TSF works with migrant centers across the migratory route, in Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico, to share essential information for people on the move and empower them to make informed decisions and try to stay safe during their journey.
17 April 2026
Inside the ABBA shelter in Celaya, Guanajuato – how TSF and shelter managers work together to provide reliable information to people on the move.
Distribution of humanitarian information
Please introduce yourself.
Hello, my name is Ignacio Martínez Ramírez. I’m the director of the ABBA shelter here in the city of Celaya, Guanajuato.
How has the project providing access to information via screens worked at your shelter?
The screen-based project has been quite helpful for us in providing information to our migrant brothers and sisters. In the space we have as a shelter, it helps keep them informed and gives us many tools, saving us a lot of time when providing them with, for example, information about their rights, information about procedures, and all this information. So, for us, it has been a very necessary and relevant tool for our migrant brothers and sisters here at the shelter.
“We know from experience that keeping our brothers and sisters informed makes them less vulnerable and actually strengthens them.”
Is there any anecdote you remember of a migrant interacting with the screen?
Yes, the story is, for example, right now in these situations where the population has dropped and we find ourselves in what I call this crisis, where there are migrants in Mexico who don’t know what to do and just move from one city to another and from one city to another, not knowing what to do.
Just about 15 days ago, a fellow migrant arrived; he started looking at the information on the screen and began to consider staying in Mexico, but he wanted to know about his immigration procedures. And what he told me was, “What I saw on the screen is that I qualify or might have the chance to stay in Mexico and build a new life, right?” So, we started asking all the questions—part of the interview—and we realized that he qualifies to apply for asylum in our country. And if not, we look for some kind of humanitarian protection, which is what we also offer at our center.
What would you tell a shelter manager about how the project worked for you?
Well, I would recommend that the shelter manager get one of these screens. It provides a wealth of information that is very helpful for our migrant brothers and sisters or for the people we serve. It helps them a lot.
We know from experience that keeping our brothers and sisters informed makes them less vulnerable and actually strengthens them. They get information that’s essential for their journey, their path, or for making decisions at any given moment, or for their health. And honestly, as a shelter, it saves us—as I mentioned a moment ago—a tremendous amount of time in providing them with information. And aside from that, it helps make your space a very professional environment.
Because that’s the key—professionalizing ourselves as shelters, as advocates or service providers—so that our users and the people who come to help us can have more trust in our spaces.
