Camino de San Diego: Journeying toward Justice
A virtual pilgrimage along & across the US-Mexico Border
In this unprecedented time, Via International and Sierra Service Project are partnering to build relationships of mutual support with local leaders on the U.S.-Mexico border. Co-hosting the experience will be leaders of The Border Church / La Iglesia Fronteriza, a binational community of faith dedicated to accompanying the migrant people of God at Friendship Park, the historic binational meeting place at the westernmost end of the border. The Camino de San Diego will offer participants the opportunity to learn from borderlands leaders engaged in “journeys toward justice” in San Diego and Tijuana. These leaders will serve as hosts and guides, sharing their spiritual journeys and their practices of working for justice at the grassroots. Participants will be encouraged and inspired to celebrate their own journeys toward justice.
Overview
The Camino de San Diego consists of six parts:
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- An Orientation will introduce participants to enduring themes — including colonization, white racism and nationalism — that have given shape to the cultural context of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. The orientation will be hosted by Rev. John Fanestil (Ph.D. in History, USC) and leaders from the Via International and Border Church communities.
- Three Immersive Site Visits will introduce participants to local leaders working for justice at three landmark locations in the California/Baja California borderlands:
- Chicano Park, where the journeys of “chicanos” and “fronterizos” will be explored;
- La Plaza El Chaparral, where participants will meet “migrants” and “asylum-seekers”;
- Friendship Park, where “deportees” and “mixed-status families” will be foregrounded
- The Border Church / La Iglesia Fronteriza: Join this unique binational community of faith for a “virtual hike” (informal conversation), followed by a 30-minute celebration of communion with friends from both the United States and Mexico.
- A Closing Retreat will challenge participants to explore their place within “the migrant people of God,” to embrace their own journeys toward justice, and to identify ways that they can live out their own unique callings in their home contexts and communities.
2021 Dates
Accepting registration through Friday, June 18!
- Saturday, June 26: 10am – 12 noon PDT
- Saturday, July 3: 10-11:30am PDT
- Saturday, July 10: 10-11:30am PDT
- Saturday, July 17: 10-11:30am PDT
- Sunday, July 25: 1-4pm PDT
Service Hours
Students participating in this program may be seeking service hour verification. Anyone participating in the Camino program can have 10-20 service hours approved by the SSP office.
The program’s scheduled gatherings will take about 10 hours over the course of five weeks. However, for the purposes of service hours verification, we can approve up to 20 service hours for participation in this program. The additional 10 hours could be accumulated through group fundraising efforts mentioned below, as well as any individual learning and community advocacy you engage in outside scheduled gathering times. Contact us with questions!
Registration Details
This intergenerational program is for high school and college students, young adults and older adults. Register as an individual participant. We will accept the first 18 people to register into the program and create a waiting list for later dates if there is significant interest. The registration fee is a $60 non-transferrable, non-refundable deposit, plus commitment to participate in the team’s crowd fundraising campaign, with a team goal of raising $7,500.