It would be unimaginable . . .

June 4, 2011 (With State Recruiter Jennifer Alemeda on St. Helena)

It would be unimaginable to walk into a small house being rented by several Guatemalan families who had just arrived in the darkness of evening after a long day of travel from Immokalee, Florida. The heat from the gas stove combined with the intense heat of the lowcountry has raised the temperature inside to an unbearable 96 degrees.

Several men sit on the front porch swatting mosquitoes and drinking Bud Light. Moises and Teodoro are quite friendly. They proudly show off for me by reciting several words they know in English. Moises is 18 years old. He has not seen his family in Guatemala since he left there three years ago. Teodoro is several years older. He recently left Guatemala with the dream of making enough money during one growing season that he could return to his family before Christmas. I wondered silently if he would be one of the few who could break free of the migrant stream once the journey had begun.

Inside, several men drank while the women unpacked their bags. Five to six children under the age of five ran excitedly between the two bedrooms and small living room while their mothers unpacked their suitcases. Jennifer was trying to find one particular that she had been told was under the age of 22; therefore, he qualified for services in our program. She found the man completely intoxicated (boracho), passed out on the floor on the far side of the bed. Another man apologized for his condition saying that his wife had just been taken to the hospital to have his baby. He would be better tomorrow, he said, so we were told it would be better to come back tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the two year old son of the boracho was taking sips from a can of warm Bud Light on the kitchen floor while his daughter, age 3, screamed in delight from the excitement of seeing our strange faces in her living room.

I could only imagine what her mother was going through at this very moment in the delivery room at Beaufort Memorial Hospital.

It is still unimaginable to me how this teenage mother will be able to return to such overwhelming need in less than 24 hours.