Enriques' Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with his Mother

Abstract

699 Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 17 No. 2 (2007) ISSN: 1546-2250 Enriques’ Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with his Mother Nazario, Sonia (2006). New York: Random House, Inc.; 294 pages. $26.95. ISBN 1400062055. Enrique’s Journey, by Sonia Nazario, is as compelling and rich as it is heartbreaking. Well-written and well researched, it describes just one boy’s journey to the United States, yet represents experiences shared by thousands of children fromMexico and Latin America. First published as a six-part series in the Los Angeles Timesbefore being published as a book, Enrique’s Journey is a page turner with social implications. The intended audience is anyone interested in the issues of undocumented immigrants as well as the rights and welfare of children and youth. Beginning with a brief introduction about why she came to research this topic, followed by the compelling story of Enrique’s journey, and finishing with a detailed description of her methods and sources of information, Nazario does not leave out many details. Though not academic research per se, Nazario includes a description of where she found her information, often providing the names of experts and officials who gave her valuable details. She describes her methods of research, retracing a portion of the journey that Enrique took and interviewing many of the people that he encountered along the way. Nothing less than what one would expect from a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, she writes in an easy accessible style that is enjoyable to read. As a journalist doing ethnographic research, or “fly-on-the-wall” reporting as she calls it, Nazario confronts many of the same challenges faced by academic researchers working with children and youth, especially those in adverse and life threatening situations. In a discussion following the publication of the initial six-part series, Nazario identifies some of the ethical, professional, and legal challenges she faced. She states, “You’re going to see them [children] go through really, really difficult things, especially with 700 this kind of fly-on-the-wall reporting. But I think that brings an immediacy and a power to the story of being there, witnessing it, showing it in a present tense that you don’t otherwise get.” She also acknowledges that just by being present and asking questions, she is affecting the outcome, perhaps changing the story that is revealed. She states, For me the dividing line was whether or not I felt the child was in imminent danger. Not discomfort, not ‘things are going really badly,’ not, ‘I haven’t eaten for 24 hours.’ I knew that once I intervened in a significant way, I could not use that kid in the story. I would have to start over totally(Nazario 2006). Enrique’s Journey is the real-life story of a young family from Honduras—Lourdes, a mother with two young children, Belky, seven, and Enrique, five. Separated for the past three years from her husband, the father of Belky and Enrique,Lourdes struggles to make ends meet, to put food on the table, and to keep her children in school. Like many other women in her situation, Lourdes makes the painful decision to leave her children behind in Honduras and make her way north to the United States. She reasons that she will earn money in the U.S. and send it back to Belky and Enrique, so they can have better lives. She does not plan to stay long—a year, maybe two, just long enough to save up money to rejoin her family in Honduras or bring them safely to her. Faced with many hardships, first in California and then in North Carolina, one year turns into 11 and she becomes more and more distant from her family. Lourdes realizes that she will most likely never return to Honduras. During this time, Enrique, just five years old when Lourdesleaves, is bounced between relatives in Honduras. He is lonely and has a difficult time understanding why his mother left. He gets involved in drugs and drops out of school. He struggles to find jobs and sells off many of his possessions to buy drugs and...