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