Giving back via Enrique's Journey

By Tim Willert

In my first blog entry about Enrique's Journey, I focused on Olga Sanchez Martinez, the woman who spends her own money on blood and medicine for wounded migrants and tirelessly spreads hope and faith among those who have none. While Olga's contributions and those of Padre Leo -- who goes out of his way to feed and shelter migrants during their journey -- cannot be overlooked, I believe those good Samaritans who give the immigrants food and water and clothing along their journey are equally as important to their safe and successful passage.

As I've said before, I think most Americans could care less about the plight of immigrants, and most are too selfish to care about helping those less fortunate, especially illegal immigrants. This attitude directly contrasts the one shared by the people Enrique encounters during his journey through Mexico who are poor, but share a greater sense of compassion and spirituality than most Americans I know.

These are people who, pardon the expression, "don't have a pot to piss in," but who, like Olga and Padre Leo, share a faith in God and serving others for salvation. This is a powerful message: that love and service will always be more powerful than hate and selfishness and prejudice.

In fact, many people have been inspired to take action after reading Enrique's Journey. A school from my hometown, La Jolla Country Day School, launched a campaign to raise money for Guatemalan women. Additionally, Isabel Allende Foundation helped Olga Sanchez build a bakery to generate income for a migrant shelter.

While there are too many projects to mention here, I think an interesting angle for media coverage should be the people who run from their homes to the trains with care packages that can mean the difference between life and death for migrants who go days without food while trying to negotiate dangerous train tops and box cars. These young men rely, almost depend on these good deeds for their survival -- without the scraps of food and clothing, their journeys would probably go unfinished.

And these gifts aren't coming from rich people with plenty of disposable income, they're coming from poor people who are rich in faith and compassion, who don't care where these people are coming from or where they're going, just that the immigrants are trying to make a better life for themselves.