Katerin Sanchez

full interview

Hello, good afternoon. My name is Katerin Sanchez. I am 23 years old. I have Honduran nationality.
What type of housing do you live in and who do you live with?
Well, for the moment I’m in a shelter and I live with a lot of people from different countries.
How do you pass the time? How do you pass the time here? Do you work?
Yes, I work Monday through Friday. I spend the weekends at the shelter, resting.
What things bring you joy or make you happy?
Well, talking to my mom, my son, my family and friends.
What has your life been like since you came to this country?
Well, I’ve been through difficult times but I’ve also had good times.
What do you like most about being here? What has been the most difficult thing?
The most difficult thing is when you don’t have, well, maybe you don’t have a job, you don’t have papers, you don’t have anything. Because without papers we have nothing, access to nothing.
How do you feel living here?
I feel good. I feel protected.
How does it feel to be away from your family?
I feel sad because I would like to share the moments with them in person and I know that I can’t do it because I’m far from my mom, my son and my family. I sometimes I feel alone.
Did you ever imagine that you would have been able to handle this situation?
Well, the truth is that I didn’t. No.
How have you been able to overcome it?
Well, with God’s help and I’m making progress, slowly but surely.
Do you think you developed the ability to face these challenges or do you think you’ve always had that ability?
Yes, I think so, I had the ability to do it and thanks to that and thanks to God, well, it has given me the strength to be able to achieve and overcome it.
How do you think refugees are perceived in this country? Do you feel safe?
Yes, I feel safe and I feel protected. Being here in… and also as a refugee, I feel good.
Can you tell us if you’ve ever felt discriminated against?
Yes, I was discriminated against by a person that I lived with and after that he discriminated against me, even through social media, making me feel less than. I felt bad during that time, because I suffered discrimination against me by him.
Do you think that the way in which refugees and migrants are viewed has changed over time?
Yes, yes, of course. It has changed in many ways. First of all, because they give you the right to be protected and they try to make us feel good and comfortable.
Why did you leave your country? Can you tell us what happened?
Yes I used as a special guardian, caring for juvenile offenders but then I suffered a mishap. I was beaten and assaulted by the same gang members, who belong to gang 18, and I made the decision to travel here to the United States.

How did you feel at the time?
I felt very, very bad, because, in some way, I felt that I had lost my life. But thank God I’m here to tell my story.
Can you tell me about your trip from your country to here?
Well, I had good times and unpleasant moments. In Mexico the police took off my clothes, undressed me. They made me do a lot of things, whilst I had my menstrual period, they didn’t care and they made me do “Lucas” that is what they call it and well, regardless of that, I was also threatened with a gun, making it seem that I was carrying money when I didn’t bring anything.
How did you feel at the time?
I felt really bad. I was devastated by what they did to me regardless, not caring about a thing. They did things to me without me even realizing what they believed I was bringing. 
Do you often think about those moments?
Well, now I no longer think about my entire journey, or anything like that. Not anymore, but every time I think about it, yes. It brings me a lot of pain and sadness because of what I went through, and thank God now I’m here.

Do those past experiences affect you today?
A… in and of themselves they don’t affect me, there is little feeling surrounds me, but I try to be strong and overcome everything.
The reason you left… How do you feel… How do you feel when you think about those experiences?
Well, I feel bad. The only thing they give me is… It makes me sad and I want to cry because of everything that I have suffered and have been through.
Could you ever have imagined that you would be able to handle this situation?
Well, the truth is that I never imagined it, but I am trying to be one, to try to be a strong woman and face the things of life. What life has put in my way and being strong every day.
How did you manage to survive or overcome it?
Well, with God’s help, first of all. And I have felt empowered to do it and continue to do it, always, because I am a woman who has a son and for him I give everything and I want to be… For him I do all this to be here.
Before the event that led you to flee your country, what were your dreams?
My dream was always to be part of the national police. That was my biggest dream of serving and protecting my country’s homeland.
When you left home, what were your dreams for the future?
My dreams… I left Honduras with one goal: to get here and give my son a better life. My dreams… I left Honduras with one goal: to get here and give my son a better life. I want him to feel well and to grow up differently from how I did, that he doesn’t suffer, doesn’t know hunger, or anything like that. I want him to be different and to have many opportunities in life, which I strive for every day for him.
Before leaving your country, what did you consider to be your strong point?
First of all, being healthy gave me a lot of peace, because I know that with health I can do everything and I can have everything. And well, always ask God to give me the strength to be the woman I want to be and to be able to face every single thing that life can put on me and I to not feel afraid to face them.
Do you think you kept them?
Yes, I firmly feel that I have got them.
OK… what you’ve been through seems really difficult.
Yes, very difficult the circumstances of what I have been through and have suffered both along the way and in my country.
Do you feel that you have grown in any way as a result of this experience?
Yes, in many, because I feel that I am no longer the same as I was before, that my fear deepened. Now, not anymore. I feel free, with more strength and power to face things.
Nowadays, what are your dreams and hopes for the future?
Well, to make progress both here and in my country, to give a lot of things to my son, to have my own home, to be independent. To have so much material things for myself to be able to continue to survive and for my son to have a better life. And I’d also like for him and myself to be happy in the future.
Thank you very much for answering all of these questions. Is there anything else you would like to add?
I thank God for everything, for everything he has given me to this day and for the good people I have met, who have helped me, who have advised me well. And thanks to that advice, here I am, being strong every day and once again, I thank God and the people who have surrounded me and who have been with me in the good and the bad times. Thank you.