Nicaragua Woman’s Story of Harrowing Escape to the US
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: March 26, 2012
WUNRN
NICARAGUA WOMAN’S STORY OF HARROWING
ESCAPE TO THE US – INTERVIEW
As
a Red Cross volunteer, Olga Cantarero was threatened by the Sandinistas and had
to flee her native Nicaragua. She endured a harrowing journey through Mexico and across the border to Texas, fearing for her life at the hands of her smugglers. She
now works at the International Emergency Shelter in Los Fresnos,
Texas, with juvenile immigrants who faced persecution in their
home countries or suffered similar trauma during their own difficult journeys
to the United
States.
How
did you get involved with the Red Cross and why did it become dangerous?
My grandmother and mother raised me to believe in the importance of helping
people. So when I was 14, I began working with a priest from Germany to help other children my age in the community; I
distributed aid packages and learned how to give immunization shots.
The
Sandinistas had just come into power and were recruiting youth for the
military. While we were volunteering with the Red Cross, soldiers often
questioned us and accused us of plotting against them. I received a couple of
anonymous threats, and my brother, who was 17, was arrested and accused of
siding with the Contras. He was detained and tortured. They finally freed him,
but he returned home a different person; he was completely traumatized.
After
that, my family decided it was too dangerous for us to stay in the country. My
brother flew to El Salvador and then fled to the U.S., and I made plans to leave with my uncle. I was 19 years
old.
Can
you describe your journey from Nicaragua to the U.S.?
The entire trip took a few months; it was the longest journey of my life. I saw
terrible things and constantly feared for my life.
First,
we went through Honduras, El
Salvador, and Guatemala by bus, where I had to part ways with my uncle. The trip
from Guatemala to Mexico was very scary. I traveled with 16 people, and only two
other females: a pregnant woman, and an old lady that we called Grandma. We had
to walk for hours throughout the night without food and water. I passed so many
dead bodies of women and children. We were terrified, but we had no choice but
to continue.
When we
arrived at the Mexican border, we were passed to another smuggler who locked us
in a shed behind someone’s house. We could only use the restrooms once a day. I
met a Honduran girl who told me that she was being forced to have sex with one
of the smuggler’s sons as ransom, to pay for her family’s trip across the
border.
To get
into the U.S., I swam across the river in south Texas, in the middle of the night in my underwear, carrying a
plastic bag filled with dry clothes.
What
happened when you arrived in the U.S.?
The smugglers set me up with a job as a house maid in Texas. I wasn’t allowed to leave the house, I worked seven
days a week, and I was paid $25 a week, but every Saturday the smuggler came to
collect his debt of $15. Then, when my uncle arrived in the U.S., the smuggler said that I had to pay for my uncle as
well, so I had no choice but to stay longer.
How
did you get out of that situation and back on your feet?
When I paid off all the debts to the smuggler, I began to get other jobs
cleaning houses and babysitting. I met a person who was the director of the Mennonite Church who was also in charge of some volunteers that were
serving at the Refugees of Peace Program. Through this program I received ESL
classes. They also helped other people from Central America with donated clothes and food. Later on I also became a
volunteer with this program which gave me more experience helping other Central
Americans.
Tell
us about your job at the International Emergency Shelter.
In 1995, I offered to volunteer as a receptionist at two local legal agencies
which helped people in detention centers fill out applications for political
asylum. Then I got involved with the juvenile shelter, which is where I still
work today. The children we see are between the ages of 13 and 17, and many are
from Central America. We help them reunite with their families who reside in
the U.S. If there is no reunification they are placed in foster
care after their legal case is finalized.
What
are some of the common risks these young girls face during their journey and
when they arrive in the U.S?
Young girls are often raped during their journey and some become pregnant and
are abandoned. Sometimes the smuggler/trafficker promises the girls a job as a
waitress in a restaurant, and then sells them into prostitution.
What
do they dream of for their futures?
They dream of having the freedom that in their home country they didn’t have
because of the violence. They also dream of continuing their education to have
a career, in order to have a stable income. It’s sad because these kids were
robbed of their childhoods. They worry about adult problems, such as their
families’ safety and whether they can get a job and reunite with them.
Sometimes they feel guilty that they have a bed and three meals a day while
their families struggle to put food on the table back home.
What
is your advice for them?
We try to keep them focused on the future. I tell them that I’m from Central America like them, and that I know so many young women who were
once in their shoes and who now lead successful, happy lives. We tell them that
they are victims, and that they can’t blame themselves.
So many
of the women and girls I speak to in the detention center have lost all hope.
They don’t think that anybody is listening to them. I want to be the voice for
them I want them to know that people care about them, that we are listening and
that we can help them.
Women’s
Refugee Commission will be honoring Olga at this year’s Voices of
Courage Awards Luncheon in New York City on May 4th. The annual luncheon helps raise funds
to improve the lives of refugee women and children around the world.
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