UPDATE: From House to Home

Thanks to the generosity of One Story at a Time supporters, we were able to purchase the much-needed supplies (see below) for Lucia and her mother!

Her parents were Mexican migrants who moved to Tijuana to find work at the border. Amidst dire conditions, her father began drinking and became abusive to both Lucia and her mother. After he left, another relative moved in, and he was also abusive. That is: two different men who were there to protect them ended up harming them, and so Lucia and her mother moved out, on their own. All they could afford was a shack.

This brought another kind of hardship—financial —and as soon as Lucia was able, she began working 10 hours a day in a factory. Lucia also discovered music and joined Ron Wakefield’s Children’s Orchestra. She fell in love with the music and found new hope. She is a serious student and has dreams of becoming a child psychologist, to help other children who are in her situation.

Lucia, now 18, is courageous and spunky. We have found a sponsor to pay her tuition for the school she attends. With her wages barely covering her expenses, our focus is on their house. Lucia and her mother are slowly building. They had no windows or doors. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we have been able to secure materials for and installation of windows and doors to replace the sheets they now have hanging in their place, along with new beds and a locked cabinet for Lucia’s musical instrument.

This will help protect them from human predators, along with spiders, bugs, and even scorpions, which can crawl into these open spaces. Having windows with bars on them and doors that lock will provide them a crucial measure of security in their small house.

Lucia’s parents were Mexican migrants who moved to Tijuana to find work at the border. Amidst dire conditions, her father began drinking and became physically and verbally abusive to Lucia and her mother. The day Lucia’s father tried to molest her, Lucia and her mother left.

This brought another kind of hardship — financial — and as soon as she was able, Lucia began to work to help her mother. Life was painful as they survived on the bare minimum, but Lucia discovered music and joined Ron Wakefield’s orchestra. She loved the clarinet and found new hope.

Sadly, another relative moved in, and the relative’s partner began to approach Lucia sexually. Lucia saw no choice but to leave home for good.

Lucia now works in a market ten hours a day and does not have time for her music. Still, she dreams of going to university and becoming a children’s psychologist. Although she still fears her father’s words that she is a “dummy,” Lucia has another voice telling her that she can succeed if she makes it to university.

Lucia, now 18, is courageous and spunky; she has the intelligence and determination to succeed.