You may have heard about the migrant caravans making their way up to the US-Mexico border from Honduras a few months back. The media warned us that thousands of migrants were rushing the border and forcing their way into the United States. This never did happen, and the story, while still in the news, has receded in terms of its coverage. Unfortunately for these migrants the reasons why they left Honduras have not disappeared and many will spend years in makeshift camps before they are able to find a home.
Currently in Tijuana there are somewhere between 2,000 and 6,000 migrants from these caravans living in different camps around the city, patiently and hopefully waiting for their asylum number to be called. Making the journey back to Honduras in the current political climate would likely lead to death. These men, women, and children have been living for months without proper health care, food, clean water, or shelter.
This winter WishGarden Herbs enthusiastically packed up boxes of herbal remedies to be given out at the Tijuana border in migrant camps at the request of a dear friend and herbalist, Ann Drucker. Ann and a group of herb students and a bilingual librarian headed down to Mexico to offer an herbal healing clinic at three different migrant camps. They offered limpias (plant brushings with prayers), herbal teas, and tinctures. This healing clinic offered much needed health care, comfort, and emotional healing to many people in need.
Herb Table At The Camp
"We saw such courageous people," recalls Ann. "I'll always remember a child who had trouble sleeping at night. Sleepy Nights and Emotional Ally gave her the first peaceful night sleep she could remember. We worked with a twenty-one-year-old woman with belly discomfort for over a year and we used Digestive Rescue GI Normalizer and abdominal massage to help her. So many people had to leave unsafe situations and Serious Relaxer and Emotional Ally: A Big Herbal Hug helped soothe these stresses. There were many children and adults who could not sleep and Sleepy Nights was a great help. We saw lots of beautiful pregnant women too and the WishGarden pregnancy line was a wonderful tool. Many people were "on the run" for their lives. One older man said to me after a limpia and a WishGarden tincture, "Now I remember peace." Tears came to my eyes. We were all filled with compassion.
Ann and her crew taught ten volunteers from the main migrant health clinic how to do limpias. They were very excited to learn. "The migrants come and ask for limpias and don't understand why we don't offer them at the health clinic. Now we can say yes, we do!" said one of the volunteers. They are now also using some of the remaining WishGarden herbal tinctures. Ann plans to return to the camps soon and we here at WishGarden are gearing up to donate much more.
Ann & Liz Setting Up The Herb Table
If you wish to help, you can donate to WishGarden Herbs" Migrant Herbal Help Kit and we will double your donation in herbal products for migrants at the border. Simply email events@wishgardenherbs.com with what herbal remedies you would like to purchase or just an amount of money to be donated to the migrants and we will double the order.
You can also donate directly to camp Movimiento Juventud 2000 where 60 tents are set up in a small warehouse and which is home to 350 migrant people. It is run by five hard-working, devoted volunteers. Please send any contributions to Moviemiento Juventud 2000 by Paypal to nicooodrucker@gmail.com. 100% of your money goes to providing food and basic supplies for the migrants. Nico's two sisters (Nico is Ann's sixteen-year-old old son) live in Tijuana and regularly shop for the shelter and bring the donations directly there.
To find out more about Ann Drucker, visit her web site at Earth-Centered Healing Art
Writer Anna Harshman is a member of the WishGarden founding family and is the Field Support Manager for WishGarden.
For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, or sell any product.
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