Tag Archives: construction

Construction Worker from El Salvador

        My father is originally from El Salvador and he migrated to the U.S when he was twenty two years old because he wanted to have a job there. He explained to me that his country was on the horizons of poverty and he would do anything to help his family. So he came to the U.S ... Read More »

The Challenges of Leaving Kids Behind (Philippines)

      Rafael John (name changed) is a forty five year old man, who is both a first generation immigrant from the Philippines and now a citizen of the United States. John is half Filipino and half Caucasian. He is a husband and a father of three children. John said he was working two jobs, but due to the ... Read More »

“The Air Smelled Like Trees” (El Salvador)

      My name is Javi (name changed). I lived in a small town in the country of El Salvador named San Francisco Menendez. I was born in 1979. I used to play with friends on the soccer field and play with the marbles we had. The landscape was very rural and the air smelled like a chicken coop. ... Read More »

The Children Are Succeeding and That’s Why We Came (Mexico)

            I was in a caravan with my wife along with 70 people. Everyone came from different places. I came from a small ranch named San Miguel Michoacan. I was 21 when I decided to leave in order to give my family and my wife the best by giving them a good education. I was ... Read More »

A Perilous Journey, Hard Work, and a Better Life (México)

I was determined that I would make a better life for my family, even if I had to risk my life. I come from a large, hard working family. By Mexican standards we were comfortable, but that comfort came with the price of constant hard work. We lived under the rule of a corrupt president, who took more and more ... Read More »

Success Through Opportunities (Italy)

I was 18 years old when my cousins, a couple friends, and I boarded the ship en route to Canada. The four of us had heard of these job opportunities in Canada and how Canadians were looking for immigrants from Europe to come and work. We packed our bags and headed to the ship. When we arrived, the ship looked ... Read More »

Hopes to Return and Build House (Mexico)

My stepfather Mauricio (name changed) was born in 1977 in Quintana Roo, Mexico. He came to the United States to make a better living and hopefully save enough money to build a house in Mexico. In his town, there was not a lot of work because Mexico had economic problems. He had cousins, aunts, uncles, daughters and siblings that lived ... Read More »

A Better Life (Guatemala)

My friend, Carlos,(name changed) was born in Baja Verapaz Guatemala in 1995. He came here for “a better life”. What does that mean? That means he didn’t have opportunities for jobs in Guatemala. He couldn’t earn enough to buy a car or house. Also there were many problems like violence, extortions, bad education and most of all – a corrupt ... Read More »

Field Work and Construction (Mexico)

My uncle Alejandro (name changed) was born in 1980 in Guerrero México. He came here because in his town there was a lot of work but it was not very well paid. Alejandro started working in the fields when he was 10 years old. He picked corn ,peanuts and beans for about 6 years . He realized that he could ... Read More »

Safety and Opportunity (El Salvador)

My uncle Jaime was born in El Salvador in 1993. The reason why he came to the United States was because he was scared to live in El Salvador because of the social and political situation. He came to look for protection in the United States. He was scared to be killed by the gangs or someone from his family ... Read More »