Hello,
My name is Maura McCabe and I am a senior at Marian Central Catholic High School in Woodstock, Illinois. I am a volunteer with the Secular Franciscans, a Catholic fraternal organization, who work with immigrant detainees being held by the INS in our McHenry County Jail.

There are over 250 men and women from countries all over the world waiting for their immigration hearing. These men and women are brought to McHenry County Jail from all over the Midwest and South. Some will be here many months, some have been held over a year. Very few of these detainees speak English. The INS has a ten year lease on beds at the McHenry County jail.

I am currently seeking a person who speaks Thai to correspond with a women from Thailand who is being held in jail by the INS. She is very lonely and speaks very little English and has ask us to find someone to write to her. I am asking for someone’s help who may have worked for the Peace Corps in Thailand.

I also am looking for someone who speaks Tibetan, Urdu, Serbian and French. Please contact me if you are willing to help with this ministry by just writing an letter to some who isall alone here.

What brought me to this ministry is when I learned of an young African girl just about my age who committed suicide at our jail when no one could speak her language and tell her what was happening to her. I was so moved that I felt I needed to somehow try to make this better from them.

God Bless you,

Maura McCabe