A small boy reads a book during last year’s Flor y Canto festival. Photo El Tecolote archive

“There’s nothing sadder for a young person [than] to come to a new country, and not feel welcome,” said Jorge Argueta.

Argueta knows the feeling.

For three months in 1980 he sat in a detention center in El Centro, the largest city in California’s Imperial Valley, located just a 30-minute drive north of Mexicali.

The poet was barely 18 years old, and not all that different from the thousands of Central American unaccompanied minors currently in detention centers scattered across the U.S. border.

“Right now, the best thing is for these kids to not be returned. Because all these kids will return to is violence,” said Argueta, who less than two months ago saw that violence when he returned to his native El Salvador. “We want to send the message that they are welcome here.”

Argueta, along with many others, will convey the message firsthand through an educational toy and Spanish book drive Aug. 23 as part of the third annual “Flor y Canto Festival: for our refugee boys and girls at the border.”

The festival, which is being hosted by Talleres de Poesía in conjunction with Accion Latina and Luna’s Press & Bookstores, is the offspring of the Poesía Infantil festival Argueta started in El Salvador five years ago.

The Spanish (and or bilingual) books and toys donated by the community will be loaded up into a minivan to be caravanned down to detention centers in Los Angeles and San Diego on Aug. 27 in the attempt to help soften the experiences of those minors still awaiting processing, many of whom are fleeing slums fractured by infamous gang activity.

“The message we ought to give these boys and girls is that they have to read. Because reading will liberate us from this saga of injustice and lies that they are feeding us,” Argueta said. “Because when a boy or girl reads, they won’t be able to lie to them anymore.”

In addition to the book and toy drive, the Flor y Canto festival will include live music, Danza, poetry readings from youth and acclaimed poets alike, and arts and crafts for kids. In addition to a $5-$10 donation, visitors are encouraged to donate at least one new book in Spanish, coloring book, toy, stuffed animal and/or children’s music CD.

“The kids are not the future, they are the present,” Argueta said. “They are the essence of tomorrow. But if these kids are to see tomorrow, they have to be cared for today.”

“Flor y Canto: for our refugee boys and girls at the border” will take place at the offices of Accion Latina at 2958 24th St. (between Harrison and Alabama streets), and will run from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Donations can be made on weekends at Luna’s Press & Bookstore at 3790 Mission Street and on weekdays at Accion Latina, 2958 24th St. Proceeds will also benefit San Francisco Poetry. For more information, visit the Flor y Canto facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/263347163871764