The Houchen Community Center in El Paso, Texas, gives food, clothing and shelter to Cubans streaming across the border, like Yadira Paloma Fombellida, 28, Julio Cesar Valle Hernandez, 36, and their daughter Angeline, 2. "We left so our children can have a future," Valle says.
Photos: Starting a new life
The Houchen Community Center in El Paso, Texas, gives food, clothing and shelter to Cubans streaming across the border, like Yadira Paloma Fombellida, 28, Julio Cesar Valle Hernandez, 36, and their daughter Angeline, 2. "We left so our children can have a future," Valle says.
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This map at Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care in El Paso aims to give visiting church groups a sense of the area's geography. Now it's helping Cubans who've just arrived learn where they are. In May, hundreds of them walked across the border daily after taking what officials described as humanitarian flights from Panama City, Panama, to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Photos: Starting a new life
This map at Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care in El Paso aims to give visiting church groups a sense of the area's geography. Now it's helping Cubans who've just arrived learn where they are. In May, hundreds of them walked across the border daily after taking what officials described as humanitarian flights from Panama City, Panama, to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
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After eating and getting a good night's rest, many Cubans are anxious to connect to Facebook, a site that's difficult to access in Cuba. "Everyone leaves here with a Facebook account," says Veronica Román, executive director of the Houchen Community Center.
Photos: Starting a new life
After eating and getting a good night's rest, many Cubans are anxious to connect to Facebook, a site that's difficult to access in Cuba. "Everyone leaves here with a Facebook account," says Veronica Román, executive director of the Houchen Community Center.
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Soon after her family arrived at the center, Alianise Maria Valle Paloma, 10, received two Barbies from a volunteer. "It's been two or three years since I've had a toy," she said. "They are my first dolls."
Photos: Starting a new life
Soon after her family arrived at the center, Alianise Maria Valle Paloma, 10, received two Barbies from a volunteer. "It's been two or three years since I've had a toy," she said. "They are my first dolls."
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Julio Rojas Rubio arrived at the Houchen Community Center in mid-May after taking one of the first flights from Panama City to Juarez. Rojas was a computer engineer in Cuba. But realizing the center was short-staffed and didn't seem to know how to make Cuban food, he decided to stay and volunteer as a cook.