As many people know, the government has failed to follow significant deadlines to reunite families separated by the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy introduced in April of this year. Despite the policy being turned down in June, parents and children - particularly from Central America’s tumultuous Northern Triangle (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador) - remain hundreds of miles apart.
With multiple deadlines to reunite groups of children (under 5 & 5-17) with their parents missed, the government has since appointed a committee composed of several non-governmental agencies to fix what the administration could not, pushing the task of reuniting families onto them. I currently work with one of those agencies.
For the past few weeks, the main task at hand from 9am to 5pm every weekday has been to assist in resolving a national crisis and defending the rights of migrant families. Despite my role being small compared to that of fellow co-workers (of which there are few), my workload has shifted and grown significantly from what it once was before our focus on family separation.
With emails, calls, meetings, documents, photographs, news articles, and miscellaneous small/large office tasks keeping my days busy, it’s easy to not get so emotionally invested in everything - there’s no time to do so, simply put. Time outside of work, however, is when I feel the most drained; Despite occasionally receiving praise from supporters or celebrating small victories while in the office, my time outside of it has become something that I wish it weren’t.
I spend time - perhaps too much time - trying to process all of the information I’ve received, and letting it become emotionally draining. Tears have been shed, meals have been missed, and nights have been full of negative thoughts as a result.
I try to wrap my head around just how much each of the affected children and parents - who, mind you, are in the thousands - have endured financially, physically, and mentally over such a short period of time. I fail to express just how absurd the struggles forced onto them have been.
Ultimately I’m thankful to be part of an organization that’s helping these families and shedding light on such a topical issue, and I count my blessings as often as I can. I do, however, wish that staying healthy both mentally and physically would come easier and that my thoughts and emotions, both of myself and of everything else, were not as dark as they have been (since before working with this organization as well).
I wrote a post on here years ago briefly discussing the comfort I found in helping others and my goal in pursuing a career in community empowerment. Almost three years later, this career goal has unexpectedly come to fruition. Whether or not being comfortable with my mental health and level of self care will take another three years, I’m not sure. I’d like to think sooner.
turnnoffyourmind
germansingergirl
andulkaphoto
yousharknotpass
dailybridgerton
dededos
areudirty
