And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us
Hello, my name is Denyse. I was born in Ecuador in the province of Zamora Chinchipe. When I was four years old my mother came here to Spain to work, to try to provide a better life for me and my sister Norma. The two of us were raised by our grandparents on a farm. Six years ago my mother tried to bring my sister and me to live with her, but she couldn't because they asked for a lot of documentation and they denied the visa to come to the country. Three years later my mother tried again; this time she was able to bring me but they again denied my sister a visa.
I arrived here on August 10, 2010 at 11:00 p.m.; to tell the truth, it was difficult for me to accustom myself to the time because it was 11:00 p.m. and had just recently got dark. Where I used to live, it always got dark about 7:00 or 8:00.
One of the things that cost me most upon arriving in Catalonia was to be so far away from all the people I lived with in Ecuador; when I began school I felt bad because my classmates all spoke Catalan and I couldn't understand anything they said.
I refused to make friends because it seemed strange to me the way the students here related to and treated the teachers; in Ecuador I was taught to treat teachers and other adults with respect. It cost me to see that here young people did not act the same; I didn't know how to react to these things and I felt very alone when with my new classmates.
Nowadays I feel very good here because I have more opportunities to study and to do well. My dream is to be a business woman and to have my own shop. The future here also permits me to discover more things about myself: I love reading, I can do things I never did back in Ecuador (like going downtown with my friends or going to the movies, getting to know people of different cultures, from whom I learn a lot).
Regarding my family, my mother, whose name is Rosa, has always supported me, helping me in every possible way. I have four siblings. My older sister, Norma, continues to live in Ecuador, and the three younger ones were all born and are being raised and educated here, in Catalonia, with my mother and me. Their names are Juana, Leidy and Jhofre, and they're always with me making me smile; I very much miss my older sister.
Reflection on migration
The situation of all children in the context of migration is of major concern, given their greater vulnerability to human rights violations. This is a diverse group including both children with regular and irregular migration status. Although children in an irregular migration situation are the most at risk of human rights violations across law, policy and practice, children with regular migration status7 are also vulnerable to discrimination and exclusion from basic rights and services. In addition, they also face practical challenges, such as, inter alia, language barriers and a lack of awareness on the rights that migrants are entitled to – both on the part of service providers and migrant families. Even with regular status, migrant families often do not have equal access to social protection measures, and are at risk of poverty, marginalization, and social exclusion.
(Committee on the Rights of the Child 2012 Day of General Discussion)
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FMSI – From the booklet titled: “The World of Migrant Children and Youth”