Lupita shows off her papel picado at one of Latinitas' Saturday camps. (Elvia Navarrete/Borderzine.com)

Young Hispanic women on the border find a voice in Latinitas

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EL PASO – Troubled young women dealing with pregnancy, depression, drug-abuse and attempted suicide can now find help in an organization created specifically for them. Sonia Rangel, Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator for Latinitas, said it is important for pre-teen and teenage Latinas here to have a voice. The need to empower and inspire them in El Paso is critical because the rate of occurrence of these problems for Latinas here is the highest in Texas, according to the Latinitas website. In a program entitled “Girl Empowerment Training,” volunteers learn how to mentor the girls. Through a series of hands-on work with multimedia equipment, the volunteers practice with cameras and voice recorders.  In this training, the volunteers get the opportunity to look within through a series of questions such as, “What does leadership, mentor and empowerment mean and what does it mean to be a mentor?” Then they are able to teach the girls how to use the equipment for self-expression.

Abused women from the Co-op Experanza y Fe rebuild their self-esteem through honest work. (Diana Parra/Borderzine.com)

Dominican nuns find need and hope in Juárez as they help poor women survive

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EL PASO – Left alone to deal with the household responsibilities, forced to steal to eat, humiliated and treated as if they were worthless, the women escaped to safety to a haven they call the “dump” in Ciudad Juárez. These abused women made the move to seek a better life in a community of friendship and hope, anchored by the Centro Santa Catalina run by Dominican nuns from El Paso. Although located in a city now filled with violence and homicides, the “dump” is the only neighborhood in Juárez where these women can find the strength to move beyond their misery. Many El Pasoans consider crossing the border to Ciudad Juárez dangerous and life threatening, but that is exactly what Sister Rene and Sister Maureen do every day to help these struggling women and children in Juárez. Sister Rene Weeks and Sister Maureen Gallagher of the Dominican Sisters say they cross the border to bring some light to women and children who have only seen poverty and a struggle to survive.

From Uniformed Services to No Uniform?

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EL PASO — I constantly find myself going over and over the decision I made more than a year ago. After serving in the U.S. Navy for seven years, I decided to put away my flight deck boots and step into some new shoes. It’s these “new shoes” that throw me off my equilibrium and make me question myself. Up until three months ago, I started off my week knowing exactly what I was going to wear, how I’d do my hair and the extent to which my makeup would be done. I never painted my fingernails a funky shade, never highlighted my hair or had one too many drinks on a casual Sunday night.