Organization: La Esperanza Inc.
Ancestral Country of Origin: U.S. (Puerto Rico)
Share a brief story about how or why your ancestors came to the U.S.:
My name is Lesmayra. I was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My family and I first moved to New York City in 1975 from Puerto Rico. I was just one year old. I only remember bits and pieces of the five years that we lived in New York. My father worked in a lamp factory in the Bronx. We lived in a studio in Manhattan for a while. It was nothing fancy at all. We then moved to Brooklyn. I remember the apartment being on the third floor and the train tracks being right in front of the window. While living in Brooklyn, I turned 5 years old and went to kindergarten and learned English.
In the summer of 1980, my family moved back to Puerto Rico. Don’t get me wrong, I love Puerto Rico, but that move set my education back a little. I went to first grade at Roberto Clemente Elementary School in Carolina, Puerto Rico. I was held back a year and had to repeat my first-grade year because I knew more English than Spanish. We lived in Puerto Rico for two years.
In February of 1982, my father enlisted in the army and was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In August of 1982, we moved “pa fuera,” as they say in Puerto Rico when someone travels to the United States. We had rough times because my father was a private and did not earn much money at the time. The waiting list for military housing was long. I remember having to sleep on a quilt on the floor with my family when we stayed at one of my parents’ friend’s house for a few weeks. They had no more beds, just the empty room.
By that time, I was in the second grade and had to start all over again because, guess what? Now I knew more Spanish than English. My parents didn’t know much English either, so I was at the mercy of my ESL teacher and English-speaking friends who could help on occasion.
Times were tough at the beginning, but as my father was promoted in rank, things got better and, eventually, my parents were able to buy a house, our home — the American dream!