Vera Meza, Honduras
“My name is Vera Meza, and I come from Honduras; I am 16 years old. I was born in Juticalpa. Like a small city, there are many places you can visit that are nice. There are rivers. No beaches, but lots of rivers and hills and high places you can go up and see the whole view of the city.
I used to go to school, and after spend time at my grandmother’s house. I used to go out a lot with my friends.”
“I arrived here July 4, 2014, and spent one day in Texas, and then I came here on a bus.”
“In my case, I am not a political refugee. I came here fleeing poverty and violence, because it is a really violent situation in Honduras. It is not safe. My mom and I came with my little sister trying to flee the violence in Honduras and look for better opportunities here.
“It’s mostly, like, a kind of violence. Gangs that are absolutely out of the law, but they have power, they have weapons, there is a lot of drug trafficking and narco-war. There are drug lords that have a lot of trouble and no one is safe.”
“It is very hard to make friends as a community because of the language barrier.
I want people to know that I am a good person. It is really hard to make friends, but there are a lot of good people in this area who help you a lot.”