March 7th 2017

March 7^th was an emotional day for me. After a long day at work, we met with 4 men from San Lucas to learn about their immigration experiences. We knew two men from working in the community in the last few days but the others were new speakers. They all had different perspectives and shared their unfulfilled American dreams with us.

I wish I could put up each person’s picture so you could understand they are people, just like you and me trying to feed their families, build homes, and looking for a better life. They crossed the river illegally when there were left with no option. The first speaker told us, He had to pay a coyote $ 7500 (50,000 quetzals) to try and get to his dream. 

He told us, “I made it but I got captured.”

They all shared with us the conditions inside the detention centers, the treatment they received and how many days they stayed in jail before deportation. It was inhumane. They were left freezing in cold rooms. They were chained not only going to the jail but also going back to their countries on the planes. “It is business” says one policeman delivering them to the plane that would take them back home. They asked why? At this point I wanted to share a story with them but I couldn’t and I felt bad. As an immigrant, I totally understand the process it takes or I should say I understand my path. It is long and from my knowledge it is never easy. I related more to someone who is in need of medical treatment right now and because of his past illegal crossing has been denied a visa for now. He asked us, you tell us to do everything the right way and when we do it we get denied the entry. Porque? I really felt sad for him and I hope the country that gave me citizenship will give him access to medical treatment. Prayers for that family, there is always hope. As for our work day, we finished Emma’s stove. It looked great. Our mason, ‘Carlosss’, keeps calling us “Lisiii, Erick and Dasia”. It is kind of nice the way he calls out to us.The children at Emma’s house are drawing for us and I am hugging kids and braiding hair. John is the soccer star in the village. We are all having a great time. It is going to be hard to leave here. We will be going to the new house tomorrow, Lillian’s house. This is Lucyyyy signing off.

“Los extrańamos chicos”

By the way guys, ‘dogo’ is dog according to John….