At 14, I walked through the desert to reach the US. My story didn't end there
Last edited Fri Dec 20, 2019, 03:29 AM - Edit history (1)
After Soledad Castillo escaped abuse in Honduras, the US brought dangers of its own. On International Migrant Day, she shares her experience
Soledad Castillo
Wed 18 Dec 2019 06.00 ESTLast modified on Thu 19 Dec 2019 07.50 EST
Iwas born in Honduras in 1992. My parents broke up before I was born and when I was five, my father left for the United States. I lived with my mother and my sister and we were the poorest family in our small neighborhood. Eventually my mother got together with Faustino, the man who would become my stepfather. She was scared of him because he drank a lot and was violent. He used to hit my mom and throw chairs at her.
One night my stepfather got drunk and came over to my bed and touched me inappropriately. I started yelling and ran out of the house. When my mom came home the next day, I told her what Faustino had done to me, but she didn’t believe me. She sent me to another part of the city to work for his relatives. I cleaned their house, took care of two babies, washed clothes. I was their servant.
I was only 12.
When my father returned to Honduras to see me for the first time in 10 years, I asked him to take me back to the United States because I didn’t have anything left in Honduras and I wanted to start a new life.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/18/immigration-international-migrant-day-honduras
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