Enrique's Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother

Enrique’s JourneySummaryEnrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario tells a odyssey of a Honduran boy named Enrique who was born in Tegucigalpa Honduras. He lives with his mother Lourdes and his sister Belky. Enrique’s father has long left; since Lourdes hardly can provide food for her children, she decides to leave for the United States to earn money to send back to her children. Enrique and Belky become separated; Enrique stays with his father and Belky with Lourdes’s mother and sister. Ever since his mother left, Enrique misses his mother and always asks when she is coming back. Meanwhile, Lourdes is living in California, misses her children but continues to provide for them. While Lourdes tries many jobs, she meets Santos, becomes pregnant and gives birth to Diana. Enrique goes through difficult time as well. He goes through a series of rejections. First his mother, next his father, and then his grandmother, finally his uncle. Enrique’s only dream is to be with his mother once again, and so he set out on a journey in search for his mother.Enrique makes numerous attempts to get north and on his seventh, he is found bleeding and naked. Enrique is able to escape from the people who attacked him on the train and stole everything he had, including his mother’s telephone number, Enrique receives help from a mayor, and then, other people help him and recommend him to not risk it again. Many young people have died trying to get to the USA riding on top of train, which is not safe. Their families never learn what happens with their loved ones. However, Enrique still desires to travel north to look for his mom. Enrique tries again using his prior experience. However, he is caught by the police in Tapachula, and taken to jail. He escapes and makes it to the train, reaches Chiapas in “el Tren devorador” which is known as the train Devours, which is one of the hardest part, so Enrique is proud of himself.In Veracruz, Enrique sees the Jesus’ statue, most of the migrants that are on top of the train bend down and say a prayer. Enrique does not think he should do it because all of the things that he has done in the past. On his journey trough the state of Oaxaca and Veracruz, Enrique discovers that people there are nice to migrants; most of them give the immigrants clothes and food. Also the priests at the parishes encourage the members to help the migrants so they can get to the destination safely. The train enters a few tunnels, El Mexicano is the longest, the diesel smoke rises and the migrants had a hard time, Enrique’s face and arms turn gray. In Mexico City, everything changes, people from there are scare of the migrants, they think that migrants are all bandits. Now Enrique has to hide from the state police and the people that live in la Lecheria. Back in the train, he felts as sleep. Enrique and few more boys get caught by the police that bring them to their jefe, he checks them and luckily lets them re board the train and tell them to get off the train before San Luis Potosi. Once there, Enrique works a little to get some money for food and for the rest of his trip. In Nuevo Laredo, Enrique finds a camp for migrants, he feels safe there. However, it is not the safest places to be, there is all kind of things going around like drugs, criminals, smuggling network, etc.Enrique does not forget about his mom. One late afternoon, Enrique is able to get his mom phone number. He collect calls her. He feels her love, Enrique tells his mom that he is in Nuevo Laredo and that he needs to pay a smuggler to help him to cross the river. After el Tirano helped Enrique to cross the river and get to the USA, Lourdes’s husband gets Enrique and drives him to see his mom in North Carolina. Happiness did not last too long. Lourdes want it to tell Enrique what to do and how to do it, but Enrique did not like it, their confrontation stared getting very often and Enrique started to spend his money in drugs, alcohol instead of sending it to his daughter in Honduras. Time passes by and Enrique decides to move out of the house. He tries to get his live back on track by saving money for a smuggler to bring Maria Isabel to the USA. Maria Isabel Travels north with a smuggler, with her there are more immigrant traveling. Jasmin, Enrique and Maria Isabel daughter’s stays with Belky Enrique’s sister.Enrique and Lourdes are invited to participate in a show call “Don Francisco”. It is very popular in Latin America. Don Francisco asks Enrique about his pass as well as Lourdes, also he asks Enrique why he wanted to come to the United States and by the end, Don Francisco tells Lourdes that “he knows that one of Lourdes biggest dream is to see her daughter Belky after not seeing her for seventeen years”. Lourdes voice gets tight. Then through the same door that Enrique and Lourdes used moments before, Belky enters. This was the first time that Lourdes and her three children have been together. After few days, Belky goes back to Honduras were her baby son and husband are waiting for her return.

Very good book,

Lo uso a diario

Great book was used as a discussion for a Church group. Gained lot of info on immigration.

I had to read this book for my class on the Modernization of Central America, and my country was Honduras. This book shines light on the important journey that immigrants have to take to get away from the drugs and violence of Honduras. The title makes it obvious you will follow the journey that Enrique has to take and throughout his journey, you will see how Enrique adapts and overcomes hard battles that he faces throughout his journey. You will realize how persistent Enrique is and how important it is for him to make it to the United States. I feel like this book gives us a good representation of how immigrants not only from Honduras but throughout Central America have struggled and still struggle with the challenges and temptations that they run into along their journey. I would highly recommend this book to a friend or family member if they are interested in Central America.

I read this book because I felt it held important knowledge about the migrant experience. I am not an officer, but work for a law enforcement department and am learning Spanish in order to help bridge the gap between our local law enforcement and our local Hispanic population. We have very few translators here and our community should always receive the help they need no matter what language they speak.The story itself, I must say, was rather depressing. It was not an ‘easy’ book to read and I was not able to sit down for long stretches reading it. If you’re looking for a real story though - read this one.The book was well written in my opinion, but the style of it was not a favorite of mine. It may well appeal to other readers though. Let me explain - the author did very much focus on Enrique’s story, no doubt. However, there were many ‘interruptions’ to it as she would ellaborate on different parts of his journey by telling other people’s experiences throughout itas well. That made following Enrique’s journey (specifically) difficult to do.However, it made understanding the entirety of the journey from Honduras to the US more real. The author would tell of citizen’s encounters with immigration officers or a train conductor’s pain at having seen so many die in his career or a local church’s mission to help the most needy.It was important for me read this since I will likely never experience what so many of these people have gone through. I am glad that someone had the courage to put this on paper and I hope that having this new base knowledge will help me be a better translator in the future.

I read this book as a part of a Central American history course, and it taught me many things. This book really displays the struggles many children and adults face in Central America or as immigrants from Central America. It shows the importance mothers have in their children's lives and the cycles of abandonment many families face as mothers go to the United States to provide for their children that are still in Central America. It also displays the brutality of the journey from Central America to the United States and how desperate people are to have a better life by constantly enduring such inhumane actions. The only thing I disliked about this book was how graphic it was in detailing, but it was necessary to make the reader understand the situations that many Central Americans go through and witness on their journey to the United States.

Very welcome construed to give the reader a factual understanding of the reality for many from south of the US border.

An excellent book. I was living in Honduras from 1976- 1983, at that time Honduras was a very different country, where we would travel freely all over the country and feel safe. People were poor and children suffered from mal nutrition- but the immigration only began later...

Excelente!

A estória contada no livro sobre a vida real de uma criança abandonada pelos pais mostra de forma clara os impactos negativos da pobreza na América Latina. Mostra também que, além de destroçar vidas, a pobreza empurra adultos a emigrarem para os Estados Unidos em busca de melhores condições financeiras, deixando seus filhos aos cuidados de parentes ou conhecidos. São essas crianças, de certa forma abandonadas, que buscam desesperadamente cruzar a fronteira para encontrarem os pais que os deixaram. Forma-se assim um ciclo de misérias humanas, já que a travessia é extremamente perigosa e deixa marcas de violência e às vezes de morte. Sem entrar no julgamento das ações desses pais, a verdade mostrada é que não há final feliz nessas estórias, mesmo quando filhos e pais se reunem. O livro descreve com honestidade e sensibilidade as partes tristes dessa caminhada do personagem Enrique, mas também mostra lados bonitos do ser humano, principalmente daqueles que ajudam e salvam as vidas das crianças que se arriscam nessa travessia.

Die Geschichte an sich ist sehr interessant und beleuchtet ein Thema, das gerade in den letzten Wochen an Brisanz gewonnen hat durch die massenhafte Zuwanderung von unbegleiteten Kindern und Jugendlichen oder Mütter mit Kindern in die USA. Viele haben gefährliche Reisen hinter sich, haben Entsetzliches sowohl in ihren Heimatländern als auch auf der Reise erlebt, ebenso wie der Held der Geschichte, Enrique.Die große Schwäche des Buches ist sein Stil: eine so stark vereinfachte Form des Englischen, dass das Buch von der Sprache her für das dritte Lernjahr geeignet wäre, der Inhalt jedoch für die Sekundarstufe II. Wer darüber hinwegsehen kann, hat ein sehr interessantes, ja spannendes Buch vor sich.