Online campaign helps Juarez residents see the good that still exists in their town

LatinaLista — The death toll in Juarez, Mexico, as a result of the ongoing cartel feud, has topped 3,000 for 2010.

Amid reports that residents are fleeing Juarez to either seek asylum or move to the United States or relocate to the interior of Mexico, Juarez is not yet a ghost town. Yes, it’s a town with too much violence committed by cold-hearted criminals, but it’s still home to many decent, law-abiding and courageous people.

To underscore that reality, an online campaign began to document the heroic deeds Juarenses were performing for one another. Called Las Cronicas de Heroes de la Frontera Norte (Hero Chronicles of the North Border), it is based on a site created after 9/11 for New Yorkers called Hero Reports New York.

Being a hero doesn’t always mean pulling someone out of the line of gunfire or from a burning building but neighbor helping neighbor. In a town where no one would blame anybody for keeping their head down and minding their own business, the campaign wants to reinforce the humanity that exists in each individual.

Juarenses are supposed to report a good act they witness or have done for someone. It can be as small as giving up a seat on a bus for a pregnant woman to helping victims of a car accident. A map of the city is displayed on the homepage with markers where good acts are being reported.

The goal of the map is to show people that good still exists in their town and people are still helping one another every day.