| ZITATE |
...He said there is nothing for me here in Guatemala. He told me he wanted
to go and I said: “Don't do it!” He said I want to do it and I
said “Don’t do it.” And you know what he did? He promised
me, he wasn’t gonna go. I said dont do it because it's dangerous, people
die on the route, people get robbed, they go to prison on the route. And he
said: ok. Typical little boy thing, right? What do you tell your dad? Ok.
I say Tono, what do you wanna do? Go back to school! Tono says: ok. No, he
has no intention of going back to school. And at his birthday party, one night
in a restaurant, and everybody was telling about what they are going to do.
Tono’s kind of quiet, but he says: I’m gonna go to school, gonna
be something, I’m gonna take care of my sister, and I’m gonna
come back, and you’re gonna make me executive director of " the
god child’s project". I didn't even think to ask him where he’s
gonna go to school. Because that night he had had his bags packed– and
the next morning he leaves Antigua, 6 o'clock in the morning, catches a bus
from here to the mexican border, gets off the bus, waits until it's time to
cross over, crosses over the border, and starts his journey north ...
...Ironically I think Antonio’s decision to enter
the marines very much fits with my impression of Antonio on one side: and
that is the side that Antonio was always looking for family. So when you think
of these advertisements that you see on tv and at the movie theatres, about
the marines and they have this esprit du coeur and they’re marching
together and they’re singing together and they're, you know, brothers
in arms. You know, we are one family and that matches perfectly with his desire
for family...
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| Patrick Atkinson Orphanage Director / Waisenhausdirektor Guatemala |
