Know Your Rights in Solms

We knew that we needed to share the information we were gathering with those around us.  We had prepared a PowerPoint to guide a discussion of KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.  At the same time we had a sheet and some cards to hand out.

We invited a group of our neighbors to our house to discuss this information to ease their fears and let them know that they were not alone in their circumstances.  Our response was light but it was a good meeting.   With what we now had prepared, we asked our neighbors to invite their friends and family to another session.  This was not productive.  We just could not get our friends to show the level of concern that we were feeling.  Maybe it was that we had not earned enough trust.  Maybe this just didn't seem relevant as long as things seemed to be unchanged.  And most likely, this topic has been protected by silence for so long that it was not one to be discussed at anytime.

We learned of a resource being offered by a state in Mexico to its citizens living in New Braunfels.   We took fliers to the meeting there and invited these families to another KNOW YOUR RIGHTS training at our house.  We had no calls or response.

Because of the stances expressed by their leadership, Lucretia and I went to the three Catholic churches in our town to offer trainings or information to their parishioners.  Again, no response even though we knew that their Archdiosis was calling for awareness about immigrant issues.

We have concluded that we have to let our friends know that we have resources available when needed and that we can offer help when it is asked for.