Short Biography: Nataly Sanchez

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Nataly Sanchez

“I understand that everything happens for a reason, and the fact that I wasn’t able to accomplish my dreams motivates me everyday to someday give my children the opportunities I never had.”

Nataly Sanchez was born June 14, 1984 in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Quetzaltenango was Guatemala’s second largest city, which was slowly modernizing itself to become a major city. She was born into a middle class family that lived in La Colonia San Antonio, a wealthy neighborhood. Her parents, Sergio and Lilian, were able to give her and her three siblings a stable life, but it took a lot of sacrifice for them to do so.

Lilian Hernandez, Nataly’s mother, married Sergio when she was 16 years old. She had grown up in poverty without …show more content…

The education system in the United States seemed to better, filled with opportunities that followed. He imagined his children becoming doctors or lawyers one day. In Guatemala, he feared his children would marry at a young age, making it harder for them to finish their careers.

When Nataly was fourteen years old, her mother left and moved to San Francisco with Sergio. Nataly took responsibility of her four year old brother, Sergio Jr. She had to stop going to school and she began to take care of him everyday.

Even though Nataly’s older brother lived with them, she still felt very lonely and abandoned. As months passed, she realized she needed to become stronger for her little brother. She didn’t want him to feel abandoned because of the lack of attention. With the minimal help from her grandmother, Nataly was able to raise her younger brother.

She spent her mornings cleaning her house and washing their clothes, and in the afternoons she would focus on Sergio Jr. She taught him how to read and write with patience and care. Whenever she visited her friends, she would take him with her. She loved him as if he was her …show more content…

They didn’t plan on staying for long, instead they wanted to bring Nataly and Sergio Jr, to the United States.

A month later, Nataly went to say goodbye to her friends and family. She would be going to San Francisco with her family, which excited her.

The four of them had gotten the Mexican visa which made the journey a lot easier for them. They took a two hour plane ride from Guatemala City to Mexico City. From the capital, they took a train that took them directly to Tijuana, a small city a couple of miles away from the U.S. border.

That night, they were taken to small house, a few miles away from the border. Nataly, her parents and her younger six year old brother were stuffed into a bedroom with thirty more people in it.

They finally got called and they were asked to meet their coyote outside, in front of the house. More people followed them outside as they waited for their coyote. People wore five layers of clothes because running with heavy backpacks would slow them down. Wearing layers made it easier for them to carry their

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