The Coalición de Derechos Humanos is a human rights organization headquartered in Tucson. The agency strives to promote justice and equality for humans - U.S. citizens or not - particularly in the Southern border region of the U.S. for over 30 years. Coalition members fight discrimination and injustice among law enforcement officials and work to end the increasing militarization of the border.

Their web site is particularly interesting - with a counter of all the bodies
recovered in the Sonoran desert each year. This year the number is at about 183.

People can get involved in the coalition by volunteering or attending some of their many events which include protests, movie screenings, awareness sessions and projects. Some projects in the past have been the Migrant Trail Walk in the summer of 2008 and the Bring Down the Walll campaign, started in 2003.

My favorite way to stay active is being part of the list-serve, which informs me about upcoming events and border-related news.

Thursday's outing to Saint Andrew's Children Clinic was quite the eye-opener, and no pun intended there.

I couldn't believe the services provided - from physical therapy, orthopedic care, audiology and optometry - the participating children were so lucky to receive this kind of medical attention.

But receiving the services isn't as easy as showing up, some families traveled from hours across Mexico, and some had to schedule their child's appointment months in advance.

Nidia Tinajero, 16, came from Hermosillo, Mexico, a three-hour drive away to receive orthopedic treatment for a rare disorder she has, Angelman Syndrome. Her mother scheduled her appointment six months in advance, a common situation the two have been in for about 10 years already, as Saint Andrew's is one of the only opportunities for Nidia to receive medical care, said her mother, Nidia Tinajero.

The volunteers that come to the clinic include doctors, University of Arizona medical students and interpreters.

Nidia has always seen the same doctor, Francisco Valencia, M.D., who works at at the Tucson Medical Center.

Unfortunately for Nidia, on Thursday she didn't come with X-rays, so her and Tinajero had to go to a local hospital to obtain them, and bring them back later in the afternoon to receive the services.

The clinic's busiest times occurred before noon Thursday, and things started to slow down afterwards. For families that couldn't get an appointment, there is always next month, on the first thursday.

Here in the U.S., getting medical services can be inconvenient, unpleasant and expensive. For some however, traveling across the border for attention is worth the drive.

"I got my teeth cleaned for $30," said Nogales native Zelida Hernandez, who goes back home from Tucson to receive dental work annually.

And $30 is quite a steal, some might agree. Especially for Shantel Spencer's cousins, who have gotten all of their braces and miscellaneous dental work done for free on the Navajo reservation in Gallup, NM.

Spencer says that all health care is inexpensive on reservations, because of treaty agreements through the U.S. government.

"It's an obligation of the government to provide health care to Navajo people," she said.

Though it might not be the most, "quality," health care, Spencer said, it's still readily available when needed.

As a kid Spencer's family had to rely on Indian health care because her family didn't have medical insurance. One time she remembers waiting for six hours in the reservations emergency room and almost fainting.

"They want to give residents quality medical attention, but it's hard sometimes because there aren't enough doctors," she said.

Perlita Rojas also travels back to her home in Nogales for doctor's appointments to save money. It might take 45 minutes to get there, but she can't resist saving the money, she said.

In Mexico, Rojas said, every resident has access to the universal health care plan.

U.S. citizens can benefit from health care on the border, and though they may not receive the deal that Mexico citizens do, the prices are substantially cheaper, and many offices even accept U.S. insurance.

"And the health care is high-quality and abundant in Nogales," Hernandez said, "I am lucky to be able to receive it."

People living in border communities may not know about the Border Health Foundation, 3365 N. Campbell Ave.

They focus to educate and help "at-risk", low-income communities around the U.S., particularly neighborhoods on our U.S.-Mexico borders.

The staff at the organization especially strive to inform residents on abstinence, tobacco awareness, HIV prevention and proper diet through different programs:

Their Copper Basin Food Pantry serves over 14,000 people annually and provides food, financial assistance and nutrition classes to people in need of these services.

¡Tu Puedes! Prevention Program is designed to educate people ages 18 to 24 years old on tobacco awareness and prevention through communal activities, projects and support groups.

The Senderos Project (Abstinence Education) delivers information to migrant families and parents by looking at cultural and language factors. The adolescents targeted are between 12 and 18 years old. Information sessions are held in schools, churches, day camps and implemented through school curriculum.

Besides having an emphasis on the Latino population, the foundation also reaches out to Native Americans, African Americans, Pacific Islanders and Asian Pacific Islanders.

What is the thing called health? Simply a state in which the individual happens transiently to be perfectly adapted to his environment. Obviously, such states cannot be common, for the environment is in constant flux.
~ -H. L. Mencken

According to medical examiner reports from Pima, Yuma and Cochise County, 183 bodies have been recovered on the Arizona-Sonora border from Oct. 1, 2007 to Sept. 31, 2008. One hundred and eight of these bodies were unidentified.

These people are believed to have been from Mexico and as far away as Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Peru.

Last year's total, according to spokespeople from Coalición de Derechos Humanos, was 237. The number this year is lower, but, "factors do not clearly indicate that this is a total decline in the overall deaths on the border... as the numbers of bodies recovered in neighboring states are not available."

The Binational Migration Institute suggests that the "Funnel Effect," is a reason patterns of flow regarding migration are changing.

The Funnel Effect - implemented in the mid-90s - is a “prevention through
deterrence” approach to immigration control, according to an Immigration Policy Brief from the American Immigration Law Foundation.

The Funnel Effect has resulted in:

- "Militarization" of the border
- New border barriers
- Reinforce checkpoints and more techincal forms of surveillance
- Implementation of thousands additional Border Patrol agents

Kat Rodriquez, coordinator of Derechos Humanos discussed in a press release her feelings about border deaths as they are related to the above issues:

"What we are seeing with these tragic annual figures are the direct effects of border militarization and immigration policies. As more and more of these men, women and children are out there for a long periods of time before being found, their families must continue to suffer the pain of not knowing what has become of their loved one."

Of the final body count, according to the immigration report, 59 percent were unidentifiable. This could be because not enough of the body was recovered or other barriers that inhibited DNA testing.

The drug cartel crisis currently going on in Nogales has gotten such little U.S. press that I can't help but write about it.

The conflict has been going on since about 2005 between the two drug selling organizations, the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels, whom are fighting for control of the Sonoran-Arizona border, which is highly desired among drug smugglers. The fighting has become more violent, with more law enforcement and political leaders being killed by means of gunfire and even beheadings.

I asked Zelida Hernandez from Nogales, Mexico, whom now lives in Tucson, to take me to her home town one weekend. She replied that she can't because she doesn't even feel safe going back there right now. Not only that, but every day her father crosses the border from Nogales, Ariz. to Mexico and she fears for his life, as he is a prominent figure in Nogales and even she is in danger, because people know she is related to him.

Last Sunday, Oct. 5 marked the 71st homicide this year involving people in the drug cartel "war." This number already surpasses the deaths in 2007 - which totalled about 52 - according to the Arizona Daily Star.

But calling it a war, to some Mexicans, is not politically correct.

"This is not a war," said Perlita Rojas, 21, from Nogales, Mexico, "It's a community instability." Rojas explained that just walking around the city can be life threatening, and she often fears going back home to visit her parents.

Targeted victims are getting shot with AK-47s, said Hernandez and the murderers don't care who's around to go down with them. Recently a political leader and his young daughter were shot in his car, and cartel leaders will shoot into crowds of people in order to find their victim.

Hernandez recently heard news that her friend's husband was shot to death Oct. 3 as a result of the conflict.

It's really horrible, Hernandez said, and we don't know when it will be over.

The Mariposa Community Health Center promotes proper health and care to those on the Arizona-Sonora border. It is one of the largest health care providers on the border, and the 5th of it's kind in Arizona!

According to the website, the health center provides the following services:

· Adult & Family Medicine
· Chronic Care Model
· Pediatrics
· Ob/Gyn
· Dental
· Behavioral Health
· Pharmacy
· Community Programs
· Public Health Programs

The center is comprised of a diverse, highly-qualified staff whom almost all speak Spanish as well as English. It is also not-for-profit.

I think it's awesome that there are people out there whom dedicate their lives to solving healthcare disparities, and choose to spend their time on the border to help those in need.

Dentistry is especially hard to come by in border regions, and at the clinic, electronic dental record systems - implemented in 2005 - "support clinical practice with digital radiology, enhanced treatment planning and patient education," according to staff members.

Mariposa has locations in Rio Rico, Nogales and Patagonia Arizona.

For it's services, Mariposa Community Health Center has been widely-recognized by the U.S./Mexico Border Health Commission and the Arizona Association of Community Health Centers.

Staff members continue to strive for excellence and provide it's patients with convenient, personal and effective health care every day.