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UCSD
Professor Wayne Cornelius Briefs COF
Delegates at Border Fence |
To
hear about the “U.S.-Mexican border”
is one thing, but to experience it first
hand is eyeopening, as the members of the
Council on Foundations (COF) discovered
during the 56th annual meeting in San Diego
in April 2005.
In
partnership with our Baja California sister
foundation, Fundación Internacional
de la Comunidad (FIC), and San Diego Grantmakers,
ICF organized site tours and informal dinners
in Tijuana and Tecate. This unique glimpse
of the San Diego-Tijuana border allowed
COF members from across the country to see
the reality and myth of this famous but
controversial region. In total, close to
15% of COF attendees made the trip across
the border.
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Standing
right: Toñe Beguerisse, FIC's
Executive Director, addressing COF
delegates at the Tijuana Dine Around. |
ICF,
in collaboration with Tijuana’s Cultural
Center (CECUT), Insite-05, and eStudios
Teddy Cruz, started guests off with an evening
of culture, introducing over 100 guests
to the artistic life of Tijuana through
the “Tijuana Cultural Tour”.
The objective of the tour was to highlight
the vibrant arts and culture scene emerging
in Tijuana. This striking event helped demonstrate
how the arts can promote community beautification
and empowerment, educational enrichment,
and political expression in this culturally
rich binational region.
Following the cultural tour, 25 members
of the COF signed up to “dine around”
in Tijuana. Hosted by ICF and FIC, guests
enjoyed an evening of traditional Mexican
food, and were able to interact with FIC
board members to learn more about the pressing
issues and recent philanthropic developments
that have taken place in the border region.
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COF
Delegates at Tijuana's Cultural Center
(CECUT) during the Cultural Tour. |
On
Monday, ICF took 35 COF members on a tour
of Los Laureles Canyon (Tijuana), followed
by an up-close look at the border fence
itself. In Los Laureles Canyon, rapid population
growth and unregulated squatter settlements
have increased the cross-border flow of
sewage, refuge and sediment to the Tijuana
River Estuary, which is located on the U.S.
side of the border in Imperial Beach. The
tour’s objective was to showcase the
difficult challenges that decision-makers
face in the border region to alleviate poverty,
while simultaneously protecting fragile
environments, like the Tijuana Estuary,
and improving water quality (See
related article,)
On
Tuesday, over 55 people attended ICF’s
all-day tour entitled, “Transnational
Migration Issues along the U.S.-Mexico Border”.
The tour began at the border fence with
lectures about immigration from Victor Clark,
professor at San Diego State University
(SDSU) and Director of Binational Center
for Human Rights; and Dr. Wayne A. Cornelius,
Director of the Center for Comparative Immigration
Studies at the University of California,
San Diego (UCSD). Participants also visited
Project Mercy in Eastern Tijuana to learn
more about migrant housing issues, passed
through a maquiladora section of Tijuana
and then visited Fundación La Puerta
from Tecate to better understand environmental
impacts of urban sprawl.
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COF
Delegates walking along the San Diego-Tijuana
Border Fence. |
The
tours were well received by COF members.
Ann Davies of the Parker Foundation commented
that, “the border tour was a real
eye-opener.” Richard Kiy, President
of ICF noted that “it was crucial
that national funders walk away from this
meeting with a realistic perspective on
the S.D.-Tijuana border region and the inter-relationship
with migrant receiving communities across
North America. We hope that our tours have
helped shed some light on why the border
matters." |
