Stories from Rural Dutchess County
Our youth group, Perspectivas Latinas, provides a space for young people from immigrant families in rural Dutchess County to tell their stories. Some of those stories are uplifting, some are frightening, and all shed light on the lives of people living in our part of the world. Below are some of those stories
To Be Young
Renato Sarcena Salguero, “El poder de juventud”
When my mom introduced me or described me, she always said I was at least ten years old. She always said I was a very complicated child because whenever I went out to play with friends, I always came back very late. Once, while playing with friends, I had an accident on my bike. I came home unconscious because I hit the top of my head really hard. It left me unconscious for at least three hours.
She told me that because it was a huge worry because I couldn't remember anything. I had forgotten everything that day. She always said I was a very hyperactive child. When I saw other children, I wanted to play. I felt like a very free person in those moments. As the years went by, when I was sixteen, I decided to travel to a new country. I told my mom, but she didn't want to because a trip comes with many risks along the way. And she didn't agree. But my brother told her that everything would be fine, that in the new country I would have better opportunities and that way I could get ahead. Then she decided to let me go. She knew I was already a person who could make good decisions.
I realize there's a huge difference between my mom's emotions and mine. Because I felt like a free person, but she was worried about the risks I faced. But I think at that age, we have different thoughts. Our own selves don't have the knowledge of the dangers we can face when we have fun. But my mom has different thoughts. She knew the risks I faced. In my opinion, I think we should take care of children in their early years. I think it's best to let them play and not spend too much time on their cell phones, playing in a park. They can clear their minds, take on challenges, and learn what life is like outside. Make decisions and always be there for them to help them in any way they can.
Lorena Gonzalez:
The Secret
My mom had a secret that I didn't find out until the age of 13. I had never imagined that I had a step brother, but I did. I will never forget the words my mom told me: Tienes un hermanastro. Yo nunca voy a olvidar eso.
Mi mamá me dijo que no tenemos otros hermanos pero entendí porque lo hizo. It was hard for her and I knew why. She worked hard to send her son money.
Years later we found out he got married. My mom was upset and said she found out two days before the wedding. Mi mamá tuvo que aguantar todo porque él no quería nada que ver con ella. Después de dos años el finalmente communicated with us. He said he wanted to come to the United States and my mother listened to him after I told her not to trust him. We paid so much to bring him but then realized that his wife was with him. Mi mamá estaba enojada con él porque ella tiene familia pero no la quieren ayudar. Tuvimos que pagar lo doble para que llegan los dos juntos. Mi mamá lo aceptó como su hija. Después era muy difícil de pagar para los dos porque tenemos muchas deudas que pagar They arrived in New York and we all met him. My mom was happy.
He lived with us for seven months, but one morning we woke up and they were gone. My mom disowned him and always wondered where he went. But three years later I heard a knock at the door and opened it and it was him. I closed the door and my mom asked who it was and she opened the door and cried. My brother talked to her, saying she needed to help him again and he was very sorry. My mom forgave him and asked where his wife was. He called her, and we realized that she was carrying a baby!
I was shocked he had a kid and never said anything. I did not know what to say, but a few days passed and I got close to his son and took him everywhere. I put him to sleep every day even for his afternoon naps. We decided to get him a house and car, but a few months passed y todavía vivía con nosotros.
De repente le dimos una sorpresa. Va contento: se mudó a la casa y por unos días fuimos a verlos y a veces dejaron al bebé con nosotros. Pero unos días después fuimos a la casa y no iban nadie pero había un letrero diciendo que la casa se está vendiendo. Mamá se puso a llorar y ahí supimos que él quería el dinero para irse otra vez.
Yo sabía que no cambió pero quisiera saber dónde está el bebé. Le llamamos y no contestaba. Pasó dos semanas que no supimos nada de ellos hasta que un día en la tarde we received the call. I answered it and I heard Christopher, the baby. I cried and then my brother apologized but I wasn't forgiving him.
My mom took the phone and said not to call again and that she was not going to trust him. They're in Maryland and we know nothing about him ‘til this day.
Kathelyn Miguel:
Quinceaneros
I'm proud to come from Hispanic culture because our culture is so beautiful in so many ways. One thing I'm proud of is celebrating our 15th birthday because for us, that means we transform into a young, independent woman. The tradition is called Quinceanera. It's the only day you have a special moment in your family. It's a big day for us, planning everything. I remember my parents and me planning my quince. You usually want to plan everything months ahead so it's not too chaotic the day of the event.
A quinceañera is a significant tradition in Hispanic cultures, marking a girl’s 15th birthday and her transition from childhood to adulthood. It symbolizes a coming of age, offering a chance to celebrate her entrance into womanhood to introduce her to the community. The quinceañera itself involves a religious mass, presenting a doll, a mother and father dance and a lot of other dancing.
The quinceañera is like the opening of a flower. Flowers don’t have petals to begin with. For me, I didn’t know much about certain things in life, but at the time of my quinceañera I began to learn about them, just as petals begin to bloom. That’s how my quinceañera felt to me.
Anyways, the excitement I felt planning my quince day was a dream come true because ever since I was young, I always wanted one. And on March 4th, 2023, I got to celebrate my special day with my family and friends. Also, it's a tradition to have a mother-daughter dance and a father-daughter dance during the quince. When I danced with them that day, there were a lot of tears because it was so meaningful and sentimental. I really am proud to have this tradition in my culture.
Coming to the United States
Anonymous: What I Hope For
I was born and raised in El Salvador. I don't consider my life difficult. In fact, I considered it privileged. I had the opportunity to study in bilingual schools and learn English from a young age. I traveled a lot around the world, visiting places that were a dream come true for me. When I was 15, I went to Paris; it was a dream come true. My life was good, but in my country, studying isn't recognized as much as it is in the United States. And the pay isn't great either, so we decided to immigrate to the United States.
We arrived in the United States the day before my birthday, and even though we had visited the United States many times, we set foot in the United States for the first time knowing that it would be our new life. It was hard for everyone. We bought a mobile home; it was old and in very bad condition. But that made it even cheaper, so we decided to buy it and start remodeling it. The first day we arrived, it was shocking to see it in such poor condition and to see that what had looked like a dumpster would be our home. Even though my birthday would be spent in another country, cleaning clothes with dead rats and a floor that wasn't even visible. It made me regret having come. Seeing my dad crying was something I'd only seen once, but that's what I saw that night. My dad approached me crying and asked for forgiveness, because if our new life wasn't what we expected, it was something impressive for me, seeing that I wasn't the only one vulnerable to the situation.
Despite being difficult, we put our whole hearts into it. We put all our heart into that house, we made that house our new home. I started studying, and things seemed to be slowly getting better. And as we moved forward, we felt more and more comfortable with the new change. Until our first obstacle came. It was hard for us to live there, having just arrived in the country; we hadn’t even registered for taxes. All of this led to them not letting us live there. And they gave us a deadline to leave our home. We were forced to leave our home.
That was the moment we realized that the conditions you lived in don't matter. Once you step into this country without documentation, we're all equal; we're all seen as criminals. And we cried, we begged, and we pleaded for them to give us an opportunity, that we have nowhere else to go. But nothing mattered. They'd already made the decision. They even threatened to call the police if we didn't leave.
Without a place to go, an aunt gave us the opportunity to live with the three of us. We spent two months living in a single room.
My parents went out every day looking for another house where we could live, arriving every day so disappointed not to find anything. Being homeless and jobless wasn't easy, and we often considered returning to our country. But we decided to keep fighting. After almost three months, we found a place and were able to move. Even though it was in poor condition and falling apart, with love and patience, we made it our home again.
After spending almost six months without work, my dad was finally able to work, and little by little, everything was starting to get back on track. By this point, my brother had moved in with us, and now the four of us lived happily. In our house, we took small steps, but everything was moving forward.
Then January arrived, and things started to get worse for undocumented people. News of deportations were the order of the day. And the massive wave of fear had reached us. Through the fear of being deported, my father, my brother, and I stopped going to work for a few days. This caused my brother and my dad to lose their jobs. One day, a patrol car came to my house. We all hid and began to worry; we had never felt the need to hide in our own home. At that moment, a new feeling arose within us. We were filled with fear, and we decided to return to our country. We asked for all the documentation from my school and told them that my father had bought us tickets to leave. We had a date and time for the return tickets to our country, and we decided to return.
At this point, it was an immense mix of emotions, emotions for everyone, and we had talks. Now we wanted to see if we were sure of what we were going to do, seeing my mother having panic attacks, my father not knowing what to do, and my brother anxious. It was definitely difficult. My anxiety worsened from the first problem we had. And at this point, having panic attacks was a normal part of our daily routine.
The aunt who let us live with her realized we were going to return, came to our house, and convinced us not to. My parents decided to stay for me, for my studies, for my future. Sadly my brother decided to return, we were once again three. We've decided to live day-to-day, trying our best. Both my mother and father started working and I started studying again.
Coming here hasn't been easy at all, but the opportunities that have been presented to me make it worth it. Yes, my greatest wish is that my family and I can live happily and peacefully one day, and I hope things get better for us.
Anndy Soto: How I Got Here
My story of how I came to the United States is a very long one. There were four of us: me, my cousin, and another woman were minors, and another man was an adult.
I left my house in December of 2020. We traveled all the way through Guatemala until we reached Mexico. We had a good time in Guatemala. The trip was going to get complicated when we got to Mexico. We had to go through a road and cross some wire fences, and there was a taxi waiting for us.
As we were crossing the fence, we saw two men walking out of a house, but we paid no attention to them as we started walking. They passed us and asked us where we were going. They began interrogating us and threatening the young man who was with us. They said they were going to put him in jail because they thought he was the coyote. Then they let us go and return the way we came.
Then the boy called the man who told us we were going to cross. A car was going to pick us up, and the car did, and we entered Mexico. They took us to a house where there were many people who had come to the United States. We spent the night there. Around 2:00 in the morning, they picked us up and put us in trucks. There were about three of us, and each truck carried about 60 people. They drove for about an hour, and we stopped at a house just to buy food. Then we went back out and drove for another hour, stopping at another house. After half an hour, we left again.
They took us to a crowded forest. We stayed there for two days. There were people of all ages. Then they made us stand in a long line to get into two vans. There were two—one for women and children, and one for men. They put my cousin and me in that one. We left around 2:00 p.m. and arrived at another forest. I left there around 6:00 p.m. They were selling food and told us to eat because the trip was going to be long, and we also had to take wafers to avoid going to the bathroom the entire time.
Then, at 10:00 p.m., a large van arrived, where everyone would be unloaded. First, they put our backpacks up front so the women and children could leave comfortably. The back was for all the men. It was divided into metal blocks. About 25 people were supposed to fit in each block. Everyone was crammed into each block. The van was modified. The insides were made of iron, and it had a chair for some men to sleep in. They opened the roof of the van on the empty stretches of road to let air in. The van also had fans so they could be somewhat comfortable, but it was always hot with so many people.
That trip in that van was one of the worst moments of my life. At that moment, I regretted having decided to travel to another country. Because we spent all night and all day, and we couldn't stand it. We don't have the energy for much longer.
We stopped around 3:00 in the afternoon. They put us in a warehouse and got everyone out, and there were a lot of people there. They put us in a big house and told some people there to make room for us so we could all move in. It was a very big, long house, and we were there for a day. At dawn, they took the four of us, my companions, and me out. They took us in a taxi and dropped us off at a house where there were about 12 people. It was a small house, we could barely fit in. Someone came to sell us food, but it was very expensive. My companions and I were very tired. They only gave us food twice a day, and that didn't satisfy us, and we needed to eat to regain our energy. We were in that house for about three days.
Then they took us out in vans. They were going to take us to a place to get on a bus. In the vans, we were very crowded because sitting all together was very uncomfortable. When we got to the bus, there were a lot of people on the seats that only fit three people. That bus should have had five people, and the rest in the middle. The bus stopped to fill up with gas. At that moment, I almost fainted from lack of energy. My vision blurred, and I couldn't see anything. Then, after five minutes, my vision returned, but I was very scared. I thought I was going to die. My cousin and I stood on the bus for 12 hours without food and with two bottles of water. That part of the trip made me regret having traveled to the United States. That bus ride was very difficult for me.
My companions and I were dropped off at a house. When we arrived, there were people there, but they separated the young people from the adults because we were already close to the border. Then a man said he wanted to pray for us. We knelt and began to pray. At that moment, I felt good because God always protected us the whole way.
We were very close to the border. We were in that house for two days, then they took us to some streets that we had to run across, but it was very difficult because so many cars were passing by. All the young people who were with me there went through. There were about 12 of us. The man who took us to that street took our phones and money and told us to run across the street. Then we crossed a stream when we reached the wall, which they moved further to the left because Immigration had found us.
They took us inside the wall to be searched. Then they took us to a place they called "the icebox." There they took off all our clothes and gave us a gray uniform. They gave us a call to call our relatives, and we were there for two days. Then they took us to a house called "Casa Moctezuma." Everyone there was very nice, unlike immigration. It was the pandemic, and we had to be quarantined for ten days. We spent Christmas there. Then, on December 31, they took us to New York to be reunited with my mom. She was very happy.
Darwin Pacheco:
The Trip to the US
The trip to the United States.
When I decided to come to this country, I wanted a better education and a better life for my family, because my country is a bit difficult to live in. It was a bit difficult to leave my country because I had to leave my family, my parents, and siblings, and then I had to travel through other countries I didn't know. For example, in Guatemala, when I traveled through that country, it was a bit difficult because I didn't have much money to buy food, and the conditions I came under weren't the best. But Guatemala is a very beautiful country.
And then my trip through Mexico was a little more difficult because it's a bigger country. I had to stay in a house for about 10 days because the journey was very difficult. And then I was finally able to reach my destination.
It's a huge and unforgettable experience that many Latinos have to go through. All of these people are brave. That was my experience on the trip to the United States.
The many things I saw on the road from Guatemala to Mexico were bad people who killed others to steal their money. And when the person didn't want to do what they wanted, they killed them. ??With harming family members.
But just as there are bad people, there are also good people, people who, when you look at people who need help, help them. For example, by giving them food and water.
Those were just some of the many experiences you had on that journey when people didn't want to do what they wanted, and once they killed a family that was with me.
He didn't want to pay what the bad people wanted and so they killed a family member to make him pay the money.