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Our Family Story

A BRAVE MOTHER 

My name is Pedro Vallejos; I am going to tell you a little story about a brave mother and her four little ones. This story is about my brave Mom, my two sisters my younger brother and me.

 

We were born in Nicaragua, in the heart of a loving warm normal family.  It was until 1978, the Somoza family had been ruled Nicaragua for over 40 years. By this time, civil war broke out the peace of the country; and the Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional (FSLN) removed the Somosa’s from power.

 

The FSLN was lead by Daniel Ortega, it was a communist party supported by the USSR, Cuba and other European nations.  Nicaragua needed change, but the FSLN brought the change in a violent and imposing manner. They extended their communist imposed govern all over the country until February of 1990 when Daniel Ortega loses the presidential elections against Violeta Barrios de Chamorro.

 

My father was an up and coming businessperson, he gave to my family a comfortable life. On January 3rd, 1983, my father left home for work, but this time he never came back. He was kidnapped and murdered by the “Sandinistas” (members of the FSLN). With the help of the local authorities, we found his car, his clothing, and even some money, but we never found his body. After his death, the Sandinistas moved quickly, confiscating everything. My family and I were left with nothing. After suffering persecution, and several death threats, my mother did the only thing, she could do to keep her family safe; we fled in the middle of the night from Nicaragua, and became political refugees in Honduras.

 

We came to Honduras with nothing but few clothes on our backs and a couple of things in an old suitcase. My Mom got a small mattress, which we share at bedtime, my mother (who never had to work before the war) washed other people’s clothes, cleaning houses. A woman used to pay to my Mom to peal pineapples for her business and I saw my mother peel 60 pineapples with her bare hands, and the acid from the 60 pineapples damaged her skin making her bleed.

 

I saw people humiliate my mother for a few coins and she never complained, to provide for us (and I felt useless because I could not defend my mother) and she did it every day without complaining, she did it for us.  Sometimes, I woke up in the middle of the night, I saw her crying and asking God for his love and mercy, and she always thanked him for his love for us.

 

She always helped people who need her help, and she taught us that even if we do not have money, we can always help with our time and our knowledge and there are no excuses to help others, and she planted the seed in our hearts to help others. She always led us to God.

 

My two sisters, my little brother and I were constantly humiliated and taunted at school, just because we were refugees from Nicaragua.

 

We used to work at a church that helped refugees. They asked for donations on our behalf, we worked there loading and unloading trucks full of donations that were always headed to someplace else, we never received anything of these donations. One day, a woman that used to work there made a surprising confession. She told us that none of the donations made it to the hands of the refugees, and the worst part is that they were using our photos and information to ask for help and we never got it, and our pictures were always taken to be sold in the market.

 

We have been through a lot of things, and with God’s help, we have overcome injustices, hunger, and persecution. Ever since that day we found out about those misled donations, my family and I made it our goal always to help others. We made a promise to ourselves that day; that someday, if we would open an organization that brings help to the people who need it; we will do it in an upright, responsible and transparent manner.

 

In 1998, after the destruction caused by the hurricane Mitch, my brother William and I started to work as volunteers in an organization called Mercy International. We worked with medical and construction teams to rebuild more than 73 little houses for the victims in Morolica and Tegucigalpa. After this, we moved our efforts to the mountains of La Esperanza, Intibucá.

 

Located in the poorest area of Honduras, we worked with medical and construction teams to improve the quality of life of over 15 rural communities around La Esperanza. In 2004, under the supervision of Mercy International, my brother and I moved to Morocco and continued doing this type of work for one year. From 2005 to 2010 we worked with Global Brigades, where we coached the staff and created the construction and public health programs.

 

Now with God´s help, all together: Our new generation, my sisters Anabellsy, Diana and my mother Rosa, William and me are willing to really make a difference, creating an organization that helps to develop our country’s potential and make us use all the experience and expertise that my brother William and I have acquired since 1998.

 

Now, if you ask, who are we? We are Hands for Americas

The family Vallejos founders of Hands for Americas.

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Pedro Vallejos

Co-Founder and CEO

HANDS FOR AMERICAS