I think I've referred to this obliquely in the past, but perhaps now is a good
time to be more direct.
A couple of years ago, I was involved in an effort to assist migrant people who
had been detained by ICE at the Sheridan federal prison complex, in Yamhill
County.
All of them were men though some of them were gay men fleeing from oppression
in their home countries. The ones who I had the most contact with were mostly
Sikhs, Punjabis, or Nepalis (sometimes billed as the "happiest country in the
world," but it ain't so). I got to be pretty good at understanding protocol at
our local Sikh gurdwara (temple) in Salem, which hosted all of them regardless
of religion, until they could connect with host families who were willing to
sponsor them. I made some lasting friends and enjoyed some very good food, in
the process.
They all had a good laugh when we passed by the sign for Namasté Vineyards, on
our way from the prison to Salem. I tried to distract their attention when we
passed by the sign advertising "locker beef" along Hwy 22, and then I had to
keep one group calm when we came into Salem and had a couple of cop cars go
past with lights flashing.
There was one guy from Punjab who really wanted to see snow. He mentioned this
on the way into Salem. And then a couple of days later, when I picked him and
some other guys up to take them to PDX, that was still the first thing on his
mind. I was really stressed because I knew we were running late, but he broke
into my stress when he saw Mount Hood and wondered if that was snow. It turned
out that we did miss his flight but the airline took care of him, so it all
worked out in the end. And I got to hang out at the old Sikh gurdwara in
Vancouver, with a free meal including some hot peppers that I learned I should
just munch on as a side dish, for a couple of hours before I took my other
rider to his flight.
All of these guys crossed multiple borders in Central America, mostly traveling
on foot and under the cover of darkness. When I heard their stories, I couldn't
help but think about how many birders would love to visit those same places,
under better circumstances. I know a bunch of birders who have booked tours to
those same regions. But it would have been insensitive of me, even to bring
that up, for people who had been through so much trauma.
Mike Patterson touched on the topic of socioeconomic opportunities. This
experience is something that really brought that into sharp focus for me.
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
