Who’s marching? How did it start? How do they eat and travel? Politics has largely overshadowed life on the ground for thousands in the caravan. Here are some questions, answered. Have another one? Ask it here and our team will answer. nytimes.com/2018/10/26/wor…
.@emilybest wonders where people are using the toilet, getting medical care and clean water. “I'm thinking esp of breastfeeding moms,” she says.
The caravan camps overnight in small towns that have so far provided potable water (and good Samaritans on the roadside hand out bags of water). Towns also provide toilets, for a few cents or for free.
As for medical care, it’s all-hands-on-deck in small towns when the caravan arrives. People line up at tents or outside mobile medical units and are often treated right on the street. 
Our colleague @mayaaverbuch learned that in one town, medical teams treated ~4,500 people for issues including blisters and skin abrasions, acute respiratory illness, acute diarrhea, conjunctivitis, dehydration, and salmonella.
Along with doctors and nurses, we have seen dentists and nuns helping people as the caravan has traveled through southern Mexico.
.@KazuyaShinogoto brings up pregnant women. Hard to get a precise number, but medical personnel told @mayaaverbuch they tended to 27. As for men versus women, more than half of the caravan is male.
Where does the caravan sleep? In central plazas, on ball courts and in bandshells, beneath tents made of tarp and rope, in churches and shelters, and very often, out in the open. Photo by @heislerphoto.
Leadership is organic, @LiptonMark. It includes members of a Mexican collective, Pueblo Sin Fronteras and organizers of the caravan from Honduras. The group assembles nightly to vote on routes, rest days, who rides donated buses.
The grassroots campaign that sparked the caravan began in Honduras on Facebook. “We aren’t leaving because we want to; we’re being expelled by violence and poverty,” says this widely-shared poster, announcing the Oct. 12 departure.
When groups from around Honduras arrived at a bus station in San Pedro Sula that day, the news covered it, prompting the caravan to rapidly grow. @pdavis7979, the FB campaign is said to have been started by someone involved in another large caravan earlier this year.
Getting back to practical stuff, food has been donated by church and civic groups and municipal governments. @mayaaverbuch reports the town of Pijijiapan gave the caravan 14 tubs mayonnaise, 28 liters cream, 170 kilos ham, 10 kilos salt, 28 packages napkins and 7,000 eggs.
Locals have also offered the caravan huge tubs of eggs and ham, beans and rice, arroz con leche and individually wrapped tamales. Photos by @KirkSemple and @mayaaverbuch.
When could the migrant caravan get to the U.S. border? Hard to say. It’s covering 20-40 miles a day and is ~2,000 miles from Tijuana, the port of entry a large caravan chose this year, says @KirkSemple. Unless busses appear, it could take weeks.
Another way to measure distance: shoes. People in the migrant caravan told me – two weeks in – they were on their second or third pair. Many are walking in flip-flops and Crocs. Photo by @mayaaverbuch.
Send your questions about the migrant caravan here: No question too small. We’ve spent a week-plus traveling with the group and want to know what you want to know. Our team is @KirkSemple @mayaaverbuch @heislerphoto @luisarojasphoto and me.
How do people finance the journey? Many are destitute and rely on donations. Some have relatives (including in the U.S.) wire money. The only catch: You need a Mexican ID, so caravan members ask locals to retrieve the funds, sometimes for a fee, says @mayaaverbuch.
What about communication? Some people have smartphones and flip phones and rush to find outlets when they arrive in town. Groups have even invested in power strips. Others wait in line at little call centers.
.@MaggioMatt wonders where people are getting shoes. Many towns have donated used shoes. People who can, buy them new. But we haven’t seen loads of new shows dropped off at any point. Here’s what most footwear looks like. Photo by @luisarojasphoto.
.@Great_Kate00 wonders “about the individuals“ and “the most important item they are carrying.” For many, it is their ID. For asylum seekers, the most important item is a file of evidence they hope will show their lives are in danger when they arrive at the U.S. border.
Many ask, like @JMisonPDX, “What awareness do they have about the reception they may get at the Mexico/USborder?“ Short answer: Very little. People are aware of Trump but more concerned with daily matters of survival.
Addendum: Mexican members of a transnational group, Pueblo Sin Fronteras.
Many people told us they thought being in the caravan would help – rather than hurt – their chances of getting into the U.S., and have struggled not to fall behind for that reason. Few understand the criteria for asylum and that they have to individually apply.
“Do they know that Trump is sending the military to meet them?” asks @DoctorVive. Yes. Many had been unaware of events in the U.S. (like the Midterms), but that shifted in recent days. Several people have asked us if there will be deaths.
Now back to individual stories. @danyull_ and others ask: Who are these people? The youngest migrant I met was three months old. The oldest was 72. She wants to get into the U.S. so her 4-year-old granddaughter can get cleft palate surgery.
This group said they crossed the Suchiate River into Mexico on inner tubes alone at 3 a.m. to catch up with the caravan. They identified as gay and trans and said they were fleeing persecution in El Salvador.
Another surprise: Some caravan migrants speak fluent English (w/ accents from New Orleans, LA, Miami, Midwest) having lived in the US for 10, 20 years, @KirkSemple noticed. They were recently deported (after ICE raids, DUI’s) and are trying to get back to wives and kids.
“What about those that are carrying the flags?” asks @jacker31975. Hondurans make up most of the caravan and carry flags out of national pride. They started this and see it as a protest against violence, poverty and impunity in their country. The Mexican flag = ‘thank you.’
Thank you for all your excellent questions! I’m taking a break for the night, but leave you with some images from @luisarojasphoto of the migrant caravan in the off-hours.
Good morning. Going to answer a few more questions about the caravan before closing this thread. @Emma_Marris wants to know what made people decide to go.
We talked to farmers driven out by drought. Bus and taxi drivers by gang extortion that put them out of business. Crime victims by assailants who came after them after paying their way out of prison. It’s a diverse picture.
There are also a huge number of migrants in their teens and 20’s traveling alone and they cited unemployment and zero opportunities (and if they found a job, daily wages of ~$10 a day, max).
Many like @DavidB7016 ask why people don’t seek asylum in Mexico. Hundreds or more have left the group to apply for asylum, but many say it’s “a trap”: They fear if they turn themselves over to authorities, they’ll be deported. The Mexican govt. has deported 70k people this year.
.@nolliebert asks if there have been fatalities. One, confirmed. Melvin Gómez, 21, fell off a truck picking up migrants last Monday, prompting the caravan to stop walking and observe a day of mourning. Here’s video from the vigil in Huixtla, Mexico.
.@bettydavidsone1 mentions the Mexican President’s offer. Last week he said migrants who stayed in southern states of Chiapas, Oaxaca could get work permits (not asylum). The group rejected offer, continued toward US, citing lack of jobs, violence toward migrants in these areas.
So the caravan has continued, pressing into Oaxaca, where @mayaaverbuch says towns are smaller, municipal governments have less to give. Food has become noticeably less abundant. Here’s Maya’s photo of a food line in the town of Niltepec.
