“Climbing with immigrants”
A series of photographs that tell the stories of people who navigate spaces like climbing as immigrants, the sense of belonging and the challenges of leaving your country behind. But also with the aim to showcase the beauty about migration.
Perhaps, your climbing partners should’t make you cry. I mean isn’t climbing about having fun and enjoy nature? Well, my climbing partner Yiting made me cry during our last trip to the Red. I know. You are probably thinking..a latina woman crying? aren’t they «dramatic»? Well, first stereotypes sucks but maybe I have found myself having difficult conversations with people like Yiting while climbing. Let me explain.
Yiting is probably one of the smartest women I have met in my life. I don’t think she knows this but I am terrified everytime I talk to her. Yiting, as many other climbers I have met is a scientist. She is not only a successful scientist working at one of the largest pharmaceuticals in the world, Yiting is a leader in her field and works as a research advisor discovering and developing medicines that could be sell in hundreds of countries around the world. After obtaining her degree in Molecular microbiology and Immunology at USC, her brilliant career in the US kept her from going back home. Yiting has raised her small family with her husband Paolo in Indianapolis.
Until now, you might think Yiting story is not that interesting. I mean, how many brilliant immigrant people have you met? Do you think about migrants as talented and skilled people? Is that what we see in the news or the media? As Yiting, many other immigrants come to the US to get their masters or PhD degrees. This is known as a social phenomena of migration called «Brain drain»:the international migration of high skilled and professional individuals, which in many cases never return to their countries of origin. This phenomena has recently caught the attention of many sociologists, economists and politicians since brain drain negatively impacts developing countries by decreasing the development of human capital, one of the scarcest resources of developing countries like mine.
«During my campaign I promised to secure our southern border, and we made tremendous success with the previous administration. I am disappointed with President Biden’s executive orders to undo the ‘America First’ immigration agenda«
Senator Mike Braun for the state of Indiana on a email I received on Tuesday morning just before teaching at the second largest university in the state.
On July 2020 and with the pandemic in full bloom, former President Trump decided that many international students on visas F1 and M1 visa holders were not longer welcome in the country and had to return to their countries of origin. More than a million people living in the US were now about to be expelled from their jobs, their house with no chance to figure out what would they do back home. All this in the middle of a worldwide health emergency. I couldn’t sleep for a week. It was a cruel reminder that our lives in this country are temporary and things can change from one day to another to the most «skilled and talented people».
Yiting smiling and climbing «Hey There Fancy Pants» 5.10c at the Red River Gorge, KY, USA.
Yiting has so many cool stories to tell. She has overcome many challenges during her migration story and sees this country as a land full of opportunities. But behind every successful story of migration there is years of hard work, dedication, tears and the feeling of missing out. Missing out watching our parent’s hair turning gray. A good bye to the grandparents without knowing if that could be the last time. Missing out friend’s weddings and watch their kids grow.
«Immigrants have left everything behind to put food in our table, medicine to heal us, educate our children, routes on a wall for us to climb»
So, what all this got to do with climbing? well dear reader my answer is absolutely nothing. But maybe the take home message from this story is that migration is complex as life if self. What it’s amazing is that climbing made all this happen: two immigrant women talking about families, grieving, relationships and science on their way to the crag. It is inevitable our lives and stories but also our climbing is considered «political» by other climbers. For immigrants, climbing is not only about having fun and nature, it is also a space with folks with similar life experiences to feel seen and safe. As long as I have people like Yiting, grounding me and reminding me the reasons why am I here and left everything behind (hence, the crying) I will keep climbing.
Thank you Yiting…. I cannot express how much I admire you. Thank you for the tears and see you at the gym:)
-Katty
Katherine González 