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.
[:]
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 […]
Our First Summer Intern
[:en]Juvenile Justice Advocates International’s first ever summer legal intern started this week! We are welcoming Russel Payne to our team for the summer. Russell is a second year law student at the University of Minnesota law school in Minneapolis. This summer he will be interviewing detained children in Chihuahua, Mexico to help us learn more about […]
Laundry Day is a little different this week
[:en] Just finished washing, drying and folding 15 towels. Why? Tomorrow we bring our second batch of Care Packages to the 15 girls at the Chihuahua juvenile prison. So today I am packing them all up, which includes washing all of the new towels that were donated. Learn More and consider sponsoring a Care Package[:]
What I didn’t know about Chihuahua
Here are a few things I didn’t know about Chihuahua before we started our project. But we need to know: Chihuahua is Huge! Chihuahua state is the largest state in Mexico. It is about the size of Colorado. About a third of the state is desert, sharing a boarder with southern Arizona and southwest Texas. Mountains […]
“We share our underwear”
Thursday I brought two suit cases full of toiletries for boys in prison in Chihuahua, Mexico. The prison director brought us into a dining hall and we handed out 20 packages of shampoo, soap, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels and underwear. These boys were all from the sierra, or mountains. They come from extreme poverty. Most […]
