers from both sides of the fence joined with others and we met to make friends across the fence. We had pizza, read poetry and reused the trash to make papalotes. There was a great report developed between some of the poets across the divide and the poetry was absolutely amazing.
Here's a photo montage of the event
Here's a sample of some the poems
Birthday Border Bash - Aug 8th, 2010
We sang las mañanitas, happy birthday and had great cake. It was a fun day!
Reiki-ing Through Barriers - July 11th, 2010
This was an amazing event and very popular among Reiki-ist on the Mexican side. We were also joined by a few reiki experts on the US side. Spiritual, energetic, freindship connetions were made. The picture depicts the end of the final prayer for which peopl on the US side's time had run up. Others wre allowed to join and received reiki through the border fence after the fist group left.
Fandango Fronterizo III - May 15th, 2010
This was probably the most popular encuentro yet wit a total of around 300 people. Barriers were transcended with the jaranas and the Son Jarocho tradition. Well-know artistis from LA and Vera Cruz joined the local sociedad sonera here in Tijuana/San Diego. To follow their Fandangos in the San Diego TJ/Region, go to the sociedad sonera blogspot. The Fandango Fronterizo is becomming more and more popular and promises to be even bigger. Don't miss it next year in 2011!
Language/Cultural Exchange Mixtec/Spanish/English April 25th 2010
On the US side we were pressed up against the railing laughing and trying our best to immitate the Señoras mixtecas from Valle Verde. There were around thirty people evenly split between native speakers of all three languages. A special thanks to the tri-linguals who helped facilitate throughout. Everyone learned "Nani..."/Me llamo.../My name is..." as we played the name game and other activities in all three languages. This was one of the most succesful events in people getting to know each other across barriers on a personal level.Pictures coming soon!
First "Signs" of Summer - March 27th, 2010
We did it! The first "Signs" of summer and the firs Border encuentro of the year. It was a beautiful day and our small and enthusiastic group had a lot of fun learning/teaching Sign language and making friends. Karen Simonich taught a short lesson in LSM (Lengua de Señas Mexicana) and another lesson in ASL (American Sign Language). She does both and speaks English and Spanish too! Her and Carla were the quad linguals who helped everyone out. Each short lesson was followed by a meet and greet practice for 15 min or so first only in LSM and then only in ASL. We "Signed" through again and made friends across the hearing/deaf divide as well and the US/Mex border divide. More pics coming soon!
Friendship Garden Nov. 21st, 2009
Friends were made across barriers as a Border Patrol agent decided that the garden was important enough that, despite not being able to give us access, he decided he would plant the plants himself. He went out the day of the event with his ten year old son and weeded out the area where the plants used to be on the US side right up against the fence where the rest of the garden is on the Mexican side and planted seven natives. Some people on the Mex side were there with him already and started working and made friends with him and his son through the fence. The work continued shortly after when several more people from several different grass roots environmental orgs in Tijuana started showing up with more plants, more picket fence, paint, and gardening tools.
We Signed Through again!! People from all walks of life participated and made friends across barriers. There were a lot of new faces and people who were introduced to the idea and each other for the first time! Here are a few more pics. Video coming soon.
Bi-national Beach Cleanup and X-Border Report with Sound Dishes, Sep 19th, 2009
Out of all the sites across the world being cleaned on California Coastal Cleanup Day and International Cleanup day, the region that put in the most effort of the day was surely Playas de Tijuana. With
1,350 volunteers, they had seven sites of around 1 square mile each and picked up close to 10,000
llbs of trash in Baja
California! They had environmental workshops and community meetings to encourage more cleaning in the coming dates in the Playas area. Folks were busy on the US side as well as California Coastal Cleanup Day is the biggest volunteer effort in San Diego County. At Border Field State Park, alone there were 669 lbs of trash and around 80 volunteers. Border encuentro's job was to bring the two efforts together on a personal level. We used the Parabolic sound dishes and people got to know each other and reported their activities for the day. Here are some great photos of the disc communication!
It would be difficult to do a better job describing the days events than Adrian Florido from Voice of San Diego did in this article. There were a lot of beautiful connections across barriers and relationships established in and out of the deaf comunities across the border. In other words, a lot of people made friends through the power of sign language. Here's a video of Adrian Posadas and Karen Simonich. They come from two different worlds and were united by Sign Lanuage.
Ricochet Language Exchange - July 11th, 2009
The experiment worked! It was in the news! A special thanks to Israel, Nicole, Paloma, Chuy, and Vicotoria for your help in making it happen. It took a good 4 hours to put the dishes together and put the aluminum foil on working in the hot sun. A great deal of others helped lift and support the dishes on both sides of the border and move them around and experiment til we could hear each other. By the late afternoon we had dialed it in. So much so that when someon was done talking she said "Put so and so on" as if it were a telephone and we were 150 ft away from each other! Several people, including some families separated by the fence, were able to communicate and make plans to see each other and 8 yr old Samantha from Central California met 8 yr old Elisa who was visiting her relatives in Tijuana. Here are some pics from Maria Teresa.
This event was in the news. We had fun signing through and getting to know each other across the divide. Several members of the deaf community in Tijuana were present along with some hearing signers and hearing non-signers and learners. We had a cool telescope that allowed our signer on the Mexican side to work hands free. It also atracted attention from passer byes and more people got involved. Here are some pics from the event. Special thanks to Carla, Norma, Rolando, and Ana for helping with the interpreting. Here are some pics.
Signing Through Sat March 28th, 2009
In addtion to these videos below taken from the US side, There were also some Pics taken from the Mexican side.
This was a really fun event! People made friends and found things in common about each other. Some decided they want to see each other again. The sign language technique of communication worked great thanks to the awesome job by our interpreters: Carla, Norma, and Rolando. On the Mexican side there were so many people who had filled out the sheets that at one point the interpreters had a stack of about 8 sheets and people were lined up to be introduced. This was the first time we decided to try this technique and it was a great start/prep for out next Signing Through event on June 6th. It lent itself so well to a party atmosphere, that we're calling it "Fiesta de señas!"
In addtion to these videos taken from the US side, There were also some Pics taken from the Mexican side.
Language/Cultural Exchange Sat Feb 28th
We weren't sure if Border Patrol would let us get up to the fence or not so we gave it a try. We enjoyed the nice walk out to the fence and were able to wave to our friends from 100 ft away and call them by cell phone to arrange plans to meet at a cultural festival in Tijuana. For some pics of the time in Tijuana click here.
Blooming Expressions Saturday Nov. 8th
Thanx to several environmental organizations and enthusiastic volunteers, the garden on the Mexican side is now about sixty feet long! Made up of all native plants and all within 3 ft of the fence. On the US side it was expanded slightly as well. We have several volunteers that have made firm commitments to watering and caring for the garden (but we still need more!). All the plants came from nurseries that only grow plants that are native to the region. Grupo ecologista tijuana, Proyecto fronterizo de edución del medio ambiente, and Patrulla ecológica were some of the principal enviros that contributed to the project. We planted all morning and then went on to the second half the event. Food and poetry. Some twenty different poets from both sides of the border read their verses and we all introduced ourselves and chatted over mediteranean cuisin from Ramesses restaurant. The poems were moving and the poets were passionate about bringing the significance of the location to light.
Here's a a transcript of some of the poems that were read.
Here are some video clips (of poets and gardening)
Border Pride Oct 18th, 2008
We did it! The first Border Pride! Organizations such as Meds4Mexico, Bajagay, Eunime, Cofac,TJ leslife, Tijuana Pride, San Diego Bisexual formum, and others were present. The Center, Casa San Ysidro, and others were involved and provided materials for the event. We were joined by members of the border community from both sides. A man finished his journey on bicycle from The Canadian Border and joined us to eat delicious food from Ramesses Rest in Hillcrest and Taberna Arcoiris in Playas de Tijuana. Two elderly men hiked in all the way from the Iris Ave trolley station. What a beautiful day. It was a small enthusiastic crowd and the conclusions we came to at the end of one our bi-national talks on sexuality the community was that it was a great start to making connections. There was talk of starting a Border Center in Tijuana. Maybe a sister center the one in Hill Crest. As a friend of mine once put it "When you decide what someone is like before you get to know them, you miss out on a lot of good people." Alliances were formed and friends were made and the singers were awesome! Thank you to Yoeng, "Chente", and Valeria.
Also, gracias to The San Diego Foundation for Change for supporting the event and for all their work.
Here's some great video of the singers and of our bi-national discussions
Nurturing out Inside and Outside World September 20th and 21st, 2008
A beautiful weekend. As part of California Coastal Cleanup Day there were several tons of trash picked up. Wether it was music, games, flying and making kites out of recycled material or doing yoga for the Yoga Mala event in unison with the class on the US/Canadian Border, there was some bi-national action for everyone.
Mixtec Language/Cultural Exchange and Indigenous Textile Display
Aug 24th, 2008
The Mixtec Señoras were happy to come and share their language and culture with everyone. There was a very good response and everyone was exposed to a new language and culture. (there were quite a few people that had never heard of Mixtec before). We did a language exchange and got to know each other and tought each other English, Spanish, and Mixtec languages. The sewing cooperative was able to sell a blouse to a girl who is originally from Oaxaca and is now the director of Mixtec program in San Diego. They also received a material donation from Shaken World Screenworks, Who was on hand as part of their traveling film tour and filmed the event. Please let us know if you are interested in visiting the Sewing Cooperative to meet the wonderful seamstresses and see the beautiful cloths.
Passion Beyond Borders Bi-national Salsa Dancing Event - Third Annual July 26th, 2008
Alma Latina Dance School provided Alejandro the great Salsa dancing instructor. He had us imitating his smooth moves and before we knew we were all dancing to the same rythm. Alejandro was right next to fence so everyone had to get close in order to listen to him and get to know each other through the fence. Alma Latina Dance School is an internatioally known dance school and has won Salsa dancing competitions on both sides of the border. We were lucky to have them there.
Friendship Yoga II and International Hug
Sunday June 22, 2008
Once again, maestro Javier Alonso from the school of Sadhana in Playas de Tijuana led us in a class that brought us closer together through love and friendship. We formed a contiguous circle through the fence at the end and all commented on peace. We also had the good fortune of having another Javier, Javier Chapa who was trained in Deep Yoga created by Master Bhava from Ginseng Yoga studio, to assist us. Gracias to both Javiers and gracias to everyone for sharing this experience. This event was also in the News!
No Barriers from Friendship to Hope
Sunday June 1st, 2008
Environmentalists, human rights activists, clergy, and cultural advocates from both countries came together at Friendship Park to celebrate unity and protest the consrtuction of the triple barrier. There wer high lights and low lights as the Love Feast which includes sharing bread and drink was not able to be excercised to its fullest extent because people were prohibited from passing food through the fence. This served as a symbolic and sad representation of the enforcement mentality that the US gov't has adapted. Others joined us along the lenght of the border all the way to Hope Park in Brownsville, Texas. There is talk that this will become an annual event called "Friendship to Hope Day".
To our dismay upon arriving at the site on the 19th, we discovered the area had been "cleaned up" on the Mexican side. Out of the original 50 or more native plants there were only three left. The US side needed some work and some of the plants had been trampled by border patrol vehicles. We were able to save about 80% of the plants there. We had brought some succulents and cacti and replenished a bit with those. We will wait until the season for planting comes again in the fall to replant completely. Through the cooperative work, we go to know each other and made friends. There was quite a bit of cooperation from the Mexican side as far as making sure the garden is taken care of from now on. The yoga instructor in Playas, our good friend Javier, got some large containers and has promised to share watering responsibilities. There's talk with Proyecto Fronterizo with Margarita and Laura and Rocio of putting a protection around the garden.
Walk With Earth Send off March 9th 2008
Rolene Walker (very appropriate name:-) started her TWO YEAR WALK from the Border Fence where we normally meet and will be walking all the way to Santiago Chile and she got a grand send off! The purpose of the walk is to transmit a message of peace, hope and love for the earth through environmental and sustainable practices. We planted native plants on each side of the Garden in honor of Rolene and her goals. Right before she started walking, we attempted to do a kite exchange with kites made of left over trash bags and other recycled material. Due to engineering failures, the kites didn't fly very hi, but we managed to exchange them through the fence any way and Rolene took one with her (maybe she'll be able to make some adjustments). Go to Walk With Earth to keep on Rolene's progress and to learn more about her walk (maybe you'd like to join her for part of it!).
There were images created
in all our minds through the reading of the poetry. There were
3-4 readers on the US side and a group of young artists
from
Tijuana
and other
parts
of Mexico
who helped
do a joint reading of a back and forth poem (back in Englsih,
forth in Spanish) to make a single bilingual poem. After Jim Moreno
read his poem that greatly sympathized with the immigrant plight,
a young man from Michoacan who visiting his friend in Tijuana said "Gracias
por ser un Americano diferente". Stay tuned for a compilation
of the poems read to be published here.
Salsa lesson and Party - Oct 14th,
2007
A great time was had
by all! Thank you to our energetic and talented Salsa instructor
Johnny Wariner form City College.
"When's the next one?" was a question that was repeated
over and over to me. We danced in a circle and ate and drank and
socialized
and then danced again. There were a lot of great ideas thrown around
for next year and enthusiasm
for
getting
even
more
people
involved
from
both sides. Thank you to Jen for taking the pics and to everyone
for bringing food and drink and woopin it up on the friendship dance
circle! Pics
Over
500 volunteers at the Beach cleanup and a total of about three
tons of trash were collected. To culminate the day's work, we
inaugurated the bi-national garden of native plants. This included
hanging
a bi-national sign and planting of two savila cacti together
against the fence. The Garden was originally planted on March
24th as
part of a festival in Tijuana on Interantional Water Day
(see other past events below) by students
from Colegio Tijuana and Kearny Mesa High School.
The day consisted of on and off simultaneous
surfing, sporadic encounters through the tubes where friendships
were made,
and delicious pizza from Martinelli's Pizzaría in Playas. Click
here for a few pics and testimonials of the day.
One of the most popular Border meetups
so far. A total of about 50 people from both sides of the fence
were following the instruction of the maestro Javier Alonso Bazua
from the school of Sadhana de Mayja in Playas de Tijuana. Love
and peace were the main emphasis of the lesson. As the Maestro
also mentioned, the meaning of Yoga is union. Thank you to Chula
Vista Yoga Center for lending us the matts and all others involved.
All should thank themselves for making the effort
and
taking
the time
to practice
this peaceful
art of union that was taken out of the yoga studio, off the matt,
and transmitted accross perceived barriers.
Mixtec Language/Cultural Exchange
The school band played, everyone learned a little bit of a new language and new friend were made. Two long lost cousins, both from the same town in Oaxaca, were reunited after eight years through the tubes. The Mole and the "I-Kin" were delicious and the cloth donated will serve the sewing apprentices well. Here's a testimonial from Judy, one of the participants on the US side:
Just wanted to say how much I loved yesterday and thought it was really cool and over too soon. It's a very strange feeling to be on our side of the fence and feel like we're the ones being excluded. I really wanted to be on that other side!
One of the women gave me a really lovely bracelet as a gift and refused to take any money for it. She was telling me about the jewelry she makes so I have an idea of how I will 'pay' her back. I think she said her name was Armonia (Harmony?) Do you happen to have a list of who went on that trip from your side? She was a bit more shy than some of the others and her gesture really touched me.
Quite a few of the ladies said they hoped I would come with you sometime soon for a visit so I want to make sure this happens.
"Happy
Earth Day" was the comment of one of the people along for
the tour while all stared in astonishment at the destruction of
natural habitat due to the construction of the triple fence. After,
we hiked up smuggler's gulch and waved to some friends on the other
side and then ended the tour at Border Field State Park where we
met up with Jose' and chatted and ate elotes.
Once again, we had the excellent photographer,
Zoran, along with us to do his magic. Here are his pics.
Bi-national Garden Ceremony
- March 24th 2007
This event was a tremendous success. The studenst
from Colegio Tijuana middle school and from Kearny High School worked
hard and did a beautiful job. Please visit the fence and look at
the new garden that stretches across both sides of the fence. There
are two sets of pics:
We were few, but the camaraderie was
grand. There were as many cross-border connections and fun times
for everybody as any Border
Meetup yet. From lighthouse enthusiasts to Salsa Dancing Kings and
Queens, we had it all and the border didn’t get in the way
a bit. A special thank you to everyone for your enthusiasm and passion
to get to know new people. And another special Thank you to Walter
Meneses and Sarah from La Sorisa Latina for your time, effort, and
patience in teaching us all Salsa. The dance, the music, and the
positive atmosphere, made it possible for people to get to know each
other across cultural and political boundaries, have a good time,
and bring out the human connection that keeps all together. PICS
At this event there were a total of about 400 volunteers who collected
several ton of trash from both sides of the border. We met afterwards
at the fence for a contest to see who found the most unusual object.
There were some real treasures found: a tothebrush tied to a two
foot long light bulb, a salvadorean Navy cap, a printing press (nearly
complete), a cross made out of drift wood and plastic pipe tied together
with seaweed, a beautiful painting, and much more. PICS
