ABClatino Magazine Year 5 Issue 11 | Page 15

Life Story

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Gracias / Thanks: Borealis Philanthropy

ABOUT MIGRATORY MOURNING

Por / By María Elena Ferrer

Arte / Art: Barbara Masterson

Migratory mourning is a term referring to a little-known suffering immigrants face as they become separated from and experience losses of family, culture, language, land, social status, ethnicity and other changes associated with migration.

Conversations about migration are often limited to its demographic and economic effects, disregarding the psychosocial and other human aspects.

“It is vital to recognize the complex reality immigrants face,” says migratory mourning expert Joseba Achotegui, M.D., Ph.D.

“There is a tendency to devalue the human aspects of

migration because they cannot be standardized on

graphs, tables or algorithms.”

Elmer Martínez is an immigrant who from very young left Mexico in search of a better future.

He now lives in the Hudson Valley and today tells his story

of migratory life to Evelyn Garzetta, the president of Grace Latino Outreach.

Click on the video

to listen and watch.

Maria Elena Ferrer