Nayeli Cruz Bonilla

Santiago Seferino Álvarez Álvarez checks his prosthesis in a room in his home, in the Matapalo Orocuina community, in Honduras, on July 26, 2022. Santiago Álvarez lost his left leg during a train accident on his way through Mexico while trying to migrate to USA. He was deported to Honduras where he received a prosthesis from the Vida Nueva Foundation, located in the city of Choluteca, and currently works in the entomology laboratory of the Ministry of Health, located in Tegucigalpa.

June’s featured photographer is Nayeli Cruz Bonilla

Nayeli studied Psychology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She began her photographic training at the FARO de Oriente and attended the Photographic Production Seminar at the Centro de la Imagen (Mexico). She has participated in various collective exhibitions in Mexico. She was the second place winner in the Latin American contest “Fotógrafas LATAM” and is part of the “LAF8 Latin American Photography” catalog of the North American Association of Illustration and Photography.

She was the 3rd place winner in the “Caregiver” category of the POY LATAM 2021. Her work has been exhibited in Colombia, Paris, Leipzig, and New York and it has been published in various print and electronic media. She currently collaborates for the newspaper El País.

THE AMPUTATED MIGRANTS OF THE BEAST

Leaving the country of origin because of violence and poverty is just one of the first tragedies faced by thousands of Central and South American migrants who leave with the hope of achieving the American dream. Transiting through Mexico has become, perhaps, the most dangerous route to achieve this objective due to the multiple raids carried out by immigration agents, due to extortion, assaults and kidnappings suffered at the hands of criminal groups and due to the accident that so many people have suffered during their journey in one of the best known cargo trains to reach the border with the United States, ‘The Beast’.

The migrants ride on the roofs of the wagons, which they climb on when the train slows down. The danger of falling asleep, the constant assaults or the derailment of the train are some of the reasons why many fall and lose one of their members. In this moment, the dream ends for most of them. Many of the migrants who have suffered an amputation decide to stay in Mexico, cared for in shelters and hoping to try their luck again at some other time.

One of those shelters is the managed by Pastor Ignacio Martínez, in the city of Celaya, Guanajuato. In this place, people sign up for theater classes and receive physical and psychological treatment. Martínez shelters one of the most vulnerable populations that exists, mutilated migrants, most of whom come from Honduras. There they are channeled to a rehabilitation center, where they are given a free prosthesis and receive physiotherapy to regain some mobility.

Santiago Álvarez decided to return to Honduras, his country of origin, after falling off the train and losing one of his legs. Now he tells his story from Matapalo, a community in the Honduran department of Choluteca. There he sought the support of an association that helps migrants and managed to get a new prosthesis thanks to a program supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), through through the Vida Nueva Integral Rehabilitation Foundation, which turned its support to the growing number of migrants who returned with some of their limbs amputated after their attempt to reach the United States.

Aerial view of the train tracks that cross the municipality of Celaya, in Guanajuato, on July 14, 2022. Casa ABBA is located in Celaya, a shelter founded in 2015 by pastor Ignacio Martínez Ramírez, with the aim of providing shelter, attention medical, legal and psychological advice to migrants in transit who, during their journey, have lost a limb in their attempt to reach the border with the United States.
Central Americans immigrants rest in the courtyard of the Casa ABBA shelter for amputee migrants, located in Celaya, Guanajuato, on July 14, 2022.
Refugee migrants at the Casa ABBA shelter, located in Celaya, Guanajuato, take a theater class taught by Professor Jorge Correa, on July 14, 2022.
Central American migrant Osman Amaya receives rehabilitation at the Guanajuato Institute for Persons with Disabilities (INGUDIS), located in the municipality of Silao, Guanajuato, on July 15, 2022. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) signed an alliance with INGUDIS to provide physical and psychological rehabilitation to migrants who have suffered some mutilation during their journey to the border with the United States and Mexico.
Evert Rodríguez, a Honduran migrant, rests at the Casa ABBA shelter for amputee migrants, located in Celaya, Guanajuato, on July 14, 2022. The shelter was founded in 2015 by pastor Ignacio Martínez Ramírez, with the aim of providing shelter, care medical, legal and psychological advice to migrants in transit who, during their journey, have lost a limb in their attempt to reach the border with the United States.
Prosthetics made at Fundación Vida Nueva’s prosthetics and orthotics laboratory on July 27, 2022. The foundation provides prosthetics and rehabilitation to Honduran migrants who were mutilated during their passage through Mexico to the United States.

To see more of Nayeli’s works, here

La fotógrafa del mes de junio es Nayeli Cruz Bonilla

Cursó la Licenciatura en Psicología en la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Inició su formación fotográfica en el FARO de Oriente y cursó el Seminario de Producción Fotográfica del Centro de la Imagen. Ha participado en diversas exposiciones colectivas en México. Fue ganadora del segundo lugar en el concurso latinoamericano “Fotógrafas LATAM” y forma parte del catálogo “LAF8 Latin American Photography” de la asociación norteamericana American Illustration and Photography.  

Fue ganadora del 3er lugar en la categoría “Cuidadores” del POY LATAM 2021.  Su trabajo ha sido exhibido en Colombia, Paris, Leipzig, y Nueva York y se ha publicado en diversos medios impresos y electrónicos. Actualmente colabora para el Diario El País

LOS MIGRANTES AMPUTADOS DE LA BESTIA

Abandonar el país de origen a causa de la violencia y la pobreza es apenas una de las primeras tragedias a la que se enfrentan miles de migrantes centroamericanos y sudamericanos que salen con la esperanza de alcanzar el sueño americano. Transitar por México se ha convertido en, quizás, la ruta más peligrosa para lograr ese objetivo debido a las múltiples redadas hechas por agentes migratorios, a causa de las extorsiones, agresiones y secuestros que sufren a manos de grupos criminales y por los accidentes que tantas personas han sufrido durante su viaje en uno de los trenes de carga más conocidos para llegar a la frontera con Estados Unidos, “La Bestia”.

Los migrantes viajan en los techos de los vagones, a los que se suben cuando el tren disminuye la velocidad. El peligro de quedarse dormido, los constantes asaltos o el descarrilamiento del tren son algunas de las causas por las que muchos caen y pierden alguno de sus miembros. Ahí se apaga el sueño para la mayoría. Muchos de los migrantes que han sufrido una amputación deciden quedarse en México, atendidos en albergues y con la esperanza de volver a probar suerte en algún otro momento.

Uno de esos albergues es el que dirige el pastor Ignacio Martínez, en la ciudad de Celaya, Guanajuato. En este lugar, la gente se apunta a clases de teatro y recibe tratamiento físico y psicológico. Martínez da cobijo a una de las poblaciones más vulnerables que existe, a los migrantes mutilados, la mayoría provenientes de Honduras. Ahí son canalizados a un centro de rehabilitación, donde se les brinda una prótesis de forma gratuita y reciben fisioterapia para recuperar algo de movilidad.

Santiago Álvarez decidió volver a Honduras, su país de origen después de caer del tren y perder una de sus piernas. Ahora cuenta su historia desde Matapalo, una comunidad del departamento hondureño de Choluteca, Ahí buscó el apoyo de una asociación que ayuda a migrantes y logró conseguir una nueva prótesis gracias a un programa apoyado por el Comité Internacional de la Cruz Roja (CICR), a través de la Fundación para la Rehabilitación Integral Vida Nueva, la cual volcó su apoyo al creciente número de migrantes que regresaban con alguno de sus miembros amputados tras su intento de llegar a Estados Unidos.

Para ver más de los trabajos de Nayeli, aquí