Enrique’s Journey Author: Sonia Nazario Publisher: Random House Trade Date of publication: 2006/2007 In Los Angeles, California, the author Sonia Nazario, was at her home when her maid, Maria Del Carmen Ferrez and her began talking about children, and Sonia learned that Maria had four children still living in Guatemala. Carmen’s story began after her husband left her for another woman and she decided to travel to the United States to have a more successful life. Carmen embarked on a journey north, eventually arriving in Los Angeles, where she found work and sends money and lothes to her children back in Guatemala, but feels very emotional due to her forced separation from her children in order to have a better life. A year later, Carmen learned that her son Minor, had arrived in Los Angeles to reunite with Carmen. Sonia Nazario was amazed at hearing about this story, and started to research the journeys that people traveling from Central America and Mexico endured in order to come to the United States. This inspired Sonia Nazario to write about Enrique, who was 17 at the time, whom she met at a shelter in Nuevo Laredo fter shadowing him and hearing about his journey up North. “Enrique’s Journey” is the story of a young boys dangerous obstacle to reunite with his mother. When Enrique is five years old, his mother Lourdes, leaves Honduras after struggling to support her children. She does not want to see her children grow up in extreme poverty as did she so she heads to the United States to try and find work, and she promises the children that she will return soon.
Years have passed, and Enrique has become very depressed and lonely, from being shuffled from one amily home to another, in hopes of his mother to return. He lives with his paternal grandmother most of his life, selling food and spices to help family expenses. He becomes very frustrated about the situation with his mother and also the death of his uncle, starts to rebel and turn to drugs for comfort, which led Enrique to being kicked out of his grandmothers home. In the meantime, Lourdes, realizes that life in the United States isn’t what she imagined. She worked low paying jobs and gave birth to a daughter, Diana. Lourdes lost her job at the factory, so she resorted o prostitution to be able to get some money. After that she finds a steady job again and is able to send money and clothes to her children in Honduras. Enrique’s use of drugs begins to escalate, as he steals jewelry from his aunt in order to pay for his drugs, but is caught by police. Enrique gets kicked out of his house again, but is hesitant about leaving his girlfriend, Maria Isabel, who is pregnant with their child. After elven years, Enrique decides to go and find his mother. Without any money ,Enrique makes the illegal reacherous trip on the Trains of Death, through South and Central America, then Mexico, over the Rio Grande and into the United States. Enrique, along with the many other migrants, are beaten, robbed, and humiliated, but that doesn’t stop him from continuing on. On the eighth attempt, Enrique ends up in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, protected in an encampment. He raises enough money to contact his mother, and helps him get across the river into the United States. Soon, Enrique and Lourdes are finally reunited in over a decade, and he moves in with her and starts to work.
Back in Honduras, Maria is raising their daughter, and Enrique sends money back to help them just as his mother did for them. He wants to save enough money to be able to get Maria and his daughter to the United Sates so that they can provide a better life for their daughter. After saving enough money, he pays a smuggler to bring his wife to the United States. Jasmin, stays back in Honduras, in the care of Belky, Enrique’s sister. This story exemplified a few sociological factors, ranging from poverty, immigration, etc. The characters in this story made difficult ecisions in order to deal with their poverty. Many people in Mexico immigrated to the United States in search of a better lifestyle for themselves and their family. Their country lacks opportunities, so they opt to the United States to find it, because they have what it takes for a person to make the best of life. Poverty and well-paying jobs in the United States are tearing families apart, hence Enrique and Lourdes in the story. Lourdes was hesitant about leaving her children. Just putting food on the table and having their hildren be able to go to school past the fourth grade was a struggle. The desire to escape poverty involved forcing families to separate and take huge risks that aren’t to their best interest. The book is also centered around immigration. Nazario’s intention was to state the details of not just Enrique’s journey, but also the many other migrants and what they encounter on their treacherous journeys, in hopes to create social awareness. Before reading this book, I had no prior knowledge of what the immigration process from Mexico to the United States was like and what hese people had to endure in order to make a better life for themselves and their families in the United States. It truly is an eye opener and makes you think about what resources and opportunities are here in the United States whereas in less fortunate countries, people there don’t have as much. It gives you a different perspective on life. The lengths that the migrants went, despite the horrific conditions, to make it across the border safely were truly remarkable. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it for everyone!
