More than 100 people attended a special event at USC last Thursday to learn about projects that support immigrant communities in Los Angeles. Organizers showed how three different projects – VozMob, the LA Flood Project and the Transborder Immigrant Tool – help immigrant communities use mobile phones and poetry for daily communication.

Volunteers from all the projects say the want to improve the lives of immigrants and believe it’s important to show their contributions and the unfair treatment they often receive.

Voces Móviles/Mobile Voices (VozMob) is a collaboration between the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and the institute of Popular Education of Southern California (IDEPSCA).

VozMob makes use of technology to empower communities and get greater participation in the digital public sphere from people who don’t have access to computers. Eight day laborers, who were at the event, explained how Voces Móviles allows them to record and share their stories using cell phones.

“I have the opportunity to learn more every day and also share more with the community,” says Marco Rodriguez, a day laborer who uses VozMob.

This platform also gives immigrant workers the opportunity to report abuse and injustices, like when employers refuse to pay them after they’ve done a job.

Another project showcased during the evening was the LA Flood Project, a multi-media experience that simulates a flood in Los Angeles. People get to participate during the simulated crisis, calling in on cell phones to provide information and to hear the latest on the situation from wherever they’re located.

The event ended with a presentation of the Transborder Immigrant Tool, a mobile-phone app created by the Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0/b.a.n.g lab, a group or artists, activists and performers. The phone app provides immigrants crossing the border into the United States with directions to water as a way to help them survive their journey.

The Mobile Voices of L.A.’s Immigrants was co-sponsored by the Institute for Multimedia Literacy, the Center for Transformative Scholarship, the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration, El Centro Chicano and the Latina/o Student Assembly.