The Border Awareness Experience (BAE) is an immersion experience meant to raise consciousness about the issues facing the border, such as immigration, economic development, human rights, and social justice. Annunciation House developed the BAE program in the early 1990s to facilitate face-to-face encounters between participants and people and groups on both sides of the border, and to educate North Americans about our roles and responsibilities in today’s globalized world. More than being an informational tour, the BAE seeks to immerse participants in the border culture and realities of the many people and groups that live and work here. BAE participants stay in our houses of hospitality and eat with our guests; this communal living is as much a part of the experience as the people and groups that participants meet and the places they visit.
A typical day may include:
Visiting the US Border Patrol
Listening to the stories of migrants and refugees
Meeting human rights activists
Staying in a migrant shelter
Doing a small hike
