Fall 2025 Charlas con Café | Dora: A Daughter of Unforgiving Terrain

Join us for a talk about the gripping memoir by Dora Rodriguez, one of only thirteen survivors of a harrowing 1980 desert crossing through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument during El Salvador’s civil war. At just nineteen, Dora fled political violence in search of safety—only to face new dangers along the migrant trail. Told with vivid honesty, her story traces a journey from a childhood in Santa Ana, El Salvador, to collapsing in the desert, left for dead, and rising to become a humanitarian leader in the U.S. borderlands. Her survival helped spark the Sanctuary movement in Tucson, Arizona. Now Founder and Director of Salvavision, Dora sheds light on the brutal realities of forced migration—and the strength it takes to survive, rebuild, and serve others.

 

In a life-saving attempt to flee El Salvador’s civil war in 1980, Dora Rodriguez was one of thirteen survivors found near death after crossing the Sonoran Desert. By courageously sharing her story and standing in unwavering support of migrant rights, Dora became a leading voice in Tucson’s Sanctuary movement. Through public speaking and advocacy, Dora educates communities about the dangers migrants face in the desert and works to inspire change in the face of injustice. She lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband and is a proud mother of five and grandmother. Dora serves as Founder and Director of Salvavision, a nonprofit offering aid and support to migrants and deportees.