Last Saturday, January 14th, I went to the juvenile detention center (CERSAI) # 3, in Ciudad Juárez to deliver donated Care Packages. It is part of our Mobilize Mexico Volunteers project to help meet the needs of teens in the juvenile justice system who are detained. This was my experience bringing the Care Packages to […]
The Genesis of “Every Child Has a Story” Photography Documentary Part 4
Part 4: Two boys, one seeing his mother for the first time in 11 months, one seeing his mother for the last time Olivia and Amanda returned from Chihuahua state on Monday after three very busy days with our Family Reunification Project – helping families visit their children in prison. Each one has a story. Olivia […]
The Genesis of “Every Child Has a Story” Photography Documentary Part 3
Part 3: Normalizing the Trauma and Dehumanizing Kids Our Family Reunification Project and the “Every Child Has a Story” documentary heads out this weekend to Chihuahua state. The goal is to help families who cannot afford to visit their children in prison get transportation to the facilities. We are documenting the stories and taking photographs […]
The Genesis of “Every Child Has a Story” Photography Documentary Part 2
Part 2: Olivia calls the family (Read Part 1) Last week, Olivia, our project coordinator, received the list of teenagers in the detention centers in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua who do not receive visitors because their families are too poor. Sixteen children’s names, some with home addresses, some with phone numbers for their parents, some […]
The Genesis of “Every Child Has a Story” Photography Documentary Part 1
Part 1: Leaps of Faith Two years ago this month we completed our “Dia de Visita” photography documentary project. My wife Amanda took the photographs and I interviewed children and their families on visiting day at the detention center. It was quite a challenge to get permission and finally complete interviews with children and parents […]
In September her baby boy turns one…
Alejandra smiled when I sat down at her table to talk with her. I met her for the first time two months ago. Today she was reading in the common area of the girl‘s cell block. It was a book of poems. Alejandra likes poetry and sometimes writes her own poems. We spoke for a […]
Russell Payne, summer intern, interviews teens in detention
Our summer intern, Russell Payne, spent some time in June interviewing 25 juveniles in detention in Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He shared some of his impressions with us. Special thanks to the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association for funding Russell’s internship!
Annie E. Casey Foundation Visits our Project in Chihuahua
[:en]The Annie. E Casey Foundation sent a team of U.S. juvenile justice experts, part of their “Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative”, to visit our project in Chihuahua, Mexico. Here are some image of our meetings with the local judges, prosecutors, public defenders, probation, and community-based organizations.









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20 Hours
[:en]The teacher was preparing her lesson when we entered the empty classroom at 9:15 A.M. She had written a few math problems written on the chalkboard. We had brought a group of experts from the United States and we were on an official tour of the juvenile detention center in Chihuahua, Mexico. We started at […]
“Let me tell you about Gabriel”
[:en]By Tamara Thompson Let me tell you about Gabriel, a 16-year-old boy from Chihuahua City I met recently during a visit to the juvenile detention center there. The first thing I saw was the back of Gabriel’s head, because he and all of the other boys in the cell block were ordered to turn with […]