WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.960 [camera rolls] 2 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:06.480 [sorrowful music] 3 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:11.300 Coming to the U.S. was very unexpectedly, 4 00:00:11.300 --> 00:00:13.250 horrific. 5 00:00:13.250 --> 00:00:14.900 When I was 12 years old, 6 00:00:14.900 --> 00:00:17.450 the only thing I was thinking about, was surviving. 7 00:00:18.540 --> 00:00:19.803 I didn't wanna die. 8 00:00:24.400 --> 00:00:27.993 I was born in San Martin, Guatemala. 9 00:00:28.950 --> 00:00:33.210 The village where I grew up was called the clouds, 10 00:00:33.210 --> 00:00:35.400 which is called [speaks in a foreign language], 11 00:00:35.400 --> 00:00:38.173 because it was always cold and rainy. 12 00:00:40.694 --> 00:00:41.960 [thunder rolls] 13 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:45.250 My father was extremely violent, 14 00:00:45.250 --> 00:00:47.393 he used to threaten my mom to kill her. 15 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:50.920 I used to see my mom get beat on her head, 16 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:52.363 until she was unconscious. 17 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:56.730 It was my grandfather who forced her to leave, 18 00:00:56.730 --> 00:00:59.400 because he told her that was the only option 19 00:00:59.400 --> 00:01:02.333 for her to have a better life. 20 00:01:04.110 --> 00:01:08.707 My mom woke me up one day around 5 a.m., and she said, 21 00:01:08.707 --> 00:01:11.527 "You have to be strong. 22 00:01:11.527 --> 00:01:13.707 "You have to take care of your siblings. 23 00:01:13.707 --> 00:01:16.997 "I'm leaving, I don't know when I'm gonna come back." 24 00:01:20.330 --> 00:01:23.390 My siblings woke up, and they were asking for my mom, 25 00:01:23.390 --> 00:01:26.740 and I just didn't know what to tell them. 26 00:01:26.740 --> 00:01:29.873 But one thing that I did, was always take care of them. 27 00:01:34.670 --> 00:01:39.670 There's this mountain where you see the buses, pass by. 28 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:44.010 As a child, I used to go the mountain waiting for my mom 29 00:01:44.010 --> 00:01:46.813 to come back, and she wouldn't come back. 30 00:01:48.014 --> 00:01:49.597 It was really hard. 31 00:01:52.050 --> 00:01:54.683 I was crying on the hill that I'm telling you about, 32 00:01:56.092 --> 00:01:57.413 'cause I wanted my mom. 33 00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:03.163 And all of a sudden, I see this person on the gate. 34 00:02:04.360 --> 00:02:06.600 I couldn't really recognize who the person was, 35 00:02:06.600 --> 00:02:09.790 because it looked really different. 36 00:02:09.790 --> 00:02:12.070 And I thought it was my mom actually, 37 00:02:12.070 --> 00:02:16.863 and I just run to her. 38 00:02:19.370 --> 00:02:21.960 I was so happy that she was there. 39 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:25.037 The only thing that she will say was, "I'm here, I'm here." 40 00:02:27.430 --> 00:02:30.310 She was so concerned, the way that we were living, 41 00:02:30.310 --> 00:02:33.730 she made the decision to come back from the United States. 42 00:02:33.730 --> 00:02:37.467 And she told us, "You're gonna come with me." 43 00:02:39.160 --> 00:02:42.820 We sold everything that we had, which was nothing. 44 00:02:42.820 --> 00:02:45.400 I sold my shoes, I sold my dress, 45 00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:50.333 my prettiest dress that I had, and we all left with nothing. 46 00:03:00.320 --> 00:03:04.020 My mother had this man 47 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:06.150 who had always been helping her, 48 00:03:06.150 --> 00:03:09.923 and so he advised that would be easier if we all separated. 49 00:03:12.730 --> 00:03:14.700 I would go with another man, 50 00:03:14.700 --> 00:03:16.870 the [speaks in a foreign language] to cross, 51 00:03:16.870 --> 00:03:18.933 because it was better and easier. 52 00:03:20.250 --> 00:03:24.567 This man, he left me all by myself. 53 00:03:24.567 --> 00:03:27.420 [wind blows] 54 00:03:27.420 --> 00:03:29.650 I used to get so cold at night. 55 00:03:29.650 --> 00:03:31.730 The only thing that I had was a trash bag 56 00:03:31.730 --> 00:03:35.060 to protect me from the cold weather, 57 00:03:35.060 --> 00:03:38.033 and I could see all the super icy mist. 58 00:03:39.720 --> 00:03:41.670 Sometimes I felt like I couldn't breathe anymore, 59 00:03:41.670 --> 00:03:43.850 I couldn't walk anymore, 60 00:03:43.850 --> 00:03:46.283 and just hid behind this bush. 61 00:03:47.260 --> 00:03:50.690 I passed out completely, because I was injured. 62 00:03:50.690 --> 00:03:53.900 I hadn't eaten for days, hadn't drank water, 63 00:03:53.900 --> 00:03:55.563 and I was so tired. 64 00:03:56.830 --> 00:03:59.363 When I woke up, I didn't see anyone. 65 00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:03.627 I was really afraid to be by myself. 66 00:04:06.250 --> 00:04:10.250 I had a vision that I was under a tree, 67 00:04:10.250 --> 00:04:13.393 and I died there under that tree. 68 00:04:15.410 --> 00:04:18.000 That's what made me say to myself, 69 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:19.733 I don't want to die this way. 70 00:04:20.570 --> 00:04:21.993 I need to keep walking. 71 00:04:25.530 --> 00:04:28.593 Then I found some people that were lost. 72 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:31.710 I told them that I was lost, 73 00:04:31.710 --> 00:04:35.470 and we said we have to find the closest town 74 00:04:35.470 --> 00:04:36.563 to ask for help. 75 00:04:40.130 --> 00:04:42.770 After, I don't know five days I think, 76 00:04:42.770 --> 00:04:45.940 we talked to this lady, and we ask her, 77 00:04:45.940 --> 00:04:48.940 can you please give us some food? 78 00:04:48.940 --> 00:04:50.457 She's like, "I'll be back." 79 00:04:51.970 --> 00:04:53.823 She went to call the Border Patrol. 80 00:04:56.090 --> 00:04:58.200 They deported everyone. 81 00:04:58.200 --> 00:05:02.820 They put me and other people on a big van 82 00:05:02.820 --> 00:05:05.580 and they dropped me off on the other side of the bridge 83 00:05:05.580 --> 00:05:06.843 in Ciudad Juarez. 84 00:05:10.100 --> 00:05:13.350 I was there for some time just around the streets, 85 00:05:13.350 --> 00:05:17.940 no connection, no nothing, no phone, no food. 86 00:05:17.940 --> 00:05:20.050 My clothes was so ripped. 87 00:05:20.050 --> 00:05:22.023 I had no idea where to go again. 88 00:05:24.760 --> 00:05:25.890 I did ask for help, 89 00:05:25.890 --> 00:05:28.200 and this person seemed to be really nice, 90 00:05:28.200 --> 00:05:30.320 and bought me new clothes and everything, 91 00:05:30.320 --> 00:05:33.650 but he ended up taking me to this house. 92 00:05:33.650 --> 00:05:36.053 And he had me there for a long time. 93 00:05:38.230 --> 00:05:39.563 I was kidnapped. 94 00:05:41.010 --> 00:05:43.763 I was molested so many times. 95 00:05:45.790 --> 00:05:48.313 The men there were so heartless. 96 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:54.163 How can you do those things to like a 12 year old, you know? 97 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:01.069 The kidnappers made me cross 98 00:06:01.069 --> 00:06:03.790 the border a lot, back and forth, 99 00:06:03.790 --> 00:06:06.860 so they would have me a house in the United States 100 00:06:06.860 --> 00:06:08.588 and they'll have me house in Mexico. 101 00:06:08.588 --> 00:06:11.430 They will make me cross the river. 102 00:06:11.430 --> 00:06:14.790 They make me gone under the tunnels. 103 00:06:14.790 --> 00:06:16.172 They put in me one of the trucks, 104 00:06:16.172 --> 00:06:18.422 where you can't breath 'cause there's no air. 105 00:06:20.640 --> 00:06:21.580 I was so tired, 106 00:06:21.580 --> 00:06:25.323 and I didn't know whether I was gonna see my mother again. 107 00:06:28.610 --> 00:06:31.640 I had so many times that I just felt like 108 00:06:31.640 --> 00:06:33.003 I was gonna die. 109 00:06:36.980 --> 00:06:40.750 I remember it was around February, so it was very cold. 110 00:06:40.750 --> 00:06:44.500 And I didn't have any shoes or any sweater on, 111 00:06:44.500 --> 00:06:47.563 and I literally just walked outside. 112 00:06:48.690 --> 00:06:51.023 Think we were in Brownsville, Texas. 113 00:06:52.140 --> 00:06:54.950 I said, where do I go, left or right? 114 00:06:54.950 --> 00:06:58.363 And I went to the left, and I got out of there. 115 00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:01.255 I wanted to knock on a house, 116 00:07:01.255 --> 00:07:05.530 but I didn't wanna knock on a house that had a lot of cars, 117 00:07:05.530 --> 00:07:08.330 because I thought there was gonna be a lot of men there. 118 00:07:09.530 --> 00:07:13.233 I just knocked on a random small house. 119 00:07:14.380 --> 00:07:16.680 That's when a lady opened her door. 120 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:19.303 The lady look like American. 121 00:07:21.220 --> 00:07:22.403 I was really scared. 122 00:07:23.711 --> 00:07:27.367 That was all I heard, [speaks in a foreign language], 123 00:07:27.367 --> 00:07:29.150 which means help me, help me, 124 00:07:29.150 --> 00:07:31.800 because someone wants to hurt me, 125 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:33.403 and she wouldn't understand me. 126 00:07:35.220 --> 00:07:38.810 She saw that I was completely tired, and dehydrated, 127 00:07:38.810 --> 00:07:41.010 and was really skinny. 128 00:07:41.010 --> 00:07:45.880 She gave me some clothes and shoes, and she gave me food. 129 00:07:45.880 --> 00:07:49.050 It was the first time I ever tasted lasagna. 130 00:07:49.050 --> 00:07:53.773 It smelled so delicious, because I hadn't eaten for so long. 131 00:07:56.988 --> 00:07:59.100 I had memorized my mom's phone number 132 00:07:59.100 --> 00:08:02.440 from before when she used to be in the United States, 133 00:08:02.440 --> 00:08:05.033 and I never forgot the number. 134 00:08:07.424 --> 00:08:11.100 And, oh my God, you have no idea how my mom was. 135 00:08:11.993 --> 00:08:15.470 I mean, could just think about your child, 136 00:08:15.470 --> 00:08:18.453 just not knowing where your child is. 137 00:08:20.980 --> 00:08:24.380 Eventually, I arrived to Houston, 138 00:08:24.380 --> 00:08:26.880 and my mom picked me up. 139 00:08:26.880 --> 00:08:28.938 And I was just crying so much, 140 00:08:28.938 --> 00:08:33.030 and I was just happy that I saw her and that she made it. 141 00:08:37.740 --> 00:08:41.160 I feel very blessed to be where I am 142 00:08:41.160 --> 00:08:43.020 and that I'm still alive. 143 00:08:43.020 --> 00:08:44.763 I think about this every morning, 144 00:08:46.070 --> 00:08:50.313 but our lives here is uncertain. 145 00:08:52.260 --> 00:08:55.000 I want to be able to find a place 146 00:08:56.160 --> 00:08:57.777 where I can call home.