On the other side of the border

On the other side of the border

I am Camilo, I am 17 years old and I come from El Salvador, which is a very small country located between Honduras and Guatemala.

My daily life is violence and poverty!

I have a father who is a bus driver and my mother, I don't know anymore...

Actually, my mother went far away today, because of a certain gang called the "Maras".

I didn't go to school anymore, I didn't learn anymore, I received lots of death threats. And increasingly violent death threats that took me emotionally. I was crying all the time and these threats reminded me of my mother who is now far away!

A few weeks later, after these threatening letters, my father decided to pay a "pollero", who is a smuggler and whose purpose is to help us cross the American border. My father gave all his savings, nearly 5 years' salary, or 13,000 dollars. But my father wanted my good, that I should go to school and that later on I should have a salary and a job! That's what my father really wanted!

On the morning of the departure, my father had tears in his eyes, he didn't dare to cry!

"Hello, my son! I hope you will succeed in life!" he said.

"Don't worry Dad, I'll see you again, when I get to Mexico I'll try to send you a message," I said

"Farewell, my son!" he cried out.

"Goodbye Daddy!" I exclaimed

May 27, 2018, is a date I will always remember! I am leaving my country, my beautiful land. I go far away, I am on a bus where everyone cries and prays.

"Pray with us, young man! Let us pray that God will protect us," shouted a stranger.

Why am I here? Why am I here? Why was I born in a violent country?

We drove to the Guatemalan border, Guatemalan customs officers closed the border. During this endless break, I met a young man from Honduras.

"Hi! What's your name?" I said.

"My name is Mauro, and what is your name?" he asked himself.

"I'm Camilo!" I said.

"And why are you leaving your country?" I asked myself.

"I am exhausted by the violence, the "Maras" killed half of my village, my family and I are the last survivors. Also, there is no food or hospitals!" he exclaimed

"And why are you leaving your country?" he asked.

"For the same reasons as you!" I confided.

A little later, Mauro confided in me his anguish, the fear of dying on the border between the United States and Mexico.

He had his whole family, I was nothing, I had no parents or family members.

When I arrived in northern Guatemala, I felt bad, I was totally overwhelmed by all the bad moments I had experienced in my life, I was devoid of anger and sadness, I missed my family so much I felt like a coward.

I wanted to turn back, but what's the point?

So

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