Denis Muganza Participates in BorderLinks Immersion Program

2016 May 11

Denis Muganza of Kigali, Rwanda, learned firsthand about the complex issues associated with immigration during a five-day cultural immersion program on the U.S./Mexico border this spring.

Ten SUNY Oneonta students spent their spring break participating in interactive activities and immersion experiences organized by BorderLinks, a nonprofit organization based in Tuscon, Ariz.

Muganza, who is majoring in Music Industry and Business Economics at SUNY Oneonta, learned about border culture and policy through activities such as a desert walk, meetings with migrants being held at a detention center, and a visit to the Mexican side of the community of Nogales, which is divided by a steel fence from the Arizona city of Nogales.

Students said the experience was eye-opening, emotional and motivating.

"It's important to see the emotional side of the issue, but it's also important to see the facts and see why it is a problem," Muganza said.

The students were accompanied by Scott Lehmann, an international student advisor from the college's Office of International Education, and Alejandra Escudero, a lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures.

The trip was supported by a Domestic Intercultural Immersion Grant offered through SUNY Oneonta's StAR (Strategic Allocation of Resources) program.

See photos and videos of the students' experience through the group's Exposure blog at https://sunyoneonta.exposure.co/the-borderlinks-experience.