Recently, Anna and I have been lucky enough to collaborate with Brenna McBride, a writer for the Haverford Alumni Magazine, who has written an article about our creation of the Juarez Women's Scholarship Fund.  We hope that the article will help to generate interest in our project and inspire its readers to learn more about the courageous struggles of women in Juarez!  Thanks to all those at Haverford College who have supported us and our work on the Fund.

     To see the article and pictures, click here.

     Recently, we have been working closely with the Frontera Women’s Foundation to outline a structure for our project. Frontera has organized a committee of women, including activists and leaders in El Paso and Juarez, to choose grantees from the applicant pool. We are in the final stages of composing the application, which will be distributed in the coming months. We hope to write an application that will be accessible and non-invasive, while still allowing us to assess the level of need, as well as academic potential and leadership qualities.

      We are also incredibly grateful that the Frontera Women’s Foundation has been able to secure a 1-1 match for our grant through their partnership with the Houston Endowment.  This will allow us to fund twice as many scholarships once the fund is up and running! 

Casa Eudes, a shelter for young women and girls whose families can no longer care for them, lies just off a hectic street in Cuidad Juarez. The shelter is run by a group of nuns, and currently houses 36 girls, though it can house up to 60. We spent the past week living there, eating with the girls and speaking with the nuns about the needs of the institution. Casa Eudes is made up of a cluster of buildings, surrounding a dusty main courtyard, often used by the girls for basketball. The tops of the outside walls are lined with shards of glass to keep out the violence that is a reality in the surrounding area. Indeed, within our first two days, a man was shot while inside his car, not far from the entrance to the shelter...