VOLUNTEERISM: VIOLENCE MULTIPLIES MISERIES OF THE POOR

Violence in Juarez affects many aspects of life there. But one that
doesn't often come to mind is what the relentless killings do to the
spirit of volunteerism.

Potential volunteers from the United States are becoming less willing
to cross the border to do their good and necessary work, such as
building houses for Juarenses. This worries people such as El Pasoan
Laurie Paternoster, a volunteer with Casas Por Cristo, who said there
were fewer people available to help nonprofit organizations that
build houses and provide health-care services to the poor in Juarez.

She noted that most nonprofits take precautionary measures and stay
away from known areas of conflict.

"It's a city of a million and a half (people)," she said, "and the
violence is concentrated in the center of the city where the people
with the money are and the people with the drugs are, and where we
work -- we work outside that area.

"We work in the poorest of the poorest areas where people live under boxes."

Travel to Juarez has been discouraged at federal, state and local
levels. Since January 2008, 44 American citizens have been killed as
a result of the violence. The danger is all too real.

But in the midst of the violence, need remains. Ana Aleman, executive
director of the FEMAP (Federacion Mexicana de Asociaciones Privadas)
foundation, reflected the problem when talking about the poor in Juarez.

'Many of them can't even afford to eat anymore because of the drug
wars," she said, "and I feel like it's up to us to work out a solution."

It's another reason the government needs to embrace its moral
imperative and summon the courage and will to stop the violence.