Believing That You Can
Living in the United States has taught me to do things
on my own and to take care of myself. “Being independent”
is the key to living in the United States, which I was not
used to when I was in Guatemala. This does not bother me
anymore. I kind of like it.
Roberto Gabriel is a student at the Adult and Alternative Education
Center in Key West. His teacher is Ms. Josephson.
Strength, Faith, and Hope
I’m Sharon and I’m from Mexico City. My life as a
young girl was normal. When I was in college I had friends,
parties and good grades in my career studies in marketing.
Everything was going well until one day my brother told me
he would be leaving for the United States. My brother Isaac
and I had never been separated and we were very close. My
Mama took it very quietly. She’s been like a tree that still
stands in spite of the storm, but in the bottom of our hearts
we wept alone. With the passage of time life returned to
normal. However after a couple of years, in November of
2006, my brother called and said that there could be new
horizons for me and he convinced me to come to the USA.
By November 28 I had started my journey to the place
where my dreams could come true, not realizing that a
nightmare would be realized before the dream. We met at
the border, my cousin Carmen and I as well as 26 other
men, women, and children. We were given instructions.
I knew that we were taking serious risks, but it was
impossible to turn back now. It was dark by 9:00 p.m. We
were tired from walking all day and finally fell asleep.
During the night I was awakened and someone with a strong
arm. He grabbed me and put a knife to my neck. I was
terribly afraid. The fear started to paralyze me, with the
knife at my neck he pulled me away from the camp and he
sexually abused me. For the first time in my life I was afraid
I was going to die. Courage took over and I was able to
escape and run back to the camp. The noise caused a lot of
confusion; people ran everywhere. My cousin and I were
able to stay together. This situation has changed my life
completely, but it did not stop me from living. We arrived