Somers Resident Joins Mission to the Border
The Solution is not more Walls
Kaethe Bierbach grew up in Chappaqua, spent 30 years as an administrator at the Thomas Watson Research in Yorktown and moved to Somers in 2019. She also joined the Presbyterian Church of Mt Kisco in 1979 and has long been part of the social justice aspect of the congregation’s mission. As such, she’s lent her time on behalf of organizations like Neighbor’s Link, the Interfaith Food Pantry and the Interfaith Prison Partnership. But rising temperatures has gotten the Heritage Hills resident to focus her latest energies beyond the local, and the climate of concern has nothing to do with mercury levels.
She sees rage, anger and fear everywhere in America, and impossible to overlook, the critical mass of ire found at the border actually sent the retiree to the river in November for seven days.
The actual town is Agua Prieta, and the partnering organization across the Border in Douglass, Arizona is called Frontera de Cristo. A migrant resource center, she was drawn in by a flier at the Presbyterian Church, and her specific mission was pretty simple. “My role was to listen and connect,” said Bierbach. “Then start a relationship and see where it goes.”
Of course, Frontera, which is run by Reverend Mark Adams and his wife Miriam Maldonada, has more on its plate. With the Title 42 catch and release program still in effect, there’s no shortage of people stuck in Mexico who need help. The first order is to get migrants back on their feet with a few days of housing and meals. From there, there’s a children enrichment center, an employment training program and a drug rehab among other supportive services.
However, there’s a larger mission than just providing a bridge to those caught up in the struggle, and the endeavor does not prescribe to the impulsiveness of turning an imaginary line into fortress America. “700 miles of wall, drones and helicopters, it doesn’t stop,” said Bierbach. “It may slow things down but it’s not stopping. So the solution is not more walls, it’s trying to figure out how can people can stay in their homes.”
Cafe Justo provides one blueprint. An offshoot of Frontera, approximately 40 farms in Chiapas are part of the initiative, and with a network of American churches among the customers, coffee is the product. “Their mission is to deliver high quality, chemical free coffee at a fair price,” said Bierbach. “The profits go back to the coffee cooperative.”
In turn, a small part of the problem has been solved. “A couple hundred families have now built a life,” she asserted.
That said, Bierbach is ready to bring her mission home, and a key component is helping Americans cut through all the vitriolic reporting. “We need to try to see them as individuals,” she said.
Bierbach obviously had the opportunity up close and one young migrant was pretty standard. “He wanted to be able to go to school,” said Bierbach. “He was just a normal kid.”
On the older side, migrants mostly want to find work and send money home. In this, she can attest to both their persistence and desperation. “We met people who have been caught 25 times,” Bierbach revealed.
Others haven’t been so lucky. There’s an average of one death a day, and every Tuesday, Frontera members walk the border in vigil.
The migrants aren’t the only victims either. With the recent reports of suicides among border guards, the Somers traveler gained some insight from a former agent who now works with Adams. “He told us some of the things he did to capture people, and he just couldn’t take it anymore,” said Bierbach.
An approach he regrets, according to Bierbach, and one we pay a hefty price for. In 2020, $4 Billion was budgeted for Border Patrol, according statista.com, and she believes the money could be better spent.
At the same time, the samaritan does acknowledge the anxiety Americans feel, and their perception of how the wave impacts our economy. She implores us to rise above nonetheless. “Social justice, we can’t just stop. We can’t just say it’s impossible. So we’re not going to do it,” Bierbach concluded.
For more info : http://fronteradecristo.org/
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Rich Monetti
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