Life is very, very tough for many in Guatemala. Years and years of corruption have kept all of the money in the hands of a few leaving the others with little choice but to abandon their families and make the often treacherous journey to “el norte,” the presumed land of plenty. And what happens to those whom they leave behind? I think that many believe that they are going to make so much money that they can pay off the coyote and pay to have those left behind brought along to join them living in the shadows. Perhaps the shadows are better than abject poverty. I don’t know what Isaac’s mom is thinking or planning.
A couple of years ago I received a panicked WhatsApp message from Issac’s mom. There had been an accident and she was taking Issac to the public hospital on a chicken bus. They had been riding in a “tuk tuk,” a fairly primitve 3-wheeled transport, that was hit by a motorcycle and Isaac had sustained a compound, open fracture of his arm. Both drivers took off and left Nusly on the street with her injured child. Somehow she made is to a bus and on to the hospital.
His arm was set surgically with pins and he was sent home the next day. As happens here in Guatemala I posted a request on Facebook for a pediatric traumatologist and almost immediately had a referral to a friend’s uncle. The uncle checked the arm and was available very early one morning when one of the pins was causing excruciating pain as it was in contact with a nerve.
Five years olds heal very fast and the injured arm was soon forgotten
I have the good fortune to have a lap pool so during the pandemic I hired an out of work physical education teacher to give a number of children some diversion and exercise as well as a step up in the world. Being able to swim helps to level the playing field for those with few resources. Swimming is important not only for safety reasons but also for social reasons. Once he realized that he could use his arm again Isaac quickly became an amazing swimmer.
But, the lure and the iffy promises of the coyotes, also known as human traffickers, and the tales of those who had gone before her proved to be irresistible for Isaac’s mom, Nusly. Off she went with Issac’s seventeen-year old brother leaving behind a $20,000 lien on her parents’ property, her seven-year old son, an eleven-year old daughter and her husband. Isaac has already said that he doesn’t think his mother will ever come back. Their relationship, like so many others, has been reduced to a nightly WhatsApp chat.
Continuing to spend time with his pal, Beyker, has helped Isaac adjust to life without his mother. Swimming lessons continue during the school vacation as a way of also easing the transition for Issac.
A few weeks ago Isaac graduated from pre-school. It was easy to see the sadness and resignation in his seven year old eyes. His mom was supposed to be there. Yet another broken family. All for the struggle against poverty and lack of opportunity in a country rife with corruption.
How does a seven-year grasp the fact that his mother left so that she might do something for her children.? So that they might have a refrigerator and his sister could have her own bed. So that the children don’t have to eat beans every day and can dream about their future.
Isaac will change schools in January as he will no longer travel to Antigua with his mother every day. He will go to a school in his village of San Andres Iztapa with his sister. The same school that his older brother attended and where he was a top student until he left for the United States. The two are hoping against hope that Santa Claus will somehow produce bicycles to ease their travel to school.
As it happens Santa Claus did show up for the two children. They got the bicycles that they had only every dreamed about before. And Isaac got to eat lunch with Santa whom you will notice is lunching on spiked eggnog and cookies.
It seems that the only work in Delaware where Nusly is presently located is in chicken processing factories. Her minor son could only work there if he had health insurance which he does not have and, at the moment, there is no work. So, plans are afoot to help Nusly and her son relocate to Nevada where she has family and I have family and friends who might help her find work. As an asylum seeker she is only allowed ro move once and she has to photograph her whereabouts every Wednesday on a cell phone provided by immigration. And then of course she owes money to the people she has been staying with who offered her shelter until she found work, perhaps knowing that there was no work. A move to Nevada might mean Nusly can find work and start to pay off her coyote debt but it won’t mean much to the children she has left behind.