Day Five in Ajo

Hello Blog!

Today was our last whole day in Southern Arizona and it did not disappoint us! We started with a 5AM wake up to gather our belongings fill the water bottles and take care of some hygiene. Then we gathered up by the vans where we met a geographer named Scott. Scott took us outside the known realm of Ajo and  into the desert where we went on  a 2ish mile hike up and around the plants and landscapes of Arizona that included Organ Pipe Cactus and Cholla Buds. Our treacherous adventure included the classic hero trials such as the wall of loose gravel and the Voldemort like heat. Our escape from this desert heat was the safety of Scotts office, where he took its through his first hand experience of working with the regions  humanitarian aid. One story included Scott providing food and water for two young boarder migrants who had crossed illegally into the United States. These migrants and Scott were eventually found out by the boarder patrol and were ultimately arrested. After hearing about his victory in court, we had down time for around an hour and 45 minutes, in which we fooled around in the vicinity of the schoolyard/hotel. Then we went to go get drinks before meeting with a photographer named Tom. Tom's story was an incredible one at that; after working for the border patrol for 4 years he realized that they were throwing away perfectly good food that could have been saved for the Ajo food bank, which is ultimately what he was able to accomplish. Tom took this project of his a stage further after seeing the everyday items such as toothbrushes, Micheal Jackson shirts, and Pixar Cars toys that were tossed in the trash by the boarder patrol. After 7 years of secretly taking the items to his apartment he decided to photograph the hoard. He now works on this project full time, and spends his time documenting the stolen lives of these migrants. After exploring his work and the different tales that rode along with them, we gave our heartfelt thanks to Tom and made our way to the community pool in Ajo. Water basketball and replay races were among the activities in which we happily indulged in. The conclusion of our pool time led to us having another hour of blissful free time and then a cooking session with town experts and community members Josh and Cody. These lovely brothers, prominent members of Ajo taught us the art of making Chumuth, which we greatly enjoyed making a part of our stomachs. With dinner finished we completed our day with a lesson on food security and the discrimination of cultures. With food for thought and the knowledge that Coke started as medicine (what!) we had a final meeting with the group and the winding down of our bodies, which were preparing for bed.

Connor Y & Zafir W

















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