Walking among mud stoves, drying laundry, & children doing puzzles in the dirt, one can almost get a sense of normalcy in the tent city that houses asylum-seekers in Matamoros. But the sense of “normal” in the camp is a thin veneer over trauma, fear & uncertainty. 1/8 (thread)

Now, asylum hearings at the U.S.-Mexico border have quietly come to a halt. In Pittsburgh, one woman is pulling from her own story of homelessness to help the most vulnerable. Something about her makes people want to tell her their stories. 2/8

Sandra Villarroel was born on the Pacific coast of Chile in 1982. After years of abuse, she ran away at age 15.
For several years she was homeless, sleeping wherever she could. But a few chance encounters soon changed her life. 3/8

Sandra met a young American Marine from Pennsylvania whose ship sunk in a nearby harbor. They fell in love and married. Eventually they ended up in Pittsburgh, where Sandra started a wedding photography business. 4/8

She saw the waste produced by these extravagant events and knew it could go to good use, so she worked to redistribute the leftovers among Pittsburgh’s homeless residents.

But her efforts felt inadequate. 5/8

Sandra decided to dedicate her time to helping some of the most vulnerable people she could - women and children migrants. She recruited a team of photographers to volunteer to help distribute the supplies and document the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. 6/8

Arriving at the border, her careful plans seemed to be falling apart. Sandra asked, “Is this supposed to be my path in life?” She found pieces of an answer. The story is here: https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/from-chile-to-pittsburgh-to-matamoros-worth-manifesto-migrants-in-limbo-mexican-border/ 7/8

Words and video (including many on this thread) from @stevemellon412, photos by @msantiagophotos, design by @ZackTanner. 8/8