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 Frontera NorteSur
October 2000

FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK . . .
In preparing and writing this month's series of stories devoted to women and women's issues in Ciudad Juárez I have been in contact with the ugliest, most horrible aspects of human life but at the same time I have also met some of the border's strongest, most-caring people.

Walking through the littered desert outside Cd. Juárez with the missing women's group Voces sin Eco, finding bones that we could not identify as human or animal, I came to meet and know Felipe Nava and Guillermina González who lost in the worst ways possible a daughter and a sister. Rather than trying to get past their losses and forget, Nava, González and other members of the organization have decided to continually revisit their pain and fight the government for the protection women deserve and the prompt attention missing women should get.

At Casa Amiga I met Esther Chávez Cano who a year and a half ago opened what is the only rape and abuse crisis center for women and children on the entire length of the Mexican side of the US-Mexico border. Previous to her commitment to Casa Amiga Chávez was not a doctor, a psychologist or a social worker but an accountant who saw an indisputable, unfilled need for a place like Casa Amiga. In visiting the facility Chávez told me about some of the women over the previous two or three days that had needed the resources her center provided. The cases were truly awful and filled me with disgust and pity for what humans do to others and themselves. Chávez was not giving me examples of the all-time worst cases she had encountered while serving women in Cd. Juárez but rather was just venting about what she had seen in the past few days.

One young woman, age 15, deaf and mute had been repeatedly raped by a neighbor before her godmother brought her to Casa Amiga. Never having been schooled the young woman could not communicate what had happened to her. Psychologists in turn had no way of reaching her.

Another woman had been tied up for eight months in a man's home while he repeatedly raped her and burned her breasts and vagina with cigarettes. Her kidnapper would not have been prosecuted had it not been for Casa Amiga's legal help.

Still another woman had come to Casa Amiga with a five-day old baby and her four other kids. She was addicted to pain killers throughout her pregnancy although she had given up heroin when she discovered that she was carrying a child. Not wanting to have any more children and not wanting to continue with her heroin-addict husband's abuse and neglect she left him but had no where to go for treatment or a place to live.

It was Casa Peregrina that took in the addict and her children and the woman who had been held hostage for eight months. On the day we visited Casa Peregrina almost all the women that were currently staying at the house were out looking for work or were working. Only two women remained there with their children. The addict's newborn was left there but the two women, both with their own problems, took turns looking after the baby while their mother was being evaluated in the hospital at an appointment set up by Casa Amiga.

So this was how it was in Cd. Juárez preparing these stories: everywhere we turned kind-hearted, good people were helping others that had experienced what Guillermina González of Voces sin Eco called, "the most horrible things in all of history."

While I had hoped to do a few more stories on women, women's groups and different aspects of women's lives on the border I ran out of time and resources to continue my effort.

Thus at first I was worried that the interview with farm worker Lorenza Primera--known by all as Doña Lincha--would not quite fit in with the tone of these articles. However, about half way through our conversation she told me that one of her daughter's had been killed by her own husband. The awful coincidence of her story crossing into this area was horrible but undeniable.

But there was another coincidence as well and that is that Doña Lincha is like many of the other women described in these articles. She did not let the loss of her daughter defeat her and she struggled to bring her murdered daughter's children to this country. Also, she has worked as a legal and health volunteer for years and has aided many farm workers and women.

Please take the time to read her story here as it is as remarkable as any I've ever encountered and more remarkable than most.

Finally, a plea for help. Voces sin Eco is comprised of just a few families and they need money, a phone line, a phone, a fax machine, a computer, a printer and a copier for their office. Casa Peregrina needs contributions of money, women and children's underwear, towels and sheets. Casa Amiga could use its own shelter and every city on the border needs at least one rape crisis center. Myself and some others are going to do what we can on our own time toward meeting these needs. If you can help please contact Frontera NorteSur at frontera@nmsu.edu.

Greg Bloom
FNS Editor