Sara

Sara* is small in stature, but her presence is strong and grounded. She is a Guatemalan woman and mother of three. Even though her heart has been broken a million times over, she perseveres in humility, courage and love.

Sara’s husband and two of their three kids

She and her husband lived a peaceful life in Guatemala, until the day her world was shattered. At the time, she had a son and a daughter, with another daughter on the way. Her husband was on his way home from work when he was attacked and killed with knives by a local gang member. His death was senseless and the result of lawlessness and deep-seated corruption in her country. The gang responsible for her husband’s murder ran their town and operated at will.

Determined to bring the gang to justice, Sara wrote a complaint against the gang and the man who killed her husband. She organized the people in her town and persuaded them to sign her complaint and call for justice. Together, they petitioned the police and local government to take action, but nothing was done.

In the following months, the man who killed Sara’s husband began to pursue her, telling her he would take revenge on her because of how she organized the town and petitioned for his arrest. One day he tried to run her over with his motorcycle. When that didn’t work, he went to her mother’s house, where she and her children were staying after the death of her husband, and he told her mother that he planned to kill Sara.

Sara was in a desperate situation, knowing that she was in imminent danger but lacking the resources to bring all three of her children with her if she fled. She left a part of herself behind when she had to leave her two small daughters in the care of her parents and flee to the US with her son. There is not a day that goes by that she does not think of them, worry for them, and feel a deep ache in her heart to be with them again.

In the time Sara has been in the US, she applied for asylum because she needs protection. She has dedicated herself to work hard so her children have a hope and future. She works full-time at a local restaurant and makes sure her son and daughters have all they need. Here in the US, she and her son are safe, but she cannot rest because her girls aren’t with her. And they are vulnerable.

Just a few months ago, someone set fire to her parents’ home. Sara’s parents and daughters were not inside the house when the fire started, but they lost everything they had. Sara believes the man who killed her husband and his gang burned down the house in retaliation against her. There was no police investigation.

Marisa and Nancy standing in what remains of their grandparents’ home

Sara’s daughters are currently in process with a US refugee program, based in their home country, to see if they can reunite with Sara. Their interview is this month. RILA represents Sara, her son Peter, and her two girls, Marisa and Nancy. Everyone at RILA is pulling for Sara and her children to be together again so they can all live in safety and find rest.

*Names have been changed.