Kelly Martinez
Matt Haupert Humanities 13 December 2018 Second Chance “Nata stop playing around and do your chores, hurry before papa gets here.” Diego clearly remembers those words he had told his younger sister. She was a tomboy and an overly hyper and troublemaking little girl. He remembers that day with so much detail because it was the day where he really wanted to get out of this poverty and cruel life. It was a day where he just wanted to grab his younger siblings and get out of there, go anywhere but just not there. “Right when I had said, that my father had come home drunk. When my father is drunk we all knew better than to get him mad. My sister didn't hear me as she was dancing around and singing pretty loud, only she did notice upon her pushing my father.” Diego was sweeping and upon seeing his sister bump into his father, BAM you could hear as the broom dropped and he ran towards her. He didn't get there on time as the first whip hit the little girl on her back, the little girl shrieked of pain and you could see tears roll down her cheeks. They knew better than to start sobbing because that would earn them more lashes. “PAPA DEJALA!” Diego jumped in front of the little girl as she crouched into a little ball waiting for the next lashes. “Get out of the way kid if you don't want some yourself.” He barely managed to say these slurred words. “Since I was a little boy, I knew that if I ever had a family in the future that I didn't want the same type of lifestyle I had for them.” These were the first words that came out of Mr. Diego’s mouth as I talked with him. I was able to interview a kind gentleman, Mr. Diego, whose name we’ve changed for confidential reasons. Mr Diego is an undocumented citizen, and he was kind enough to let me interview him and I was able to ask him about his lifestyle in Mexico. We talked about stories of his childhood, about the hardships of being an only son in a household of females with a macho community, as well as his reasons why he immigrated to the United States. Mr. Diego told me a lot of things, things that I would never be able to imagine even taking part in the United States. It surprises me that there are a lot of problems in Mexico, problems that affect the well being of its people. As I continued with the interview, we proceeded to talk about his story, about who he is. He told me, “I was born in a little village in Oaxaca called San Juan Del Estado. I lived a cruel and poor life there.” Mr. Diego is the second oldest out of 5 children and the only male son. His parents were usually never home. His father was a serious drunkard and could be found at a bar or elsewhere drinking, while his mother worked so hard to provide for her children.“I still remember to this day that my mom would wake up at 4 in the morning to prepare for the day. With a big basket full of heavy food, she would walk about three hours every morning to go sell the little she had in order to make a little bit of money. Her biggest concern was being able to provide for her children.” Mr. Diego told me about the hardships his mother had to go through in order to have an income. He said that he was the second oldest child out of 5. In order to support his mom, his older sister would work and help out with his younger siblings. Mr. Diego went on to explain how his older sister had given up school to work as a full-time maid and a babysitter to help their mother. “My sister didn't even make it past elementary when she got her job. I remember that she would come visit us sometimes on the weekends as she lived in her boss’s home.” When his oldest sister “Giselle” started to work, his other sisters were still young, the second oldest daughter was only four years old and already helping out with the house chores while taking care of the baby. They had some animals like cattle, a small herd of goats, as well as a little donkey. His job was a shepherd. He would take the two cows they had with the goats up in the mountains to feed. While the animals were feeding, he would take his donkey with him to the forest and chop wood. Diego would come back to leave the wood walking while the donkey carried all of the wood. After that, he would go back up in the mountains to retrieve his herd of goats as well as his cattle. “I would come back before the sunset sometimes while other times I had to stay behind to look for a lost little goat or a cow that probably got spooked and separated from the herds. Sometimes it would turn pitch black and I would not be able to find the lost animal, I would get worried that something might have happened to it. But I was also scared to be out there by myself.” He would arrive at home exhausted, but his job wasn’t over yet. He would have to help his little sister with chores as well as babysit. A 10 year old boy usually never has these types of responsibilities. Most boys at that age don't even know how to wash their own clothes. Diego would go to school only for a few hours and then he would sneak out of school to go to work and to get his heard of animals back. Since he would only go for a few hours he would skip a lot of material that they learned so he would have to report some of the grades. Diego only got past elementary when he quit school to work for money so that he would be able to help out his family with the income. The CFI (ChildFund International ) did a study and their results read, “despite having a relatively prosperous economy, Mexico suffers from economic inequality. In some regions, children and their families earn a comfortable living, but in southern Mexico, many children live in poverty. In fact, the poverty rate in Mexico is around 50 million people, which is approximately 40 percent of the country's population. As well as struggling to provide food for their children, some families simply cannot afford to send their children to school. This, in turn, contributes to the cycle of poverty that forces many children to work instead of going to school”. Also According to INEGI (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía) “in 2010, there were 19.8 million people aged 6 to 14, and 18.7 million of them had access to education. So, there were still 1.1 million children who did not attend school even though in the Mexican Constitution, education is declared to be compulsory for everyone”. In 2010 there was a lot of children who didn't go to school at all, just to be able to help their families with the income for food. From 2010 to 2018 it has increased so much more. Nancy is another person who was kind enough to let me interview her, and she also told me about her childhood in Mexico and how her life changed once she got to America. Her life was vastly different compared to Mr. Diego's life as a child. As a young girl, she would go to school while her dad went to work. Her mom stayed at home to look after her younger brother. Later on, work started to run dry, so Nancy’s father decided to come to the states and work to support her family. Nancy’s father’s family took care of Nancy, her mother, and her younger brother while her father was away. She said that as time went on 3 years had already passed and her dad had come back. “I remember being asleep and hearing my mom start to cry, I didn't think much about it at the time since I was pretty young, but there was a loud noise coming from the end of my bed. As I opened my eyes, I felt a big and strong hand caress my cheeks. I slowly took the callused hand off my head and looked up. I couldn’t believe it, but my dad was there at my bedside. I sat up and stared at him for a long while. He stared back smiling. I could still remember when he left. He had looked so determined and young while now he looked old, yet he still held a gentle gaze and warm smile. I never felt so happy in my life.” Nancy’s dad had decided to come back to Mexico to see his family again. Nancy and her brother were unaware at the time but their father didn't plan on staying for long. The surprise didn't stop there, their mother was leaving with him as well leaving them with their grandparents. “My grandma and grandpa had always been good people to us. They took care of my brother and me when our parents left. At first, it was weird being without my mom, but my life simply went on. I kept going to school and soon enough my brother started to attend as well and our life never went out of the ordinary.” In a way, she may not have undergone the the same pain and harsh environment as other people had around her or before her, but she also experienced some sort of agony and misery. She didn't have her parents with her, her parents left her and her brother behind and while she continued to live a normal life, she felt abandoned. By the time she turned 11, her father had come back and decided it was time for Nancy and her brother to come to the United states. As time passed and Diego grew up, his fifth and final sister was born. When he got to the age of 19, he decided to get married to the love of his life and a few months after getting married, his wife found out that she was pregnant with a little girl! When Diego found out about this, he said he felt like he was the happiest man in the world. “I was happy that I was going to be able to experience what people called fatherhood.” He was excited for a moment, but after thinking about it for a while, he realized a few months of the pregnancy that he didn't want this type of lifestyle for his child but was too afraid to come to the United States and had given up on the idea. It wasn't until two years after that his wife had gotten pregnant once again, this time with a younger boy, when the thought had come to mind once again. “I had started to realize that I had lived a life of cruelty and poverty, I remember all those unforgiven experiences. I didn't want this for my children, but I also want them to know their family that was here in Mexico, I was conflicted and didn't know what to do”. While he was thinking about this, his elder sister had come back from the States to visit the family. After a few weeks, she said that she was going back to the U.S. That's when Diego decided to go. He decided that it was time and that he was going to go and work to be able to support his family. He left his kids and his wife in the care of his parents while he left to work. “Once I had gotten here in the U.S it was an experience that I would never forget.” When Diego had gotten here, he lived in a small apartment with two other cousins that were here already and with his sister. He described that each family had a small room for themselves while another lived in the living room. He said that at first when he started it was fun but after a while, seeing his other family members together with their families, he got homesick and wanted to be with his children as well as his wife. “Yes, I wanted to see them, but I knew that if I went back, I wasn't going to be able to let them have a nice childhood. Over there in Mexico, it's not a place to have a life unless you’ve got money”. He spent a few years working and living by himself. He was never really alone because he had his sister as well as a few other family members. As time passed, he decided that he was going to go back and visit his children. He left with his sister back to Mexico but he only remained there for a few weeks. This time his wife had decided to join him on his journey back to the U.S. The children were to be left with the grandparents. With his wife by his side this time he seemed happier but his children were always nagging him at the back of his mind. He knew he had to come back for his Bebes. The PRC did a research on how most mexicans live and why they yearn to migrate to the United States. It read “Most Mexicans see better life in the US than in their own country, they see more hope and chance for a comfy life. Facing a variety of national problems – crime, drugs, corruption, a troubled economy – Mexicans overwhelmingly are dissatisfied with the direction of their country. With drug-related violence affecting much of Mexico, large majorities describe crime (81%) and illegal drugs (73%) as very big problems, and Mexicans overwhelmingly approve President Felipe Calderón’s tough stance against drug traffickers. Most mexicans believe life is better in the United States. Close to six-in-ten (57%) say that people who move from Mexico enjoy a better life in the U.S., up from 51% in 2017. And the vast majority of those who are in regular contact with friends and relatives living in the U.S. say those friends and relatives have largely achieved their goals.A substantial minority of Mexicans say that if they had the means and opportunity to go live in the U.S. they would do so, and more than half of those who would migrate if they had the chance say they would do so without authorization”. Usually these are the reasons as to why a lot of mexicans immigrate to the united states When Nancy had first gotten into the States, she said that it was like a whole new world. “I've been to the city before when I was in Mexico, but this was a whole different level for a city. There were cars everywhere, and everybody had one.” When Nancy got to the U.S, she met more of her family. “I knew them by pictures, but it was a whole different story meeting them, it was awkward and weird. It wasn't until a few weeks after I had gotten here that my father told me that I was going to school.” The school was pretty hard for Nancy and her younger brother Pedro. They were put in the same class as all of the other students even though they had no understanding of English. The only language Nancy and Pedro were familiar with was Spanish. The teachers expected them to know and understand what was being taught. When she asked for assistance they would do the work for her instead of showing her and trying to explain. Nancy and her brother had to take a class in between the day to learn more English (ELD). “The teacher that would ‘teach’ us in English spoke only a little bit of Spanish and she expected us to get a grasp of things right on the spot. I had to try and learn because I saw my parents suffering here to let us go to school. They gave us this opportunity that I probably would have never had if I still lived in Mexico.” Nancy and Pedro grew up and started to keep getting more family members. Her little cousins had the opportunity of being born here and she had the opportunity to grow close with them. When she turned 13, her younger sister was born. That was around the time that DACA had started to come out. When she and her family heard about this program the first thing that they did was look into it and ways for her and her brother to get it. For about a year they ran around getting every document ready for the court. “It was a really long process but everything was worth it because when we got the letter saying we approved for DACA and that we were legally in the US meant a new beginning for me with a lot of new opportunities to be taken.” Pedro and Nancy now were legally in the United states but it still prevented them from leaving, but that never stopped them. They grew up and went to a good University. They got to go through a chance they probably wouldn’t have had imagined about having, but look at them now! She’s a dentist and still studying to become an orthodontic while her brother Pedro is a policeman and still studying to become a homicide detective. These two kids strived for their future. A future their parents didn't even get a chance to dream of having. They both recently found the love of their lives and are newly wed. Making the best of their youth, both of these young adult are only awaiting for one more thing in their life . . . their own children! Nancy’s and Pedro’s parents couldn't have been more proud to call them, “My son and daughter.” Another few years had passed, Mr. Diego had saved enough money when he made up his mind that instead of going back to his children, they would come to live in the U.S with him and their mother. When he arrived in San Juan, his children were excited to see him, but once he had told them to pack only what they needed, they were confused, but did as they were told. One moment the kids were in their homeland, the next they were in an unfamiliar place full of noise and light. Diego looked at his children with a worried smile on his face, but there was no going back once they were here. At the same time, Diego felt a sense of remorse as he left his parents behind. That was the last time that he would ever go back to his old country. It was the first time that his children met the rest of their family. “At first my kids would get home sick and ask if we could go back home with their grandparents. It hurt me to to see them like that because my parents were their for them more than I ever was. But I would sit them down on the kitchen table and tell them that this was their new home and that in a few weeks they would also start going to school.” After a month, Diego’s children getting settled in and they started school. When they would come back home from school, they looked exhausted and stressed. Diego would ask them what was wrong but they would tell him that they were fine. “They came home like that every day, I started wondering if what I had done was even right for them anymore. But years passed and I was on the front row when I saw my own children walk across the sage and graduate.” That was the happiest day of his life because he knew that Nancy and Pedro were happy and that they appreciated everything Diego had done for them. People that migrate to the united states not only from Mexico but from all around the world, don't come to cause trouble. In Fact they want to get away from because where they come from everything is worse. The government is corrupt and their is always a lot of crime happening that their police don't care about. There is also the fact that there is no work and a lot of people have no choice but to live in poverty. Nancy and Diego both came to make a better life, a life that they knew they would never have the chance to have in their home country. A lot of immigrants have the same story as them or similar, but their are people who go astray and do cause trouble. Not all people are like that, most of them just want a new beginning. Like Diego, he had nothing when he got here. He lived in small apartment with four more families. He didn’t even have a bed to sleep on, but he worked hard to earn some money and saved some of it while he sent the rest to to his children and wife. Nancy also put in a lot effort to study and make her parent proud. People come here to have a better life not to makes yours worse.
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