La Linea Fronteriza
SPECIAL FEATURE
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Visitors are encouraged to bring necessities (shoes, toothbrushes, over-the-counter medicines, food and clothing) to donate to people living in colonias on both sides of the US-Mexico border. They are also encouraged to bring stuffed animals to be given to children living in unincorporated areas on the border during the "Christmas in the Colonias" project.
Donors should be practical about the items they give; residents in colonias often do not have electricity, running water, air conditioning, or paved roads.
Please note: Toothbrushes, toothpaste, and over-the-counter medications should be wrapped in original packaging and have expiration dates no shorter than six months. Food items should be nonperishable and easily prepared. Shoes, clothing and stuffed animals should be new or gently warn.
These items are distributed to communities in need through a variety of services. We deliver some of the items to the border and distribute them through our contacts and during reseach projects. Some of our contacts include staff members with the Texas A&M HUD program in Del Rio and a retired Methodist minister who lives near the border city of Reynosa, as well as other advocates for the colonias.
Other items are distributed through Houston doctors and pharmacists who usually work with medical mission groups. Learn more about the work of a medical mission team.
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For more information, please send an email to: info@houstonculture.org
Additional Needs: There will also be a need for donated services by architects and builders, or anyone with volunteer experience comparable to Habitat for Humanity. There are several pending projects that we are aware of, and in the Lower Rio Grange Valley, there is always the threat of destructive storms. We want to be prepared to help. Please contact us if you may be able to help with a current project or in the case of a future emergency.
There are numerous religious and secular medical mission efforts originating from Houston, Texas, and surrounding cities and states. And there is a growing need. Advice on beginning this kind of charitable work is available from many people we have been in contact with, including Houston doctors and pharmacists working with Christ United Methodist Church in Sugar Land.
More on Medical Missions
Houston area medical missions providing health care in the Lower Rio Grande Valley rely on many forms of donations. Churches, such as Christ United Methodist Church in Sugar Land, raise part of the funds for medical missions from their congregations. Doctors often seek donations of pharmaceutical supplies and equipment from colleagues, and purchase needed medications and vitamins with their own money. Medical mission personnel usually provide for their own transportation, lodging and meals.
Donations of professional services - doctors, pharmacists, optometrists, dentists, and translators - are essential for continuation and greatly needed expansion of medical care in poor communities on the border. Constant supplies of medicine and vitamins are needed, from diabetes medication to antibiotics, and prenatal vitamins. Cash donations to the missions help purchase the necessary items in large quantities. Houston Institute for Culture can help potential donors reach medical mission coordinators in the Houston-Sugar Land area.
We also seek donations to improve the quality of life for people living in colonias near Reynosa and Rio Bravo. The items are distributed during medical missions on an on-going basis (usually February, June, October and December).
Learn more about the work of a medical mission team.
Special Thanks We want to thank those who donated at the University of Houston Arte Publico Press, UH Health Center, Houston Youth Pentecostal Fellowship, Rice University Radio KTRU, Young and Restless Children's Consignment Store, Melissa Noble Studio, and many who dropped off donations anonymously, for giving to children who live in the colonias of Texas and Mexico.