First day of work

My first day of work at Coalicion de Derechos Humanos was the most overwhelming first day of work I've ever had. At Derechos Humanos there is no hierarchy which means everyone does everything. On the one hand, this is great because it means a young, inexperienced intern like myself is not relegated to the file cabinet to shuffle papers around. On the other hand, it means I am expected to do all of the things that the others do--and they do A LOT--hence feeling overwhelmed. One shouldn't be fooled by the little, slightly decrepit building that houses Derechos Humanos because this place is a powerhouse for fighting injustice in the Southwest.

As soon as I arrived on site, I was shown around and then plopped in front of a phone with some scraps of paper. My job? Listen to the 30+ messages and take down as much information as possible. This doesn't sound too difficult but it ended up taking a couple hours--mostly because my Spanish is not that great. Most of the messages were in Spanish which meant I had to replay them a zillion times before I understood what they were saying as well as what their phone numbers were. Then, I called each of them back to try to figure out how to help.

I responded to calls about several issues. Some people had relatives who were taken, either while crossing the border or while in the U.S. and they did not know if their loved one was deported back to Mexico or Central America or was being detained in the U.S. or what. I had to acquire as much information about the missing person as possible and then call an attorney. The attorney would look the person up on a database to see where they were being held or if they had been deported and then would call me back with the news. I would then call the family/friend back to report. It was utterly overwhelming when the name of the missing person did not show up in the database. I would have to tell the friend or family member that we don't know where they are. Other calls I responded to were about employers who were abusing workers by not paying them or about people without documents who were sick, pregnant, or had U.S. citizen children and wanted to know how to get health care. Some people just wanted to know what their rights were. Others had friends or family who were arrested and needed immigration attorneys.

By 7:30pm I was exhausted and emotionally drained from these conversations. Almost all of the people I spoke with were undergoing serious, confusing, and frightening experiences--it's hard for me to even imagine it. I can't believe I'll be doing this three times a week for the next few months. And next week, after I receive training, I'll be helping with the Abuse Clinic twice per week. At the clinics, law students and volunteers directly assist people who feel they are being abused--from workplace problems to landlord/tenant issues and housing problems to discrimination issues.

I was surprised at how patient the callers were with my Spanish--I had to constantly ask them to repeat, speak more slowly, or if I didn't understand at all I had to tell them to hold on so I could get someone to help translate for me. Despite feeling nervous and inept a lot of the time, I did have several moments of happiness and feelings of accomplishment which literally made me scream. Such as when I walked a father who didn't have documentation through the steps necessary to acquire and apply for health care for his American-born children. He thanked me profusely. And when a woman needed to find out where her husband had been taken after he was arrested. I was able to give her as much information as we knew. And telling a woman who was afraid to go to the Department of Economic Security (because they are required to report anyone who applies for health care who does not have documents)that she could come to Derechos Humanos and one of us would accompany her to apply for health care for her kids.

Working at Derechos Humanos is very difficult but there is something raw about it. It was the first time so far that I have felt useful--like I am doing what I came here to do, that is, actually help people.