Community Stations host Little Amal

Little Amal is a 12-foot puppet that represents a 10-year-old Syrian refugee child at the heart of The Walk, a performance art project produced by The Walk Productions in association with Handspring Puppet Company and an international and grassroots network of producers, artists and partners that enabled Amal to become a global symbol of human rights, especially those of refugees.

The UC San Diego Center on Global Justice hosted a series of events across the San Diego–Tijuana border region, in partnership with many other local NGOs, artists and international agencies, as Amal moved across the border on her journey from the United States to Mexico. The events consisted of three acts, one in San Diego and two in Tijuana, and were preceded by a series of workshops at the UC San Diego Community Stations, where the local migrant communities had the opportunity to engage in the co-creation of choreographies, led by our partners, to welcome Amal at each specific site.

Act 1: Little Amal at the UCSD-Casa Community Station

Little Amal arrived at Living Rooms at the Border, San Ysidro, her last stop on her journey across the United States, to collect a message of hope and solidarity for migrant families living across the border in Tijuana. In partnership with Casa Familiar, the UC San Diego Department of Theater and Dance and Friends of Friendship Park, Amal walked through the UCSD-Casa Community Station, welcomed by the local community and a parade of dancers, musicians and students.

Act 2: Little Amal at Playas de Tijuana

After a long journey across the United States, Little Amal arrived at Playas de Tijuana, where she witnessed how the border wall disappears into the Pacific Ocean. In partnership with ACNUR, Secretaría de Cultura del Estado de Baja California, Lux Boreal Danza Contemporánea, Fundación Regalando Amor, Friends of Friendship Park, Fandango Fronterizo and VIA Migrante, Amal walked through the border wall surrounded by dancers, musicians and hundreds of migrant children, as she learned about this historic space where generations of binational migrant communities meet.

Act 3: Little Amal at the UCSD-Alacran Community Station

On her second day in Tijuana, Little Amal visited the Sanctuary Neighborhood, a migrant shelter at the heart of the Templo Embajadores de Jesús, Cañón del Alacrán, where she was welcomed by hundreds of migrant children as a dance performance unfolded. In partnership with ACNUR, OIM, Lux Boreal Danza Contemporánea, Fundación Regalando Amor and VIA Migrante, Amal was finally greeted with a community dinner served by her migrant community and blessed by the pastor Gustavo Banda.