I’ve come miles away to live a better life and help out my family’s lives back home. From Jalisco, Mexico to Colorado.

Traveling in the desert for two whole weeks by foot, along with my little brother and our cousin. From sixteen of us men, to only three left standing. Some caught by immigration, some weren’t able to cross into the desert, and the others decided to go back to their homes. Days through the desert were difficult. We only survived off water from cactus or a nearby river, where we filled our empty jugs with and filtered with our shirts to drink, certain plants that we knew we can eat or just a small piece of tortilla topped with a little bit of tuna a day for each of us, that didn’t last long. From our homes to the borderline of the U.S and Mexico, it took up to a whole 24 hours or more. Each of us HAD to pay $15,000 to the people which is part of the drug war, in order to cross into the dessert. If we didn’t have the money or refused to pay, our lives would have been in extreme danger such as abuse/ beaten up, killed right at that moment, or anything that they had in mind. The only reason I continued my journey was because of my family. I am the father of my kids, a husband to my wife and a son to my parents. Without me taking risks such as this one, my family’s lives would have possibly been completely crushed due to the drug war. Within two weeks of complete traveling in the desert, snakes were a big red flag. Rattle snakes everywhere, in order to avoid any attacks, we all stood still until it slithered off knowing we mean no harm. Not only were reptiles a trouble for us, but ticks were as well, they latched onto us.   Once we arrived at our destination in Texas, we had holes in our clothing and shoes, and a stench lingered from all the sweat and dirt. Arriving where we needed to, we hadn’t known what was going on since we spent a week in a room. No water, no food, the only thing we had been a mid-sized old mattress. After a week in that room, we met a very kind and respectful women. She fed all three of us, and noticed how are clothing was, ripped, dirty, and smelly. She didn’t mind it though; at least we think she didn’t. A day and a half up to two days, we spent on the road in a car, and by the time we knew it, we arrived in Colorado. She helped us figure out where to go so we would know exactly where were going to stay. This then led us to a small apartment with other elder family members that crossed the border way before us and family friends from back home as well. This is then where our new lives began.