El Sueno

El Sueno During 36 years of Guatemalan civil war, more than 200,000 people died before the government and leftist rebels made peace in 1996. Since then Guatemala has been rocked by violent drug traffickers and street gangs. With almost 6,000 Guatemalans slain last year, nearly same the number that occurred in a single year of the civil war, the Guatemalan murder rate is one of the highest in the world. The violence Guatemalans faced in their post-civil war lives drove many of them to flee the country in search of a better life.

During the past ten years, thousands of Guatemalans have migrated north, some to Mexico and many more to the United States, to find jobs, stability, and a peaceful existence. Unfortunately, many of them found their way to neighborhoods plagued by violence, poverty, and crime. Guatemala is not the only country facing this problem. Guatemala's neighbor to the north, Mexico, faces similar crises.

Many Mexicans are drawn to the United States to escape poverty and lack of opportunity in their own country. The photos in this book document Guatemalans and Mexicans in their countries. Their journeys are filled with hope, desperation, and most importantly, humanity.