Immigrant Voices Podcast Project
Immigrant Voices Podcast Project
Silvia from Honduras
Raised on a farm in poverty in Honduras, the youngest of seven siblings, Silvia’s prospects for bettering her life were slim. One sister had already emigrated to the United States and Silvia at the age of nineteen decided to follow. Along her treacherous journey, in the midst of traveling on trains and buses and for the most part walking and walking, she discovered once she reached Mexico that she was pregnant. Her choice was to return back to Honduras or continue on toward the U.S. border and face a life in a foreign country as a single parent. Resilient and courageous, after one month of traveling, Silvia reached her sister and started her life over again. She found work, she gave birth to her precious daughter, and she began to learn English. Today Silvia provides a safe and secure home for her small family, and is a proud member of the Gardner Pilot Academy Adult Immigrant learners community.
Guest Intro/00:38
Raised on a farm in poverty in Honduras, the youngest of seven siblings, Silvia’s prospects for bettering her life were slim. One sister had already emigrated to the United States and Silvia at the age of nineteen decided to follow. Along her treacherous journey—in the midst of traveling on trains and buses and for the most part walking and walking—she discovered once she reached Mexico that she was pregnant. Her choice was to return back to Honduras or continue on toward the U.S. border and face a life in a foreign country as a single parent. Resilient and courageous, after one month of traveling, Silvia reached her sister and started her life over again. She found work, she gave birth to her precious daughter, and she began to learn English. Today Silvia provides a safe and secure home for her small family, and is a proud member of the Gardner Pilot Academy Adult Immigrant learners community.
Humble Beginnings/01:11
Deborah: Everybody has a story to tell, do you know, everybody’s story is different. So tell me a little bit about your story, about how you came to this country. What kinds of things you encountered on the way here? We could start with that.
Silvia: My name is Silvia. I have been here for ten years. I came from Honduras so I decided to emigrate to this country because in my country, the situation in which I was living was not the best. I grew up in poverty.
Deborah: Okay.
Silvia: So where my parents had to work hard in farming. So they worked in farming to give me and my sisters the necessary. When I say the necessary, I’m talking about clothes, shoes, food, etc.
Deborah: The basics.
Silvia: Yea, the basics. Exactly. That was so hard for me. Then we are like seven sisters no brothers.
Deborah: Wow!
Silvia: I’m the youngest.
Deborah: You’re youngest. You’re the baby.
Silvia: Yes. I have a daughter and she’s nine years old.
Coming to the U.S./03:43
Deborah: Was there a special event or something that gave you the courage to come to the States?
Silvia: When I was in Honduras, I graduated high school but that was very difficult to find a job. So in that time one of my sisters was here and she helped me to come to this country. But when I came to here, it was very difficult.
Deborah: Tell me about it.
Silvia: I was nineteen years old. I had finished high school in Honduras and when I came here, my life changed drastically. You know why? To my surprise, I was pregnant.
Deborah: Oh, Oh, you didn’t know?
Silvia: I didn’t know. And that happened. So I found out during my journey coming here.
Deborah: How did you come?
Silvia: Immigrants come here by walking, trains, cars cross the rivers.
Deborah: Every way.
Silvia: Exactly.
Deborah: You were in the middle of your journey and you found you were pregnant.
Silvia: Yes. And when I was in Mexico when I started vomiting. And that changed everything. That wasn’t what I expected. I wasn’t scared. I just was thinking about how to tell my sister about what happened to me.
Deborah: Right.
Silvia: I was knowing.
Deborah: How did she react?
Silvia: She was okay. So now you know what you have to do. Go back to your country or
cancel the United States. She said something like that. But it was so hard because I didn’t expect it.
Staying the Course/06:03
Deborah: Yes. That’s a huge thing.
Silvia: That I had a child coming my way. But my sister here helped me a lot with the situation. First she brought me to the hospital. That is where my process begins. After that I had to look for a job. That was a very difficult part. So you know why it was so difficult for me? Because for two reasons. First, I didn’t speak English in that time. And second, I was pregnant. So that was a difficulty.
Finding Work/06:47
Deborah: Did you find something?
Silvia: Yeah, finally one friend took me to the job. So it was a Indian restaurant in Jamaica Plain.
Deborah: Okay.
Silvia: I started to work in as a busser, basser. Sorry. I was a busser,
Deborah: A baker. You mean baking?
Silvia: Finally yeah, one friend took me to the job. It was an Indian restaurant in Jamaica Plain. I started working as a busboy. I was nervous because when I went to the tables to fill up the water, there were a couple they questioned me about the menu and I didn’t understand. That was embarrassing for me. When they asked for something and I didn’t understand.
Deborah: So when did things start to change? Like with the language? Because you express yourself very well in English.
Silvia: Yeah, but when I started to take English class at the GPA.
Deborah: Okay.
Silvia: But, you know what happened when I was like three months later, I got fired. You know why? Because, they found out I was pregnant.
Deborah: And so what happened? They let you go?
Silvia: They say it was a risk for them to allow me to work there. Yeah, so those are difficult moments for me.
Difficult Moments/08:24
Deborah: Was that the most difficult moment? What’s the most difficult moment you’ve had when you look back, when you look back at your life?
Silvia: On my way to come to this country.
Deborah: The journey. How long did it take you?
Silvia: Like one month.
Deborah: Train, little walking, buses.
Silvia: I was walking day and night. That was so hard. Uncomfortable.
Deborah: Sure.
Silvia: The rest of my pregnancy month I had to stay home. It was boring for me.
Deborah: That’s understandable. You have to stay home now. Are you staying home now? Because of the coronavirus?
Silvia: Exactly. Yeah.
Deborah: How is this different?
Silvia: I think now I know like my daughter. I have my daughter and that’s how I was pregnant. I didn’t know nothing. So now.
Successes/09:24
Deborah: What were some of the successes that you had—the things that made you feel proud or made you feel like you’ve made the right choice?
Silvia: I think that I feel proud because of myself because I support my daughter, I am a single mom. So I work hard to support her. And yeah. And the other thing is I have accomplished one of my dreams.
Deborah: Oh?
Silvia: In Honduras I bought a house, but two small houses actually, but with my sister, so now it’s being rented.
Deborah: Oh, so you’re getting rental income from Honduras?
Silvia: Yeah, exactly. Two small houses in the city and the town where my sister lives.
Deborah: Oh, congratulations. That’s good.
Silvia: Thank you. That’s a good like actually. I accomplished.
Deborah: Yes.
Silvia: But yeah, finally, she was born my daughter and now she’s nine years-old. And the other thing I want to tell you is about, after that my daughter she was born.
Deborah: Right.
Missing Honduras/10:39
Silvia: So I start to working at McDonald’s for eight years. For eight years. The first few years were hard for me because I miss my family.
Deborah: Back in Honduras?
Silvia: Yeah. And like that I left behind. Yeah. And also I miss my culture.
Deborah: What things about your culture? Did you miss the most?
Silvia: I think my, my food, some traditions we do in Honduras.
Deborah: Tell me about one of the traditions that you really miss.
Silvia: Oh, ya it’s Christmas.
Deborah: How is it different there from here?
Silvia: It’s maybe like different because in Honduras one of the traditional is for Christmas. You have to buy, new clothes. Everyone has to buy a new clothes, new everything, shoes, clothes and everything for that day. So I don’t care for the rest of the year, but for Christmas everybody has to have a new outfit.
Deborah: That’s a tradition in Honduras.
Silvia: Yeah. It’s one of the traditions. Another like the first day of the month, like, December, they visited. We call him and do this. We call like posada. Posada means the group for the person. We see their house and they do something religious, read the Bible, sing and something like that. And they share some food. Everyday; it starts December first.
Deborah: Oh, okay. So you’ve missed that here. It’s different.
Silvia: Oh, of course. And the food, of course, my mom, my mom made. It’s pretty good. Everything.
From Honduras/12:28
Deborah: Did you bring anything? Some object or, something with you?
Silvia: Yes.
Deborah: What is it?
Silvia: I actually, yeah, I have like my agenda, my like contacts, my friends contact. So it’s small book.
Deborah: Like an address book.
Silvia: Exactly. That that is there.
Deborah: Did you stay in touch with your friends?
Silvia: Some of my friends. And also I have my ID from Honduras too.
Deborah: Your identification?
Silvia: In Honduras we call it cedula, we say cedula in Spanish .
Deborah: Yeah, okay.
Silvia: But I miss a lot my family. It was so hard for me the first few years. But one of my hardest part about my journey was after one year I been here so I received the bad news.
Deborah: What?
Silvia: So that was my mom had breast cancer.
Deborah: Ah.
Silvia: That was a long process.
Deborah: And then you couldn’t go there to be with her.
Silvia: Exactly. That was difficult part for me.
Deborah: How did you cope with it? How did you manage to get through that time?
Silvia: I was. I don’t know. I can’t believe my mom has a cancer breast, but finally my mom now, she’s a survivor, so thanks God.
Deborah: That’s fantastic. That’s fantastic.
Silvia: Exactly. It’s a long process. Yeah. And after that, the same year, I think my, grandma she died.
Deborah: And you couldn’t be there.
Silvia: Exactly. Also so hard for all my life.
Looking Back/14:18
Deborah: If you look back, is there something that you would have done differently about your journey or the decision?
No Regrets/14:25
Silvia: I think I have a good decision to come to this country.
Deborah: Good.
Silvia: I miss my family and everything but stay here is the best decision I take in my life.
Deborah: It’s the best, best decision of your life. Wow. Wow. And tell me why you say that.
Silvia: Because this country has so many opportunities. I feel comfortable here and I have more opportunities like work, education. So for my daughter also because she was born here, so I have more opportunities. I can relate with the other persons from different countries. Yeah. And also, I can support my family.
Deborah: That’s good. That’s great.
Silvia: Yeah, in my country, the situation is very difficult and this moment is worse than ten years ago.
Deborah: And because.
Silvia: Because the government.
Deborah: Because of the government.
Silvia: Exactly. No medicine, the education is so bad. Everything. Everything.
Deborah: When you were there, did you feel like your life was in danger by staying there?
Silvia: Oh, yeah.
Deborah: Would you share anything about that that made you decide? Like, was there a moment, a day, a night as an experience that you said I’m getting out of here?
Silvia: Oh yeah, yeah. I have an experience when I was in my country about 2009 that happened with the president Manuel Zelaya. He was out the government. Everything changed at that moment. You had to stay in just like now in this moment. That was in 2009.
Deborah: It was because it was just dangerous.
Silvia: Exactly.
Deborah: Was it the military that made you frightened?
Silvia: Yeah, exactly. I think here I saved my life. Yeah for me and for my family, but the point is I can’t visit the rest of my family. So that was the hard part right now.
Life in a Pandemic/17:06
Deborah: That’s the hard part. And Sylvia, how are you coping now with this coronavirus situation? Tell me about that a little bit.
Silvia: This process is very difficult for me and for all my family because if effects my economy, my family’s economy. The thing is the education. So it’s not the same like for example, my daughter she works a lot on the computer to do her homework. But it’s not the same. When you see the person like so it’s very difficult. Really. It’s uncomfortable to stay at home all day long. But in my case, I still working for 25 hours per week.
Deborah: You’re working 25 hours a week. But outside.
Silvia: In a restaurant outside. Just for take out. It’s very danger you know. It’s very scary and afraid when I go out my house but I have to do it because I have to pay my utilities. Everything. The rent. So. you know what’s the problem right now? It’s the government has to support the people who are legal who have the social security number so in that I can’t stay home because the coronavirus I have to go work. That’s the other part.
Deborah: You’re not going to get a check from anybody.
Silvia. Yeah.
Deborah: Well, the money that, okay. Wow, it’s gotta be difficult right now, but it’s not going to be permanent, but it’s a hard time right now for sure.
Silvia: It’s a hard time for everybody. Yeah.
Deborah: So when you go to work, do you wear a mask and gloves and stuff?
Silvia: Actually, no. I feel uncomfortable wearing a mask. I try to do it. Actually, today when I went to the Stop and Shop to buy some food. So I tried to put it on, but I can’t breathe. I feel uncomfortable.
Deborah: Well, let’s hope this doesn’t take too long. I have a feeling it’s gonna go into the summer, but we’ll see. I live by myself so I’m alone a lot normally. And when I feel like I’ve been alone too long, I just go out the front door. Because I live in downtown Boston.
Silvia: Oh, nice.
Deborah: And there’s restaurants and everything and people. Now I go out and there’s nobody there.
Silvia: So yeah.
Deborah: And everything’s closed. So, it’s another world and it’s happening all over the world. It isn’t like it’s just happening here.
Silvia: Exactly. So I told my family too and I asked about how is over there and they saying the same. I think worse than here.
Deborah: Really?
Silvia: Because in some cases because they over there doesn’t the hospital doesn’t have medicine that doesn’t have the materials for this coronavirus.
Bi-lingual Benefits/20:18
Deborah: So you’re worried about here and you’re worried about there too. Yeah. Is your daughter bilingual? Does she speak Spanish and English?
Silvia: Yes.
Deborah: That’s fantastic.
Silvia: Very good, very good. And she understands, and she writes and she reads.
Deborah: My granddaughter is five years old and she is bilingual. Her mother’s mother is from Honduras. I think, from the island of Roatan.
Silvia: Oh, Roatan. Nice.
Deborah: So it’s so good for the brain cells to be bi-lingual especially.
Silvia: From that’s very important. You have more opportunity.
Deborah: Definitely. Definitely. Sylvia, do you want to ask me anything?
Silvia: Yes. How you doing? Why you think about the coronavirus happens right now?
Deborah: I think I can only watch just so much of the news and then I get upset. I think it’s a good time to be distracted by hobbies and things that you like to do that normally you don’t have time for, like, reading or making crafts or something like that. I was going to visit my granddaughter in Los Angeles but I had to cancel the trip.
Silvia: Wow. And how was you? Your son right?
Deborah: The baby. I have two boys.
Silvia: The baby’s a girl, right?
Deborah: She’s doing great. Her mother is working from home and her father, my son is doing a little bit of work from home. But he’s doing most of the childcare.
Silvia: Thank you.
Deborah: Thank you, Sylvia, so much.
Silvia: Have a great day. Thank you.
Deborah: Bye.
Silvia: Bye.
Wrap Up/20:00
Silvia’s story exemplifies the strength and determination she needed when obstacles threatened. Whether the surprise of an unplanned pregnancy, or the day-to-day challenges of keeping strong during this pandemic, Silvia does what she must to maintain a life of security and safety for herself and her daughter. She views her decision to emigrate to the U.S. as the most important one she has made in her life. Silvia remains a vital member of the
Gardner Pilot Academy family.