Ten years ago, Martha Herrera looked down at the newborn baby boy she held in her arms and vowed that she would make a better life for him than was possible in the tiny village in which she and her husband, Jorge, lived in Mexico.

"I wanted him to have a better education, a better future," Martha said through interpreter Vera Espinoza.

From their home in Garden City that they now own, Jorge explained that he was only able to attend school through the sixth grade, because the secondary school was simply too far away from home. Jorge’s entire primary school was made up of Jorge, his sister, and a handful of cousins.

The long distances between schools and many farming communities in Mexico is fairly common, and forces many children to drop out of school as early as the third grade, said Sister Janice Thome, OP, who has worked off and on with the family for six years through the Dominican Sisters Ministry of Presence.

"Today, if they live in a rural area, they often can’t go to school beyond the third grade because they cannot attract a teacher," she said.

Jorge, like Martha — who attended school through the ninth grade — spent most of his childhood working on his parents’ small ranch. Eventually, Jorge and Martha met, married, and gave birth to a baby boy who would, with one look into his mother’s eyes, change their lives forever.

"This is at the heart of what mothers and fathers have felt for their children for generations, the desire to build a better life for them," Sister Janice said. "Martha also had the dream that her children would attend Catholic school."

But that dream was a lifetime away. First they had to get across the border. They were fearful of the language barrier, of discrimination, and of the physical dangers. So-called "Coyotes" charged hundreds of dollars at the time, and today charge thousands of dollars to get people across the border, only to steal their money or leave them to fend for themselves, lost and alone in the desert.

A reported 20 undocumented workers per month die while crossing from Mexico to the United States, from drowning, dehydration, accidents or physical attacks. According to the U.S. Border Patrol, from 1998-2003, nearly 1,500 migrants died crossing the border.

For a day and a night, Jorge, Martha and their infant son walked through the desert, eventually arriving in Los Angeles where they stayed with family.

Not long after their arrival, Martha’s father died, and despite the dangers — plus the fact that she was five months pregnant — she made the difficult decision to return to Mexico.

"It’s very easy to get into Mexico," she said, "but very difficult to get out. I had to walk one whole day. I suffered very much."

Once back in the United States, she was loaded into a camper with six other migrants. When stopped by the border patrol, Martha said, "I was praying so hard they wouldn’t check the camper." A few miles down the road, the startled driver told her that it was her prayers that got them through the checkpoint.

After a year in California, they left for Kansas with the promise of a better job and a less expensive cost of living. They moved into a small apartment for one year, and then into a tiny house measuring 20x20 feet, where they and their children often had family members come to stay with them

As Jorge spoke, the cries of their youngest son suddenly came from the back yard, and Martha darted through the kitchen to tend to what would be a minor scratch.

Jorge explained that "there were times we had to sleep in the park because we had no money for a motel. There were times we didn’t know where we were going to go or to sleep."

Soon after arriving in Kansas, Jorge took a job with a construction company. Due to his hard work and quick learning skills, Jorge soon was made assistant to the foreman, and when the foreman suffered a debilitating stroke, the company owner made Jorge the foreman.

With the help of his "skilled labor" status, Jorge and his family took the first steps to receiving documentation and American citizenship. As the SKR visited the family, Martha opened yet another letter from the Immigration office, which Sister Janice quietly read and explained to Martha, who then smiled and sat back comfortably in her chair.

A few years after becoming foreman, the family found themselves awaking to the American dream of owning their own home. When the company owner learned that the family wanted to move from the crowded 20x20-foot house, he decided to offer them his much larger home, from which he was preparing to move.

Just as he had helped them traverse piles of red tape to obtain their proper documentation, so too did he help them obtain a home. For four years he left his name on the mortgage as Jorge made payments directly to him. But just a few weeks ago, Jorge and Martha were finally able to place their own names on the mortgage.

"I was always praying to have the house in our name, and that God would help us to get it," Jorge said. "We were very happy that day. It was like a dream come true."

Then there was that other dream, that dream of sending their children to a Catholic school. After seeing the cost of private school, Martha decided it wouldn’t happen. Then Sister Janice mentioned that St. Dominic School had a scholarship program, and today, the three oldest children attend Catholic school.

"We are so very grateful to God for everything," Martha said.

"Yo quería que él tuviera una mejor educación, un futuro mejor" decía Martha a su ínterprete Vera Espinoza.

Jorge explicó que él solamente pudo estudiar hasta el sexto grado, porque la escuela secundaria estaba muy lejos de su casa. Las largas distancias entre las escuelas y las comunidades campesinas en México es muy corriente, y obliga a que muchos niños dejen la escuela incluso cuando solamente están en tercer grado, deciía la Hermana Janice Thome, OP, que ha trabajado durante mucho tiempo con la familia a través del Ministerio Dominicano de Presencia.

Jorge, al igual que Martha, que fué a la escuela hasta el noveno grado pasó su infancia trabajando en el pequeño rancho de sus padres. Con el tiempo, Jorge y Martha se conocieron, se casaron y tuvieron al niño que miraría a los ojos de su madre y cambiaría sus vidas para siempre.

"Este es el corazón de lo que las madres y padres han sentido por sus hijos durante generaciones, el deseo de construir una vida mejor para ellos" dice la Hermana Janice.

Pero ante, el matrimonio con su bebé tenían que cruzar la frontera. Tenían miedo del problema del idioma, de la discriminación y del peligro físico. Los llamados "coyotes" cobraban cientos de dólares en aquel tiempo, y hoy cobran miles de dólares para llevar a la gente a atravesar la frontera; y a veces sólo para robarles el dinero y dejarlos solos en medio del desierto. Se dice que unos 20 trabajadores indocumentados mueren cada mes al intentar cruzar la frontera de México a Estados Unidos. Mueren ahogados, de deshidratación, de accidentes o de ataques físicos.

Durante un diía y una noche, Jorge, Martha y su bebé caminaron por el desierto y finalmente llegaron a Los Angels donde se quedaron con una familia. Después de un año en California, marcharon para Kansas con la promesa de un trabajo mejor y un menor costo de vida. Se fueron a vivir a un apartamento durante un año, y después se trasladaron a una casa de 20 x 20 pies donde ellos con su hijo a veces tenían que recibir a familiares que se quedaban a vivir con ellos.

Jorge explicó que "hubo veces en que teniamos que dormir en el parque porque no teniamos dinero para pagar una habitación en un motel. Hubo veces en que no sabiamos dónde ibamos a dormir."

Poco después de llegar a Kansas, Jorge encontró trabajo en una compañía de construcción. Debido a su duro trabajo y sus habilidades para aprender rápidamente, pronto lo hicieron ayudante del capataz y cuando el capataz sufrió un infarto, la compañia hizo a Jorge capataz. Con la ayuda de su condición de "trabajador cualificado" Jorge y su familia pudieron tomar los primeros pasos para recibir documentación y poder ser ciudadanos Americanos.

Unos pocos años después de ser capataz, la familia se encontró despertándose al sueño Americano de comprar su propia casa. Cuando el dueño de la compañía donde trabajaba se enteró de que la familia quería trasladarse de su casa de 20 x 20 pies, les ofreció su casa que era mucho más grande, ya que él se iba a trasladar a otra casa. Al igual que él les había ayudado con todo el papeleo para tener sus papeles en regla, también los ayudó a tener su casa. Durante cuatro años, él les dejó usar su nombre en la hipoteca y Jorge le hacía los pagos directamente a él. Pero, hace apenas unas semanas, Jorge y Martha ya pudieron poner la hipoteca a su propio nombre.

"Yo siempre rezaba para poder tener la casa a nuestro nombre y que Dios nos ayudara lograrla," dice Jorge. "Estabamos muy felices ese día y fue como un sueño hecho realidad."

"Estamos muy agradecidos a Dios por todo," dice Martha.