My Nonprofit Reviews

The Center is such a beautiful place and truly needed not only in Anthony but the world. I can't thank them enough for all of the experiences I had there and to see the impact they are making every day. Truth be told when I first arrived here I was going through a lot of depression. I felt lost and really didn't know what to do with my life. Every second of the day I just thought about it being the last day. I first came to the center as part of a trip for my school. We participated in the border awareness experience program that the center offers. Not really sure why I took the trip and signed up with my school to do it. Trips are randomly assigned so I expected to go somewhere else but I'm so glad I came here.

Upon arriving our group first ended up meeting Saif and little did I know this guy along with another individual would change my life. Just within the first 10 minutes Saif made us feel like we were at our second home and that we were now part of his family. He was so funny and so genuine that we couldn't help but love him. The first day he took us out to see the border highway and scenic drive in El Paso, TX. He showed us where the border was between U.S. and Mexico and a few personal stories of him growing up in El Paso right next to Mexico. Just from this first night alone I knew this was going to be a great week.

The rest of the week we got to meet with Border Patrol, visit a Federal Courthouse and speak with attorneys and judges, met with Las Americas, Human Rights Activists, and more. It was an absolutely incredible experience and I wasn't expecting to see both sides of the issue. My group was primarily one sided but interacting with Border Patrol, the attorneys and judges we definitely opened up our outlook of thinking. We realized we had the power to change what we didn't like and that Border Patrol, Customs, ICE were definitely not the bad guys. They were so open with us and allowing us to ask anything and even shared their own experiences. Immigration wasn't the only issue we touched on because after 5 we had time on our own and while I thought Saif would leave after that time, no he was always there if we needed anything so being able to talk to him was a benefit. By the second night Saif spoke to us about his viewpoints of immigration as a whole but also his viewpoints on other issues. One issue that came up was depression and he talked about someone close to his life suffering depression. At first he believed it was something easy to overcome and never understood why he didn't. He ended up learning that it wasn't an easy thing to overcome and which is why he talks with him everyday and spends time with him checking up on him and doing outings and turning video games into topics of life to overcome depression. Just from talking to him I started to open up to him about my depression and he offered me a few tips of advice which has helped me tremendously. If it wasn't for him I don't believe I would have ever graduated from my university.

Later that week we also ended up meeting Mary the woman who runs the center and if I wasn't already impressed with Saif, I was blown away with her. She was so intelligent, motivational, and so down to earth. She shared with us her story of ending up at the center and all the various places she worked at. She shared with us the importance of understanding both sides of an issue and sitting at the table to make sure our voice is heard and to fight for what we want. She became the type of woman I wanted to be when I grew older. She taught us to speak for ourselves and to speak up, she taught us to love ourselves, she taught us to enjoy life even more just like Saif did.

I could go on and on about everything I learned there, but in the end just know this center changed my life and see them doing that every day with every person that walks through their doors. I was blessed to have come down to Anthony and honored to have met Saif and Mary. Thank you to the both you.