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Where Can We Live In Peace?

WHERE CAN WE LIVE IN PEACE? investigates the migrant crisis through the eyes of Pastor Ignacio Martinez, the founder of ABBA safehouse in Celaya, Mexico. Here, thousands of migrants receive help.

The idea for ABBA began when Ignacio and his family would take food to migrants jumping freight trains; some were sick, and there was nowhere to wash or sleep. They were fleeing from gang violence, abject poverty and the effects of climate change in countries like El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, desperately searching for a place where they could care for their children in safety. In response, Ignacio founded ABBA, a place where the migrants could rest, receive food, and seek medical and psychological help. ABBA is also the only shelter in Mexico that cares for amputees whose injuries were sustained in falls while riding the trains (“La Bestia”) north through Mexico.

Now, ABBA has been donated land upon which to build Ignacio's vision: a sanctuary for injured migrants which, in addition to providing therapy and education, will have a cultural and human rights center. Under his inspirational care, migrants are treated as human beings with dignity. In this world of nationalism and xenophobia, Ignacio’s work is vitally important.

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