That is a prayer that is said before the meeting, so it’s part of a church where we get together. We all have a family, but I don’t have a family. They all have their families and we get together every two weeks to talk, to share, what we’re living, what we’re going through, how we’re feeling, how the family is doing and to ask God for help to keep on moving forward. I have three kids and then I got a divorce. I don’t have any family in Seattle. Or in the U.S.
The work that I am doing contributes to other people’s lives. I want others to see people who are not hiding but who can go show themselves. And also struggle and say ‘Yes we can,’ and prepare ourselves and work to take different type of actions because just having a job, or two jobs, or three jobs is not enough. You need to develop yourself as a person.
This is Casa Latina; it’s the demonstration, at the march. I see people, workers who get together every day with the purpose of getting a job, but also to contribute, to have the voices of each one of us heard. That it’s not just like people think that we are, that we’re here to take other people’s jobs. No, we want jobs and we want to contribute something.
This is a class here at Casa Latina, we get together for English and Spanish classes. The program is called “Somos Vecinos,” We are Neighbors, and people come from the neighborhood because they want to learn Spanish, and we want to learn English, and at the end of the class we get together to share how it’s going and what we’ve learned.
This is my English class, at Seattle Central Community College. My classmates are from different countries: Morocco, Colombia, Vietnamese, Chinese, Mexican, very international. It represents that we can all be here not just to work, but you can go to school and if you can learn the language better, you will have more opportunities.
This is when I first got here to Seattle. This is the apartment I rented. This is my kitchen.
And, in the future, do you want to continue living here?
Oh no, for the future everything is transformation and change...Seattle is a nice city, but there’s better cities. I want to see the world. I want to keep on traveling.
Esto es cuando primero llegué a Seattle. Éste es el apartamento que renté. Ésta es mi cocina.
Y en el futuro, ¿quiere seguir viviendo aquí?
When I took this picture I was just standing, waiting for the bus, in the tunnel in Seattle. I was there thinking about the plan of my life, knowing where are you going, being present in the moment that you’re in, not being blocked by obstacles.
Cuando tomé esta foto estaba parado esperando el bus, en el túnel de Seattle. Yo estaba ahí pensando sobre el plan de mi vida, sabiendo hacia dónde voy, estando presente en el momento presente, no me sentía bloqueado por obstáculos.