The Joy of Volunteering

Voicing my opinion and being listened to is important to me. At the end of my stay at the border, I am grateful for so many people, Columbans, religious, friends, and others who have been part of this wonderful journey.

By Rose Basada, Columban Lay Missionary

Rose Basada

As a Columban lay missionary, it’s amazing to be surrounded by like-minded people. I started volunteering with various shelters when there was a surge of migrants to El Paso. I cooked and visited their tents to provide food, toiletries, and blankets during winter, and helped process their papers for them to be with their sponsors, families, and relatives, or assisted them in calling their next shelter destination. Some of them didn’t have sponsors so we needed to find them a place to stay. While I did all these, I was also getting divided feedback from friends.

Some were discouraging me, because they believed that helping these people, would make them dependent. They think that staying in the USA without being fluent in the English language and having adequate education will turn them into a problem to the society. But I kept telling them that I was just here to help. After all, they are already in the USA and all that I could do was just to help with whatever I have.

While I got frustrated because of those remarks, I am thankful to have friends and volunteers who were supportive. They even offered to volunteer with me at the shelters and reach out to the migrants seeking asylum. As a Lay missionary at the border throughout the years, I know how important mutual support is, especially for asylum seekers and refugees who struggle with their day-to-day life. It is wonderful when we can just help people without prejudice and judgment. I know this whole thing about the migrant crisis will never stop as people keep moving to seek a better life and sanctuary.