Ciudad Juarez, Mexico: At a small home workshop in this Mexican border city, Erendira Guerrero makes teddy bears from the clothing of COVID-19 victims so their relatives have something to hold onto.
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Erindira cuts pieces from the shirt of a person who died of COVID-19. Years ago, as Ciudad Juarez suffered jarring levels of violence, Guerrero started making the bears from clothing those victims had worn.
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Stuffed bears ready for delivery. The pandemic has created a new population of distraught customers searching for ways to maintain contact with a loved one taken away suddenly.
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Tags ready to be sewn onto bears made for people who lost a loved one. She estimates she has made about 200 bears for the families of COVID-19 victims.
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Tags ready to be sewn onto bears for people who lost a loved one to COVID-19, made out of one of the deceased's articles of clothing, sit beside a sewing machine.
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Jaime Walfre Aguilar Martinez, whose 50-year-old father died of COVID-19 in November, selects one of his father's favorite sweaters to have a stuffed bear made from the fabric.
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Picture of Aguilar Rojas, who died of COVID-19, adorn an altar. "Due to COVID-19, many people were left without closure, because they couldn't say goodbye to their family members," Guerrero said. "They need to close the circle. The bears are helping them."
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Relatives bring a favorite shirt or other item and Guerrero carefully pins on the patterns for the bear's arms, legs, torso and head. She charges about $30 for a bear and attaches notes that sometimes read, "This is a shirt I used to wear, whenever you hold it know that I am there. Love, Dad."
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On Monday, Araceli Ramirez showed a picture of her father wearing the shirt while holding her bear made of the same fabric.
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Lorenzo Ramirez died so quickly from COVID-19 two months ago that she was unable to say goodbye. "I can talk to the bear, express what I didn't tell him, and feel like he is with me," she said.
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