Casa Alianza - Homeless Youth Opening Doors for Homeless Youth

"It doesn’t matter where you come from, but where you are going."

I was born in the city of Puebla, two hours southeast of Mexico City.  Apart from a few vague memories, I know very little about my mom. My dad was in prison when I was born, and growing up I moved around all the time, living for short periods of time with different family members. When I turned 7, my dad was let out of prison, but he was violent and taking drugs. I remember he used to beat me up. My mom was also hooked on drugs, so my great-grandmother let me live with her. The truth is I don’t hold any hard feelings against my mom. She must have been going through a really tough time herself.

While living with my grandmother, I managed to study up to the fifth grade of primary school.  Then one day, without notice, my dad reappeared in my life. He had married again and had a new daughter who was three months old.  I decided to spend Christmas that year with him, and I saw that he had changed. He was no longer on drugs. I wanted to try living with him, and took the opportunity to move in with his new family. I hoped to be able to continue studying, but he had other ideas, and sent me to work with him on a ranch.

It wasn't long before I started running into problems with my new stepmom. She started making things up about me, and telling them to my dad. After a while it became too much to deal with, and I decided it was time for me to go. At 13 I left home again and started living on the streets. In Puebla I heard stories of the adventure, excitement, crime, and violence of Mexico City. I became gripped with a fever to move to the city, but more than anything else, to learn and study, with all the museums, exhibitions and historical sites that I had heard about on TV. One morning in September, I headed to Mexico City. My stories about my life on the streets of Mexico City could fill an entire book, but I would prefer to concentrate on how I came to join Casa Alianza Mexico.

One day I was working on the streets of Mexico City, selling underwear on the main square (Zócalo), when I was approached by members of the Street Outreach Team from Casa Alianza Mexico. They spoke with me about beginning a new life at Casa Alianza. What interested me most was that it would give me the opportunity to re-start my studies.  I decided to take the chance.

The decision was life-changing. At Casa Alianza I finished not only primary school, but also went right through to complete secondary school, and with good grades. Then I enrolled in high school. I am so grateful to have made this change in my life, and to have found the love and support at Casa Alianza. I finally have the opportunity to study continually, develop my ideas, and express them with as many people as possible.

One of my major recent successes was finishing the first year of high school, with excellent grades. Last summer I won a scholarship to participate in an English language course in San Antonio, Texas. On returning to Mexico I gave a speech in the Engineering Tower at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). I concluded it with the words of Archimedes, which could not be more apt for me: ‘Give me a place to stand, and I will move the Earth."

This is an extract from Eduardo's autobiography, which was published by the UNAM. It won an honorable mention in an essay competition run by the University. Eduardo continued studying, and has won scholarships to take courses in English and computing.

In 2010 Eduardo started a work-study program. On May 13^th 2011 he graduated from Casa Alianza Mexico. He currently lives independently and continues with his high school studies, but he remains very much part of the Casa Alianza family.