that gives refugee children a chance at a normal life, and we meet an Italian from Naples, Italy, bringing his cuisine to Baja all coming to you now.

(upbeat music) So we find ourselves in one of the urban corners of Tijuana in a Colonia, visiting a school with very noble intentions.

You know, it's a very well known fact, that Tijuana is a staging point for immigrants from Central, South America, and other places actually, Africa, European, Eastern Europe.

Looking to be received in the U.S. as refugees, and while their status is in hiatus is up in the air, they take up many of the shelters in the city of TJ.

Well, we found that it's nestled in a one Tijuana's colonias so snug that you would not be blamed for completely missing it.

In fact, this part that we're in right now used to be a dumpster and now, it's actually a school with many volunteers who are helping the children of those migrant families, well, at least have some sort of semblance of a normal life and an education.

And we're gonna talk with the people in charge of this place right now.

Stay with us folks, it's "Crossing South".

(gentle music) Every effective project has something in common, someone who is accountable for the effort.

So we are here with the person in-charge of this lovely school, and she's standing next to me right now.

(both laughs) - Hi.

- Hi, what's your name?

- Estefania.

- Estefania.

Estefania, what's the name of your organization?

- [Estefania] So our organization is named, Yes We Can World Foundation.

- Yes We can World Foundation, is that a world foundation or is it something local that has that name?

- Well, that was the intent.

When we founded the organization, we started this two years ago so- - Ambitious, go global, right?

(laughs) - Yes, the goal is to eventually help around the world because migration is a global issue- - Of course.

- Not just in Mexico.

- Okay.

- So we can see what's happening in Afghanistan, what's happening in Syria.

So right next door to us is the shelter where all these families live.

There's around 200 people there including parents and children.

- Okay.

- And they're all in a migrant process, meaning that they're either just got to the border or they're filing their asylum case which takes a really long time especially because of COVID.

So these are all kind of in limbo.

- So all these families are probably mainly from Central, South America?

- Yes.

Central America and Mexico.

- Oh, Mexico as well?

- Yes.

- There's the states of Guerrero, Leon, Michoacan, they have a lot of issues with organized crime in cartels.

- That's right.

- So a lot of families have been coming up to the border to seek asylum, and I think it's really important for everyone to always understand just like what it would take for you to leave your home.

- For sure.

- It would take a lot.

No one leaves their home because their life is great.

- Yeah, exactly.

- So there's a lot of issues that go into why these families get to here.

My background is that my family also came to the U.S. with political asylum.

- Oh, really?

- So I have a very deep personal connection to this subject.

- Can I ask where or is that like- - From Colombia.

- Okay.

(laughs) - Yeah, my story, I'm hoping that we'll be able to shine some light on this, I'm happy to share it.

My dad, his life was threatened in Colombia.

He was a lawyer, he was a person that was on the good side, and sometimes that's bad.

So when I wanted to help, I knew that from experience from my family and I knew that school is what helped me adapt- - Okay.

- To a new country.

- And that's what you're trying to do with these kids, right?

- Yes, yeah.

So our school program is basically a bridge program that what we hope to do is to break the ice.

So when these families go to the United States and enter the school system in the U.S., that they at least have gotten an introduction to the English language so they at least understand what their process of migration is that they at least have caught up to their learning standards because a lot of the kids haven't been in school for months- - Wow.

- Before even getting to this place.

So we're trying to catch them up as quickly as we can.

- Make them plug and play as possible, right?

As much as possible.

- Yeah.

- Okay, so it's very unlikely that 100% of these kids will make it across, or families.

- Mm-hmm.

- Does your education help them maybe adapt to Tijuana, to Mexico?

- Yes.

Yeah, so our program covers the requirements by SEP, the Secretary of Education in Mexico.

- Right.

- We actually just signed an agreement with them on August 6th- - Nice.

- To accredit everything we're doing.

So whether they go to the United States or they go to Mexico, our program will be validated in both countries, yeah.

- Wow.

How are the parents and the kids responding to this school?

- Well, for the kids, it is a sense to regain their childhood.

- Of course.

- So if you're a migrant family, this is sort of the best possible scenario you can have, you know?

That you could be in a shelter and have your kids continue their education, have a place where they can play, where they can be kids, where they're welcomed, where all of them are the same.

There is no bullying here, there is no, "You're the odd one out."

- The relation between the kids seems to be very amicable, huh?

- Yeah, I mean, they definitely all are aware that they're in the same situation, that they're migrants, and that eventually they're gonna leave so you'll hear a lot of the kids saying, "Oh no, my friend already left," like, "Diego already left," like, "My turn is coming up."

- (laughs) He made it across, he made it across so- - Yeah, and it's insane to know that these kids ages 3 to 16 are aware of that.

Like no child should be aware of going through a ICE detention center.

No child should be aware of getting fingerprinted.

You know, these are concepts that are very complex and they don't understand it so that's what we try to do as well.

We try to help them understand what migration is, that it's not just like going to the wall, and that there's a reason for it, and that they should be accepting of what it is and try to make the best out of it because it's something you can't take away from your life just like anything traumatic that happens to you.

- You know, I don't see any of them stressed.

They seem very happy, and as a child, I guess- - I guess these were doing our job.

(laughs) - Right, right, yeah?

So how did you get this place cleaned up?

It was a dumpster.

- Yeah, so we found the shelter first, and then this was a dumpster.

There were a couple of trucks that were left here and I was like, "Well, we need space," and we just, it was really funny because I'm a very action-driven person as you can see, so there was no owner, nobody showed up, and I was like, "Well, let's just start cleaning up," and sure enough, the owner showed up.

- Oh, he did, right?

- And she was like, "Hey!"

- Why is she cleaning?

- What is going on in my land?

And we were like, "We've been looking for you for a week.

Where have you been?"

So she loved the project and said, "Of course I'll help you guys out," so gave us a very minimal rent to just pay for the space.

- Oh nice, nice.

- And then we did everything, and then we brought our bus.

So we actually started with our bus, our converted mobile school bus, and then these came along because we had too many kids.

- How'd you get the bus?

- So the bus, we actually converted in Los Angeles, and Kyle and I who's also here, he's the co-founder, we had the idea because of tiny homes, buses like this that get converted into houses so it's like the new version of an RV.

- Oh, wow, okay.

- And because that was going on, I was like, "Well, if they're doing homes, why can't we do a school?"

So we started with the concept of the bus 'cause honestly, we didn't think we were gonna be here for this long.

It's been more than two years now.

- If somebody wants to support, where can they find you?

- Yeah, so if anybody wants to help, they can just visit our website.

You can just put on Google, Yes We Can World Foundation or yeswecan.world and you can find us.

- Yeswecan.world?

- Yes.

- Very nice.

Can we see some of the- - Of course, yeah.

- Kids and what's going on.

- Let's go to one of the classes.

- Okay.

- So these are some of our students.

- Hello kids.

(laughs) - Hello.

- Hello, sweetheart.

(Estefania speaking in foreign language) (Jorge and kids speaking in foreign language) (gentle music) It's truly endearing to see innocent children flourish despite being in the midst of a difficult situation.

Those kids, they're full of energy and as they should.

So it's very good, you guys are doing your job 'cause they seem to forget exactly where they are and they're like they were in any school anywhere on the planet so that's very nice.

- Yeah, and for us also, I think hopefully, people see that they're just kids.

- Well, that's impossible not to see.

They're just kids and it's a good thing for them to continue with their development regardless of exterior factors.

This is often neglected during a crisis.

- So this is the bus.

- This is the bus school?

Wow, it looks so pretty.

What grade are they in?

What are they learning right now?

- So this is third to fifth grade.

This is primaria alta, and we have multi grade courses.

So because they're all in different courses, different ages, our teachers work to do individualized learning plans, unless it- - So they don't all fit here, you have to like rotate them to come up here?

- Yes, yeah.

So we rotate the kids, everybody gets a chance to be on the bus, and we also have Duolingo.

Do you know the app?

- Yeah, of course.

I'm learning German with that so- - Okay yeah, so Luis, the founder, he's from Guatemala.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- Wow.

- So we got connected with them and they actually are our partners in our English language class.

- Wow.

- So we have iPads, I think... What time is it?

In a little bit, we'll bring them out, and then we'll do our English class.

- And let me guess, everyone loves being in the bus, right?

- Yes.

(both laughs) - If I was a kid, that's where I'd wanna be, you know?

- Yeah, so we have our little library as well and they get to read books, and then we have all the streaming services.

(laughs) - Yeah of course.

- So we do movie days nice for the kids, and then also sometimes, we do dancing classes with YouTube videos and stuff so- - Very nice.

- Yeah.

- And there's room for it, there's room for it.

- Yeah, these come down so everything here is made to change.

(laughs) - What are your aspirations?

Where is this going?

Where would you like it to go?

- Well, I think ultimately, we would wanna be in most shelters if not all of them.

- Like your school to go to every shelter and have its campus.

- Yes, so we have right now three.

One in Tijuana, one in Mexicali, and one in Juarez.

- Okay.

- And we have two buses right now so we would like to just keep growing and providing the services for more kids, and hopefully one day go to other places.

As soon as a kid comes into our program, we have an evaluation process in which we determine with whatever the parent tells us that their background was, and also what we explore in this evaluation what their level should be.

There's a lot of kids, especially Central American that don't know how to read or write and they're 8, 9, 10 so sometimes, we might be the first introduction for them for school.

- Wow.

- Especially for our littles, our three to five, this is their first school, and it's full of migrant children so I just really find that the space is unlike any other, really possibly in the world or at the border because here, they can be themselves.

- Well, Estefania, you're doing a wonderful thing.

- Thank you so much.

- It's very nice to meet you and we hope that people support you, and we really can't wait for a success story of one of these kids, growing up and coming back maybe and helping, and this turning out into the success story it seems to be going to thanks to Stefanie and her effort.

So we're happy to have met her in this project, and we hope that, we wish them the best.

So stay with us folks, there's more "Crossing South" coming your way.

This is one of those feel good stories where you're happy someone with her drive is at the helm of this selfless endeavor.

You know, another thing that makes people feel good?

It's tasty food, especially if it's smokey, fiery, and delicious.

We move to Rosarito where an Italian is already winning prizes with his cuisine.

Manny, what part of Italy are you from?

- [Manny] I'm born and raised in Naples.

- Naples?

- Yes.

- I've been to your city, I've been to Naples.

- Yes, like 25 minutes from Pompeii which is very, very, very famous.

- Wow.

From Mount Vesuvius, right?

- Yes, basically, we live under the Vesuvio- - Wow.

- Which is in the zone of East Naples.

- You know, oddly enough, some of the best pizza I've ever had has been in Naples.

- Yes.

- Better than Rome, actually.

- Yes, in Neapolitan pizza is the first one inventor.

This is not the best, but it is the first one.

- It's the first one.

- Yes, different guys.

- Are you making here a Naples style, Neapoli style?

- I make Neapolitan style.

I don't have the exact ingredients and it's like Naples who have the pizza because the water is different.

Main ingredient of the pizza is the water.

- The water makes a difference.

- It's the main ingredient, basically, yes.

There's so many different kind of water than you have no idea because the water, lighter shades, the dough is stronger.

- You're tasting it with different waters?

- Yes, it's grow faster and becoming lighter to work on that.

- And is that good?

- Yes.

- Lighter is good?

- Yes, yes.

The Neapolitan pizza is a lighter pizza.

It's not a pie, it's a pizza.

- It's a pizza.

- Yes.

Other people, that's pie.

For my portfolio, I do pizza.

- Yeah, you do a real pizza.

- Yes.

They ask me, "Why you don't put to the mozzarella on top?"

In Neapoli, we don't put too mozzarella on top.

- [Jorge] Right, it barely has any cheese, very little.

- We put fior de latte which is a different kind of cheese.

- Oh really?

- Yes, see, without the water, then usually have the mozzarella, it's more dry, and it's basically the same than I find the, they have the Oaxaca casero fresco.

I have this guy that make four, five kilos x 2 days for me.

He's a local guy from Santa Fe.

- You use Oaxaca?

- Yes we do.

I don't come from Italy down here, you know, to do pie.

I got from here to do pizza.

- You want that?

Go to Domino's, right?

(laughs) - Yeah, it's right across the street there.

(laughs) - Now, how did you make your way to Baja, Manny?

How did you- - Before over here, I was trying to open a pizza place in Amsterdam, Holland.

Yeah, with a friend of mine, and this friend of mine didn't wanna invest.

It's very expensive like to open or like to open in California.

In California, papers was difficult to make, to open a business.

See, because I have a lot of friends in Tijuana, and so others here, some Rosarito, you know, way cheaper to invest.

Okay, I'm an Artisan.

That's it, simple as that.

I'm not gonna change nothing.

I don't have a microwave in my house, I don't have a freezer, and that- - Everything fresh.

- Everything got by fresh and local, mostly local.

Only thing that I buy that is not local is my Italian pasta which I use La Molisana.

I don't use anybody.

(speaks in foreign language) 100% Italian grains.

- And if it's Italian grains, it means it has no pesticides?

- Yeah, it's much better than the Canadian or others.

- It was grown with Italian water.

- Yes.

- Right?

- Italian water, plus we do that from 2,000 years.

We do bread from 2,000 years.

- Wow.

- And we still have some of the grains in Italy that you cannot buy in France or somewhere else.

- 100% Italian.

- Yes, yes.

- Your menu is always changing depending on what the day.

- Yes, yes.

- Kind of Italy, okay?

- Kind of Italy.

- Yes.

In Italy, we work by season.

It means the menu is never the same all year long.

We don't frozen a lot, we try to keep everything by the season guys.

That's what's it's supposed to be.

- Of course.

- And plus, we buy very, very local.

I buy Italian pasta, I buy from all local people here.

My cheese is not from a supermarket.

I have the guy here that make for me.

- See the cow?

(laughs) - You know, sometimes he comes with this five kilo of cheese that is still warm.

- Really?

- Yeah.

And when he goes in the pizza over there, 90 seconds, you know guys, he's starting.

That's why I like what I do.

Other people, they do it for money.

I do it because I like- - You're an artisan.

- Yes, I'm a small artisan.

- Wow.

- I don't make $1, it's all glory.

(laughs) - Manny, well, when somebody does something with love it's normally, it shows in the end product, and we wanna see your end product.

- Okay.

- We're gonna get to see your food.

It's "Crossing South", folks, stay with us.

Based on what Manny said, this should be a good one.

Don't go anywhere.

Well, Manny was all hands on deck.

Sometimes, the artisanal label is used as a cliche or a hyperbole, but not here.

If you look at him work, you almost think you're watching Bob Ross at work, sans the fro.

If you have not been to the old country across the pond, to Italy, having a pizza like this may require that you reset your expectations for a pizza dish and try these original version as its own thing.

It's that different, but oh, so good.

(bright music) Okay, so Manny says is that the quintessential pizza is the margarita that he speaks very highly of it.

It's when he brought it, it's almost like a painter bringing you his work of art that all these brush strokes of lightness, even the sogginess, he expresses of it like part of that, the maduration of the dough, look at the porous, how it's maturing, and the color of it also.

So we're gonna try his masterpiece, and I've been to Naples.

I've eaten pizza over there, and this looks very similar to that so we shall try it in Baja, in Rosarito, right?

Oh my Lord.

From the first bite, you know, I'm your typical guy that likes like the gigantic cheesy pizzas.

I'm that kind of guy, you are too, right?

It's what we've been used to in this side of the world.

So normally, you look at something like this and like, "It can't be better than just a giant cheesy pizza from a commercial place."

It is a fantastic taste and you have to know that the reason why we're here is because many of our fans, many of our acquaintances are raving that is some of the best, if not the best tasting pizza, in Baja.

Like, I mean, that's a tall statement.

So the fact that this place is jumping out is for a reason, and margarita pizza's not good everywhere.

I've ordered it before in some places, and it's like boring to me.

This first bite was blissful, makes you rejoice.

I'm gonna close my eyes, imagine I'm in a villa somewhere in Italy, enjoying the breeze with Vesuvius on top, hoping it won't explode in Naples.

(bright music) It's phenomenal, it's phenomenal.

This little bite bit of margarita on the planet and the one that's going into my mouth.

When a cook, chef, or whoever is in the kitchen cares about the food they're molding, imagining how each ingredient will affect your experience, well, that person becomes known by the local population really fast.

You know, that golden recommendation often stated as, "You have to try this place," that is how Manny is becoming known in Baja, California.

Okay, so check this out, folks.

Manny brought and cut up this beautiful calzone made again in the Naples style.

It's got Oaxaca cheese, but not just any Oaxaca cheese, you know, fresh, homemade Oaxaca cheese.

It's got ricotta, it's got all these different ingredients like pepperoni, Italian sausages, ham, it's got tomato sauce, fresh basil, and look at on top, you've got your mushrooms, you got your tomatoes, you got your basil, you got some parme on top.

He is reinforcing the fact that if it's soggy, it's good and I agree with it.

There is food that just goes good soggy when all the juices, all the creaminess is infiltrating and infusing the dough.

Look at that ricotta, that Oaxaca.

I'm going in, folks.

This might not be pretty.

Everything just tastes fresh.

There's a difference.

When as soon as you bite into it, you can tell the difference of processed food and things that are just made with fresh ingredients.

Baja has certainly been compatible with this Naples Native, was found local ingredients combined with Italian ingredients to create a cuisine for the benefit of the population in the region, wow.

(gentle music) Even though the lasagna is dough, which you could say is like a type of bread, you know, you can grab in his style in Naples and the way his family, you could literally grab some bread and put some lasagna on the bread.

So we're gonna try it multiple ways to honor the ancient way of Manny's family.

So the first one is going to be the typical, just like, I'm just gonna try the lasagna.

Can you believe this?

You know, halfway around the world and you have access to literally the old country and it's cuisine.

Thanks to people like that who have transported themselves and their knowledge to countries that maybe don't have a whole lot of Italians, for instance.

Mm, let's honor him and his ancestors and his family by trying with a little bread.

Okay.

Mm, this bread is literally the same as the dough for the margarita pizza.

He said you can try it three ways, lasagna alone, lasagna with some of my famous Italian bread, and some bread alone.

So we're gonna try some bread alone.

Mm, look at it.

I gonna show you how this opens.

Look at that, it's beautiful.

Look at that strand, how it just pulls, beautiful.

It's like fibers.

That is high quality bread, my friends.

That is high quality Italian bread.

A place is enriched when it adds culture not previously existent in the area, everyone wins.

Oh, we're not done.

We're about to try what you could say is the quintessential Baja seasonal pizza.

Italian food, Italian restaurants, they always serve, as Manny was saying, things according to season.

Now, fisherman friends of his gave him bluefin tuna, and guess what?

We have a bluefin tuna pizza here.

The only complaint that he has is that he couldn't find olives from Italy.

He says that normally, he would use the Oliva di Gaeta.

Gaeta is a city north of Naples, and that's what he would have uses.

So he's using, he apologized for these commercial olives, which is we don't mind, of course, we don't mind.

And look at that, that bluefin tuna, medium rare.

Oh my goodness.

I knew it was under something because I always thought this.

Something becomes soggy it's because it's drenched in the sauces, the creams or whatever you're eating.

So let's go, let's get in there, let's... (blows) (gentle music) Just when you thought things couldn't get better.

I'll tell you one thing, all of the food that I've had here with Manny is delicious, but the man is a specialist in pizzas because they are at another level.

They are so full of flavor, wow.

Okay this, if you can see now, there's two different pizzas here, different sides.

So this is just tomato sauce, but this is spicy pesto.

Spicy pesto right here with tomato sauce mixed.

None of it overbearing, it's a perfect balance, and it literally takes me to Naples.

I've been to Naples and this might be a little better than the ones I had in Naples.

So Manny has truly brought his culture to Baja.

So after getting to see refugee children dignified with quality education and some normality in a region foreign to them, and after getting to know Manny and the food he brought to Baja, California from his native town of Naples, Italy, we wonder what other experience we will get to live the next time we cross south.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Like to know more about the places you've just seen?

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