Juan Ortega Campos: A House to Grow
a Dream in
In
Wall Street's swirl of power and money, he was just a
delivery boy, a young man with a heavy Spanish accent who
carried meals up to the suits working in the World Trade
Center.
But back home in Jonacatepec in central Mexico, Juan
Ortega Campos was the very picture of success, a hard
working adventurer who lived in America, called his
family every day, and sent back money to build a dream.
"To him, it was very important to save enough money to
buy a piece of land and build a house on it," his wife,
Luz Maria, said from their rented home in Mexico. "That
was his dream."
Like many other immigrants, Mr. Ortega Campos, 32,
pursued his goal with imposing determination. For 20
months, he made deliveries for the Fine & Schapiro
restaurant and lived with a Mexican friend in Brooklyn,
keeping his expenses to a minimum. One of the few
diversions he allowed himself was studying Kung Fu.
Mostly, though, he imagined his children leading a
better life. Mr. Ortega Campos believed that building
them a house would be a big step toward making that
happen.
Now his wife says that if the governments of the
United States and Mexico provide the assistance they have
promised, she will buy a piece of land in Jonacatepec,
and there she will build her husband's dream.
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