Beyker was born four weeks early no doubt due to the tiny size of his sixteen year old mother. The National Hospital system in Guatemala is free to all but is very short on everything. Beyker’s mom went for a routine appointment and was told that her baby was in distress so an emergency Cesarean was performed. One thing the National Hospital is good at is delivering babies because they have a lot of experience. Beyker weighed in at four pounds and ten ounces which would have landed him in an incubator in many countries. His mom was told to holler if anything went wrong. He was wrapped in rags stamped with the name of the hospital until his grandmother arrived with some diapers and clothes. Mom and baby were in a room with ten beds, ten moms and ten babies in the beds with their moms. The two were discharged the next day to make room for another mom and baby. Gladly, there were no complications for either of them.
Nearly seven years later thanks to proper nutrition and a sponsored, private education Beyker is thriving. He has been in school since he was eighteen months old and loves it. “Why do they have to have vacations?” he wants to know. He is reading, writing, and speaking both Spanish and English. According to the Guatemalan system, he will not enter first grade until January. His first English words were “blueberries” and “oh, my God!”
Two years ago Beyker wanted a car, a real car, for Christmas. His grandmother explained that Santa Claus could not carry a car as it was too big. Beyker responded, “why don’t you ask that Santa Claus from the United States?” referring to a neighbor of mine who plays Santa Claus every year. At five he had already figured out that the goodies come from the United States. He wanted to know why he could not go to the United States on vacation like his classmates. It is complicated, Beyker.
Beyker’s mom works full-time at a call center and attends university classes all day Saturday studying criminology and political crime, the latter no doubt is both expansive and dangerous in Guatemala. Her intelligence and determination have obviously been passed on to her son who is an excellent student. The video below is his final presentation, at age five, for his first year in kindergarten. In Guatemala kindergarten consists of two years. He talks about one of the many Mayan cultures in Guatemala.
Beyker’s best friend is Isaac, son of Nusly. They are in the same class at school and they swim together. As Beyker is bigger than Isaac he saves his outgrown clothes for his pal. Beyker is an animal lover and so far has rescued two kittens. While the latest rescued kitten was at the local vet clinic pending her spay surgery the two boys went to visit and Beyker showed Isaac the proper way to hold a kitten.
At almost seven Beyker is old beyond his years. Recently he got into a bit of trouble for tangling the seatbelts in my car. When reprimanded by his family his response was “how am I going to learn if I don’t do bad things?” Indeed.
Beyker also has a lot of questions. He wants to know who his non-participating father is. He wants to know why they don’t have fresh flowers in his house. He wants a drone for his birthday so he can spy on the neighbors. He asked his grandmother why she did not have a husband. As you may recall from a previous post her “husband, ” Beyker’s grandfather, is doing time in the slammer. She simply told Beyker that she did not want to have a husband and he responded, “ but if you had one we could have a car.” His conclusion no doubt came from seeing husbands picking up their kids at school in cars.
Soon he will start to understand the realities of his life in Guatemala as a member of a family that struggles economically, He will understand that he was born into a challenged country. He will understand why they don’t have fresh flowers and why he cannot go to the United States on vacation. And why his father doesn’t pick him up from school in a car. And he will no doubt find out where his grandfather resides. Hopefully, his lost innocence will fill him full of hope and determination rather than anger and hopelessness.
What will the future be like for Beyker and Isaac? They are among the fortunate as they are getting a decent education. But even the educated have trouble finding jobs in Guatemala. Will their sponsor still be around to help them get through university? Will Isaac’s mother give in to her hopelessness and engage a coyote and try to make it to the United States? If she is successful will she send for her children? Will they experience a harrowing trip with a coyote and a harrowing adjustment in the United States? Will Beyker’s mother have to go into exile for her pursuit of political crime? Will Beyker ever get a car? I think he probably will, somewhere.
I can recommend a couple of books if you would like to learn more about a child’s solo journey to the United States with a coyote.
Solito by Javier Zamora and Immigrant by Marcos Ántil. Both are available on Amazon.
I love your stories. Please keep writing!!
Keep writing Joan. I am enjoying reading all of this. We hope to get there sometime. Things get in the way, like health issues. Nothing awful, just inconvenient,