The struggle to support faraway families

[La_Serpiente]

The struggle to support faraway families

HIALEAH, FLA. – A week after her high school prom in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Karin moved to the United States. She lives in Hialeah, a sprawling city outside Miami filled with Spanish-speaking immigrants, pawnshops, and little diners serving café con leche.

She has been here six months, sharing a two-bedroom apartment with her mom, uncle, aunt, and two baby cousins, ducking when she sees the landlady - who does not know she lives there - and biting her lip when waves of homesickness come crashing. She has not been to the movies, or made friends, or even heard of nearby South Beach, with its Art Deco buildings and stylish crowds.

What Karin (whose last name is not included because she is in the US illegally) has done is find work and start sending money home to her father and two brothers back in Honduras. Of the approximately $460 a month she makes working as a waitress and moonlighting as a baby sitter, she sends $300 home through a local envois, or money-wiring service. Most of the rest goes toward her share of the rent, toiletries, and bus fare for rainy days.

She often wears the same outfit for days in a row, always pulls her hair back in a simple ponytail, and never applies makeup. Last month she bought herself a pair of sensible work shoes. This month she plans to go out to a nice meal with her aunt. She has not saved a penny.

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The struggle to support faraway families