BEYOND BOUNDARIES: A Migrant's Journey to El Norte

In the early 1990's I was driving along Interstate 10, east of Deming, New Mexico, and ahead of me about a quarter mile I saw what looked like animals running across the highway. I thought they may be deer, but as I got closer to them I saw that they were three migrants with packs over their shoulders entering into El Norte. I was going to visit a cousin in the Army that was stationed near the Mexican border, and going with him into a Mexican border town, in a plaza there I saw young men waiting for their "Coyote" to bring them across the border. Speaking with a local Mexican man, he told me they were from Honduras and Guatemala, seeking sanctuary in El Norte.

While living in Tennessee I "adopted" a Mexican family of nine from Leon, whose father had deserted them before getting their legal papers. I helped them financially and other ways that I could until they got better established. They told me of their life and struggles in Mexico, and what they had to do to survive there. The eldest son traveled, camped and backpacked with me in the western states, and we taught each other about our cultures. A younger brother of my traveling companion was an accomplished violinist, and he was soon able to get many jobs performing at events in the small Tennessee town, playing his violin. This story is based on many true events and experiences I have had in my many travels into Mexico and Central America.

For many people wanting to leave their homeland in Latin America and migrate to El Norte, in the "land of milk and honey," some soon find out that although they can survive and make good money in El Norte, they quickly learn that there are a legion of pitfalls there that they never knew existed. But as Jose Solana soon learns, my protagonist in this story, he becomes financially successful and able to send back money to his struggling family in Mexico, and becomes famous playing his violin, but...he learns that no matter where you live, there are dangers and unexpected disappointments that you never saw coming. He goes "BEYOND BOUNDARIES" to finally find his true mission in life.