Thursday, October 16, 2014

We drove through some of the colonias* today, where you see things you have never seen before, and do not see the things you take for granted.

In the colonias you will not find rows of towering street lights guiding pedestrians and drivers alike. There is only darkness that invites paranoia and violence. Heavy rains are not welcome there, for ditches, tunnels, or any other forms of proper drainage are nowhere to be found. The weekly sightings of garbage trucks that many of us take for granted are absent here too. Instead, barrels filled with trash are set ablaze. Ubiquitous are the half-finished rooms attached to make-shift homes; concoctions providing shelter, still standing by the prayers and hopes of its inhabitants.

Pronounced eye sores, the colonias In the shadows of the soaring suburban homes are the humble; pronounced eye sores left to their own devices.

The Office of the Secretary of State defines a colonia as a residential area along the Texas-Mexico border that may lack some of the most basic living necessities, such as potable water and sewer systems, electricity, paved roads, and safe and sanitary housing.

Jose Ruiz