Natalia’s story – Artwork by Nani Puspasari

‘It was very different. I felt light again, for many months it had been dark.’’ – Natalia

Natalia was 16 when she and her little brother fled gang violence in El Salvador. Gangs had killed her uncle and threatened the rest of the family. ‘This is no place for a 16-year-old girl,’ her grandmother told her. ‘We need to get your brother out of here while we still can.’

She and her brother travelled north, joining other children also fleeing violence. The journey was long and frightening.

When they reached Mexico, police took them to an immigration detention centre. Natalia and her brother were separated. He was sent to a section for younger children and she was placed with adult women. The cell was so crowded that people had to take turns sleeping. Her family didn’t know where they were, and Natalia feared they might believe she and her brother were dead.

After a month, Natalia and her brother moved into a community-based programme. They lived together, attended school, had access to healthcare and spoke to their mother by phone each week.

The programme gave Natalia and her brother a safe and stable place to live while their protection claims were processed, providing them with care and dignity, away from detention.