UTEP Staffer Uses Crayons to Assist Migrant Children
Published July 23, 2019
By Daniel Perez
University Communications
Deborah Diaz, a longtime employee at The University of Texas at El Paso’s College of Education, has taken on a second “job” to bring some color into the lives of migrant children.
Diaz, administrative assistant in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Services, said she felt compelled to help the growing number of migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border since the fall of 2018. At first, the Central El Paso resident bought food and supplies for refugee shelters. Then one day she noticed the blank, traumatized faces of the children and that image haunted her. She also saw the positive impact on a child who got some crayons and a coloring book.
As a result, she founded Colores for the Children, a grass-roots effort to collect and disburse crayons and coloring books to migrant children. She spends about 20 hours per week on this project based at her home.
Diaz has promoted her efforts on social media and people from coast to coast have sent money and in-kind donations. She even received a request to send books and crayons to Sierra Leone, a small west African country with a poor standard of living. While it is difficult to impossible to donate her items to the government detention centers around El Paso, she drops items of at community shelters that serve the migrants.
“It’s been a struggle, but you have to be patient and persistent,” Diaz said. “There are so many children. The situation is overwhelming, but you do what you can to relieve the trauma.”
The Idealist website learned of Diaz’s efforts and wrote a short story about them.
Anyone who wants to help Diaz may contact her at coloresforthechildren@gmail.com.