Enrique’s Journey—Week 2/Chapters 1 and 2
In the prologue we studied in Week 1, Sonia Nazario writes, “In many ways, these separations [of mothers from their children] are devastating Latino families. People are losing what they value most: family and the love of their children” (15). This is one of the ironic tragedies that is so common in the lives of today’s immigrants. By definition, an immigrant is one who moves from one country to another to permanently settle there. Yet Lourdes’ intention was to return to Honduras with resources to benefit her children. From what Nazario has written, it seems that numerous people crossing the southern border of the United State are looking for a bridge to a better life rather than a permanent change of residence.
My heart broke in so many places while reading these chapters. When Lourdes left her first position as a nanny, I lamented her leaving the family because I thought perhaps that family would have helped her get back to her children. I felt so angry with the boyfriend who abandoned her when Diana was born. I was afraid when Maria Isabel’s cousin wanted to give her birth control seemingly without any thought to how an uncommitted physical relationship could affect them emotionally. I worried when Enrique considered getting her pregnant so that she would never leave him. I was frustrated that Enrique’s dad could not have maintained a relationship with him or that Enrique could not have moved in with Uncle Marco sooner.
7 Comments
Miranda Aaron
2/9/2020 06:08:11 pm
I feel that Lourdes was making an impossible decision. Leave her children so that she can provide them a better life. Stay with her children knowing they will live in poverty with little opportunity to improve their lives. Her home in Honduras seemed to leave her with limited options to better her life beyond fleeing to the United States. Because of this, she had no choice but to believe in the American Dream. It would have been devastating to leave her children not knowing when she would see them again. I can imagine the only way she could go through with such a tough decision is to trust fully that what she was doing was right and would improve her children’s lives. When she got to the United States, Lourdes had no safety net in place, she did not have a network of support, or a starting point to begin “climbing the ladder.” This led to the challenges of living in poverty, being abandoned by her baby’s father, missing her family, and more.
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Christine Danielewicz
2/9/2020 07:09:11 pm
I found myself also wondering what Enrique's life would have been life if his father had stayed with him, or if his uncle had come into his life sooner. I also felt that Lourdes had made the journey without really understanding the problems she would face in the U.S. She talked about how what she found here was so different than what she had seen on television. To realize that when she had already come so far was so hard.
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Donna J. Williams
2/10/2020 07:40:05 pm
Years ago, as a young mother, I watched a made-for-TV movie based on a true story about another young mother who found herself in a very difficult situation. Abandoned by her husband, she found herself left alone with her daughter and deeply in debt. There were no family members to reach out to for help and no incoming child support. The woman and her daughter were soon homeless. What little they had was stolen at the shelter where they were spending their nights. In desperation, the woman sought help from a social worker. She wasn’t concerned for her own safety or welfare, only that of her child. I tearfully watched as the woman “abandoned” her child in a public park (a prearranged spot) where the social worker happened to “discover” the child a few minutes later. With the laws at the time, it was the only way she could get her daughter into the foster care system in hopes she would have a better life.
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Ginny Williams
2/15/2020 03:39:39 pm
After reading all of these comments, there isn't much more to say. I have the same feelings and thoughts as all of you.
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Christine Danielewicz
2/16/2020 03:24:41 pm
It seems we are finding a common thread in our responses. We are rooting for Lourdes and we want to steer her in a good direction that will bring well being to her family.
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Emily Reed
3/7/2020 02:45:36 pm
I am heartbroken for Lourdes and the painful decision that she had to make for her children. She wanted to break the chain of poverty that she and her family had experienced. She never realized that her new life would not be the perfect life that she had dreamed of or imagined. But every day, she convinced herself that she was providing for her children and making their lives better. She probably had no idea of the tailspin that her son would take and the effects of her decision on those she left behind. What an unbearable situation to be in and one that hundreds must live through every day.
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Christine Danielewicz
3/7/2020 02:50:17 pm
Emily, you've captured Lourdes's situation so accurately. It seems no matter what she would do, Enrique would be at a high risk for life controlling problems. I think it's so important for parents, teachers, or anyone to look at things in perspective. We may think that we should have done that instead of this, but even if we had done that, then we would probably be saying we should have done this instead of that. The conditions of her country put her whole family in danger. It is not a hopeless situation, but it is certainly a very dangerous one!
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