Beyond Borders – A Journey along six world borders
By Ekansh Tambe, border explorer
About four years ago, the political landscape of the United States on the issues of border security and immigration began to shift dramatically, and those issues dominated the headlines every day. Heated national debate and compelling arguments on both sides of the political spectrum had made it difficult for me to understand the real problem. There were more questions than answers. What drives people to undertake the dangerous journey to cross any border? What is it to be a refugee? What do Border Patrol agents experience? What does the border look like? Of course, there was really only one way to find out the truth: seeing it for myself.
The impact the border has on citizens, residents, immigrants, and federal agents began to unfold, and I realized there was an urgent need to document the escalating humanitarian crisis and thus, what was meant to be a short weekend trip to a mere segment of the US-mexico border, wound up turning into a multi-year photojournalism project that has led me to six world borders on five continents. As I became more invested in my travels, I began to fear the unknown less, leading me all over the world to diverse people with incredible stories.
Meet the Border Patrol Agents who serve in some of the most geographically isolated locations in the world. Their missions are often mentally and physically exhausting and dangerous, as the person they are about to apprehend could be a pregnant woman, a child, an innocent asylum seeker, a drug dealer, or a criminal. It’s equally possible that they may bump into a dead body. It is a hard job, and it should come as no surprise that some agents pay the ultimate sacrifice protecting our borders. They deserve our respect.
A Mexican immigrant makes the long, arduous journey North and crosses the border, struggling to make ends meet. Decades later, she raises her son alone, who goes on to serve in the U.S. army. She narrated this story to me a little over three years ago with tears and pride in her eyes, completely changing my perspective on life and people.
Drug trafficking is another real problem at the US Mexico border. A police officer at the border in Nogales, Arizona told me that, there, drugs fly on kites. Drugs are stitched inside dogs and sent through the fence. Drugs are transported in vehicles that pass undetected through border patrol checkpoints. I asked agents and residents at the border how to solve the problem, and many of them had a similar answer: stop the demand and the supply will automatically stop.
One of the world’s most dangerous borders lies between North and South Korea, where a nuclear war could erupt at a moment’s notice. Thousands of land mines are still active in the Demilitarized Zone, which acts as a 160 mile long, 2.5 mile wide buffer between the two nations. At one point, I was nervous and a little frightened to be standing just meters away from the spot where a North Korean soldier was shot twice while defecting to the South days earlier. I explored the underground tunnel that North Korea dug to invade the South many years ago and got a first hand look into the areas destroyed by the Korean war. My discussions with the Korean people as a whole and those affected by the Korean War led me to believe that peace is paramount to them, as is the need for the unification of Korean peninsula.
In stark contrast to the heavily fortified Korean DMZ, the border between Colombia and Peru is largely unguarded and rich in nature. Meet the villagers who live along the banks of this Amazon river border. The only means of transport to the villages at the banks of the river is by boat, and in the evenings the villagers gather on a small island in the middle of the two countries for bouts of wrestling and swimming. As the sun set over the river, my sister and I joined them in playing soccer on the island. Kids there don’t own iPhones or play video games; instead, they swim with the dolphins in the Amazon and play in the mud; their lifestyle really made me rethink luxury.
In Hebron, Palestine, an Israeli woman detailed a massacre in which many Jews were killed, but she also recounted a Muslim friend sheltering Jewish refugees, saving their lives. This taught me that even during times of tragedy and in moments of despair, there is always a ray of hope.
It shook me to the core to learn that a mother had to make the impossible decision between giving away her two year old daughter to human traffickers or sending her floating across the border to the U.S. in the hopes of adoption.
In Colombia, in the summer of 2019, I was inspired to learn about a resident who was once a convicted drug dealer, but now aspires to bring prosperity to and eliminate gang violence in his community. Colombia’s Comuna 13 neighborhood was once known for dangerous gang violence and all kinds of illegal drug activity. In the past, hatred between neighboring communities in Comuna 13 was so intense that you could be killed for accidentally crossing the border into one other than your own. However, recently, the residents accomplished the impressive feat of putting an end to violence and embracing peace and prosperity through determination and resilience.
The truth should be the guiding principle in whatever we do. This is how we maintain society and not fall prey to our divisions– divisions that are often amplified by uninformed and baseless assertions. We divide ourselves because we disagree on how the problem should be solved, and, often in the ensuing chaos and debate, a great many perspectives are lost. If considering every perspective is what is necessary to find common ground, then it is our duty to the world and every one of its citizens to do so, not because it is easy, but because it is right. My journey has cemented my belief that every perspective matters and every story needs to be told. Now, as an author and as a keynote speaker at various national conferences, I share these inspiring and heartbreaking stories I heard, encouraging others to use their passions for the greater good of the community, to live with a sense of empathy and compassion, and to be the change that they wish to see in the world.
