A disorganized collage of overdevelopment spanning the hills of Tijuana looms over the fences dividing the Mexican border town from its U.S. counterpart, San Ysidro. On the San Diego side of the border stands a crisp strip mall complete with an Old Navy outlet, Liz Claiborne and a McDonald’s. The shopping area arose to cater to the overwhelming number of visitors to this particular area along the border. The San Diego port of entry is the busiest border crossing in the country, and an entirely unique culture exists around it.
UCSD students help sort books and computer parts at the Casa Familiar community center in San Ysidro. Bottom: Several houses and buildings crowd the Mexican side of the border in the background of San Ysidro. American Pie participants travelled to several public parks and community buildings near the San Diego port of entry.
On April 21, a group of students signed up to look past the commercial enterprises and examine the border culture in depth through the American Pie program. Every quarter, American Pie – which is organized and run by Student Organizations and Leadership Opportunities, International House, the International Center and the Cross Cultural Center – unites international and American students in exploring aspects of American life and culture, program intern Fa’a Tufele said. Each event includes a community visit, a service project and a discussion over dinner.
This quarter, Tufele led over 50 American and international students from UCSD on a tour of the U.S./Mexico border area around San Ysidro. Throughout the day, students analyzed border issues, listened to speakers discuss life along the border and volunteered at a developing cultural arts center in San Ysidro.
Ian Kim, an international student who also participated in the winter quarter American Pie program on American Indians, said he participated this quarter because he wanted to learn about the border and do some work in the community.
Several houses and buildings crowd the Mexican side of the border in the background of San Ysidro. American Pie participants travelled to several public parks and community buildings near the San Diego port of entry.
Another international student, Tom Cassey, said, “”My friends have been on previous American Pie trips and really enjoyed them … so I thought I should go.””
The event started off at 8 a.m. and included several stops including Lawson Field Park and Virginia Avenue, where participants listened to stories about the often violent life on the border and heard speaker Pedro Rios, program director of the American Friends Service Committee in San Diego, a service group that fights for immigrant rights.
The highlight for the volunteers was the time they spent at Chicano Park. They went to the park for lunch and took a few hours to explore the area. Located beneath the Coronado Bridge in Logan Heights, the park houses the largest local collection of outdoor murals along with several other artistic pieces dedicated to the cultural heritage of the Latino and immigrant community surrounding the park. Luckily, April 21 is Chicano Park Day, when the community celebrates the day in the 70s that a local college student claimed back the land for the community after highway 5 had been built through the area.
“”I was able to celebrate a culture that’s not mine, that I don’t identify with, and that was a privilege,”” Thurgood Marshall College senior Miguel De La Fuentes said. He hopes other students will take the opportunity to attend such programs “”and take an opportunity to experience another culture.””
Revelle College senior Oraneet Orevi was equally impressed by Chicano Park.
“”The amazing community … had this cohesive, inclusive pride,”” she said. “”It was very beautiful to watch and to be a part of.””
After visiting the park the students headed back to San Ysidro where they visited Casa Familiar, a local community center.
Casa Familiar is a community organization with over 30 years of service in the border community around San Ysidro. The organization is recognized as one of the leading authorities on addressing unique issues of border communities. With over 50 current projects and only 30 permanent staff members, the organization welcomes volunteers with open arms.
Currently, the community center is undergoing a conversion into a cultural arts center. It has bright pink, purple and yellow walls, and Aztec designs drawn along the upper trim in the hall. From the outside, the building has a schoolhouse look; it is wooden, painted brick red and has a small fenced playground. In the right wing of the building, groups of five students organized donations in what used to be bathrooms. In the boys’ bathroom students sorted office supplies, and in the girls’ they rummaged through toys. Low sinks and toilets act as shelves and covered by boxes.
“”We are organizing the toys by age, so they can give them out at Christmas and other holidays,”” Revelle College junior Ty Teissere said. Soon bags of stuffed animals, boxes of board games and collections of action figures found their rightful place among the disorder.
Across the community center a large group sorted through the children’s clothing Casa Familiar had collected. Tufele helped organize electrical supplies, such as light bulbs, in a small storage area.
The whole place bustled with activity for nearly two hours, and when everyone finished their tasks, they gathered to watch “”Rights on the Line,”” a short documentary on border issues in San Diego and Arizona made by the day’s hosts, Rios and Hernandez.
To finish the day, the group had dinner at Achiote restaurant and discussed issues related to border communities. Among the questions prompted were, “”What does citizenship look like?”” and “”Who has the right to immigrate and why?”” The restaurant is located in a crisp strip mall along the border, looking out on the Tijuana hills and the sprawling urban fiasco – an appropriate setting for the students to reflect on what they have learned. They have left American Pie program with a new perspective on border relations, and a new understanding of the unique challenges that face these border communities.
