What We Do

Fronteras has many projects currently underway on the Mexican side of the Big Bend Border.  Here are some examples of how we're working with our neighbors to save the other half of our community.

1) Handicrafts
Fronteras endeavors to purchase and import handicrafts from Boquillas on a monthly basis, to provide the villagers with enough income to allow them to remain in their town.  Currently we are able to purchase approximately 00 of crafts every six weeks from about 20 families.  These crafts are legally imported and resold.  This stage of development involves opening a market in the United States for the crafts, improving the range and quality of the crafts, and encouraging the economic creativity and independence of the villagers.  This program is the single most important thing that Fronteras is doing, because in time it will allow the villagers to develop and control their own economy.

2) Water system
We were able in May of 2005 to purchase and install a solar-powered well pump in Boquillas, providing the town with a running-water system.  Previous to the border closure, the town well was run by a gasoline-powered pump.  After the closure, gasoline was seldom available and never affordable, so the town saw nearly three years without clean water--a difficult period which is thankfully at a close.

3) Alternative electricity
Boquillas has no electrical system of its own, and while the Mexican government provided most houses with solar systems, the systems are now over ten years old and deteriorating.  Fronteras members have developed a windmill that can be built of scrap material, and workshops are being taught on the construction and maintenance of these windmills.  In time, they will provide each building with free power.  The villagers will also be able to manufacture the units for sale in other parts of Mexico.

5) Community Education
Fronteras is endeavoring to inform interested citizens of the United States of our cooperative relationship with Boquillas in the hope that we may set an example for other border areas.  This is accomplished through media such as newspapers and radio, but mostly through talking, talking, and talking with everyone we meet.

Living in a closely-knit community like the Big Bend, we feel it is important to provide locals and visitors with an accurate description of our border situation, what we are doing to improve it, and most importantly how our Mexican neighbors are striving to move in a positive, proactive and peaceful direction within their communities.

6) Expansion
As we streamline our teaching methods and our economic growth tactics, we look towards expanding our programs and improving our effectiveness.  Every sale, donation, and good idea we receive brings us a little bit closer to reclaiming our border in the name of peace and prosperity.  By learning as we go and keeping our goals in the forefront of our minds, we are steadily building a solid foundation for an alternative border policy that we hope to share with other communities like ours.