How has the colonias changed over time?

Compared to UTEP, how does Rio Grande Valley help the colonias?

Are there any positive aspects about living in the colonias?

How does creative writing and colonias connect at UTEP?

Bibliography

Emanuella Grinberg. Improvised border town grows from shacks into community.
CNN (July 9, 2011). http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/05/texas.colonias/index.html

According to the author, due to the improving conditions in the colonias, the
people are moving from being in shacks to a building community. Back then, the
colonias in the Rio Grande Valley area had incomplete homes that could not
survive with the changing weather, no drainage system. No electricity, no water,
and teen gangs roaming the streets. As varies programs came to help them, the
colonias started to see improvement in the infrastructure and started to build
themselves up. The improvement of completed stable homes, running water,
electricity, and even schools getting build around them, helped the area transform
into a community.

United Health Group. Improving access to care in Rio Grande Valley. (January 2015).

http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/SocialResponsibility/Partners/UniversityTexasRio
GrandeValley.aspx

According to the author, Americas Health Rankings Spotlight: Prevention states

that the Hispanic adults, living in the Rio Grande Valley colonias, are not
receiving key clinical health services. Compared to African-American and White
adults, Hispanics of colonias do not receive the same amount of immunization
shots, screenings, and cholesterol checks like the other races stated. The United
Health Foundation and UTRGV School of Medicine teamed up to increase
medical help in the Rio Grande Valley area of the colonias, to improve the
colonias health conditions.

Ryan Holeywell. In Texas colonias third-world conditions are the norms. The Urban
Edge (July 17, 2015). https://urbanedge.blogs.rice.edu/2015/07/17/in-texas-
colonias-third-world-conditions-are-the-norm/#.Wd6RNGiPLIU

According to the author, the colonias have learned and improved with living in a
third world setting. Even though the people, in the colonias, do not have the
basic human necessities and unsuitable housing while they lack proper income,
they learned how to adapt and improve with the resources they have. There are
programs that helped fund the improvement of infrastructure in the colonias. Not
 only are the people improving the infrastructure, they are also improving their
income by becoming entrepreneurs. They even learned, with the help of a
program called ARISE, on improving the education and language barrier they
suffer. As years go by with the rate of improvement, generations to generations
will probably find their way out of the third world setting.

Patrick Strickland. Living on the edges: life in the colonias of Texas. Aljazeera
(November 5, 2016). http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/11/living-
edges-life-colonias-texas-161103082854630.html

According to the author, parents, who are undocumented immigrants, struggle

with the life of being in the colonias with a low-income house and being deported
from their children who are US citizens. Adults in the colonias talk about the
struggle of not having the basic human necessities, a stable home structure, the
low income, and being undocumented immigrants. Agencies and other
organizations have come out to help them in improving their conditions, even
though some undocumented immigrants are still scared to speak out and shine a
light on their area due to the fear of getting deported. But, they are learning to step
out the shadows and fight for improvement.

Joan B. Anderson. The U.S-Mexico border: a half century of change. The Social
Science Journal (2003).
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362331903000673

According to the author, the region surrounding the US-Mexico border has
showed the growth and improvement of education, housing, and somewhat in
poverty. But, even though there are improvement of better education and housing,
poverty is still at an all-time high. Through the increase of population and
becoming bilingual, came the increase of getting a better education and the
improvement of infrastructure. Despite poverty slowly lowering, but remaining
high, the colonias are still improving themselves in other regions of aspect.

Daniel Perez. Miners build rainwater harvesting systems in Colonia. UTEP (June 22,
2017). http://engineering.utep.edu/announcement062217.htm

According to the author, eight UTEP students, who were mostly in the College of
Engineering, built a rain harvesting system, that can collect 2,2000 gallons of
water, for an elderly couple in the colonias. The people on the US-Mexico border
lack the basic infrastructure, like stable roads and municipal utilities, and must
haul up water several times a week. The rain harvesting system cuts back on the
cost, time, and effort of getting the water on certain days a week. The students
project had worked well and helped the people in the colonias, which did lead to
other corporations looking in.

2
Borderzine Staff. UTEP researchers developing water filter to help colonias.
Borderzine (June 4, 2015). http://borderzine.com/2015/06/utep-researchers-
developing-water-filter-to-help-colonias/

According to the author, UTEP researchers are helping find the way to build
water filters for the people in the colonias. The people in the colonias lack the
basic human necessities of portable water and sewage treatment. One parent must
order a truck to take her waste while another drive for a long time just to find a
safe area for children to play in. Also, the colonias does not have clean water
which causes diseases and rashes. Researchers of UTEP are coming together to
build a water filter system that helps the colonias have clean water to improve
better health and help those who rely on water gallon tanks. The article also gives
videos, talking about the situation.