Sonia Nazario: "Enriques Journey" Visions and Voices Presentation

Sonia Nazario came this past week to speak about her book Enrique's Journey. The book is based on the true story of boy from Honduras who lived with his mother until he was about 6 years old. Him and his mother lived in poverty and they often struggled to find food sometimes. Enrique's mother did not want to raise her child under the poor conditions anymore and she wanted a better life for both of them. To try and make life better for them, Enrique's mother sent Enrique to live with his grandparents and she went off to America for opportunity so that she could one day come back and have enough money to provide for child like she wanted to. It was hard for Enrique living with his grandparents because although they took care of him, he still missed his mother very much and wanted to be with her. His mother would call him frequently and always end her conversations with him in "I love you" or "I miss you" and those words coming from her meant so much to him. Ultimately, Enrique was not happy with his life so he set out on a journey to reunite himself with his mother in America, but he would have to go through a perilous route to get there. The journey to America from Honduras was unlike any journey in the world, especially for children. There had been already been this extensive route to America that had been attempted by many kids to find their mothers and this route was known by many people who lived along the route. The popularity of this route caused many bandits to steal and kill from these poor children who were on their search to find their mothers. One of the main ways for transportation to America from Honduras was on the train. Since these children, including Enrique, were too poor and young to afford a ticket, they would catch the train when it made turns (a train is at its slowest when it makes its turns) and attempt to climb to the top and ride them all the way to America. The tops of the trains would be burning hot as it went through the Southern parts of Mexico and freezing cold through parts of Northern Mexico. Many kids did not make it because they would fall off the train, crush their legs trying to jump on the train, or get beaten by bandits off the train. In the end, after many attempts (because he had been deported many times) Enrique had finally made it to America to find his mother.