Ms. Krause, one of Sahuaro’s amazing English teachers, organized and her two Mexican-American Literature classes on a field trip for an excellent cause – helping refugee asylum seekers in Arizona.

The class of Juniors and Seniors had just finished reading a book called Enrique’s Journey By:Sonia Nazario. It is a true story about a boy and his journey of fleeing Honduras to find his mother. Ms. Krause’s class tries to focus on Latin American justice and culture background- so by reading the book, it was a perfect opportunity for her to plan this field trip.

“I knew that at the Benedictine Monastery they were taking in asylum seekers and using the monastery as a housing for families from Central America who have traveled to the United States,” says Ms. Krause, “so I wanted my students to be able to have the experience of volunteering and working with people with real world experiences. And it fit right in with the book that we read because they were all asylum seekers from Central America. So they got to read about a kid’s story and got to see people, real world people who have experienced that real journey.”

The class put up a little fundraiser for the trip, asking the school to bring items like clothes, shoes, hygiene items, toys, food, and more. “Everyone who is there, all they have is what’s on their back. They don’t have much.” Ms. Krause was very happy with what they had collected. 30 bag-fulls were able to go to the Monastery!

“I do have to say, Sahuaro kids are really just amazing because every body stepped to the plate.”

Among the bunch were three students-Mauricio Burgos Carbajal, Brenns Laszakovits, Kamille Rodriguez, all who were very much happy to go on this trip and help the people in need.

“After reading Enrique’s Journey, I had a better understanding of he difficulties these families go through and I wanted to help.”-Kamille Rodriguez.

“On the trip, a friend and I started off by cleaning used and past-occupied rooms, we wiped down the beds and sink, swept, and put on fresh sheets. After completing those tasks, we went downstairs and packaged travel bags for the migrant families continuing their journey.”-Brenna Laszakovits

And the experience, the students say, were very memorable. Most agreed the would definitely be up for doing the trip over again.

“If I had a choice to help someone who has nothing and has sacrificed and worked really hard to make their next step, I would do it in a heartbeat,” Mauricio says. “I might not have a lot of money, or power, but I will try my best and keep helping one another until the day I can’t.”