“I came to London without finding any information on the internet and without knowing anything, I found a girlfriend here, and later Raymundo. They tell me that it’s a little crazy to arrive here without having prepared anything.”
He is 44-years-old and is exhausted despite his robust stature – he is a little over 1.65m tall, and weighs 80kg – due to his journey.
The four extra-large size suitcases hold his recent memories of a life that he has left far behind like the tail of the Airbus A319 that transported him from Madrid-Barajas terminal to Stansted airport.
An Ecuadorian, born in Guayaquil, Wilson is dark, has broad shoulders and little hair.
His easy-going appearance conserves an air of healthy juvenility and despite the language-based mishaps of the journey, his attitude is positive.
My level of English is low, and I have taken four hours to get from the airport to the city centre… I am still not awake, I have just arrived and it seems that I am sleeping. English here compared with Spain… is a challenge for me,” he says while smiling.
He travelled to Madrid 12 years ago to study, work and find a better life, but in the end things did not work out well for him. “I was working in construction, but I lost my job because the company needed to reduce its workforce. So I decided to come to London”, says Wilson, who was hoping to be able to find a similar post.
“I came to London without finding any information on the internet and without knowing anything. I found a girlfriend here, and later Raymund, a trader from Elephant and Castle. They tell me that it’s a little crazy to arrive in London without having prepared anything”, he states, and adds that the generous help of these people gave him more motivation to find work.
For Wilson this journey has not only brought him a personal challenge but it has also opened his eyes to face the real meaning of the word “friendship” when you go through different adverse circumstances during your life.
“At this stage of life the only acquaintances are those I’ve left behind. When you go through situations like this, you realise that the people you trust are those who turn their back on you and it’s strangers who help you… People whom I have never seen in my life are those who are giving me a hand.” Sometimes there are people who throw themselves into an adventure that can end badly. That was what was said to Wilson before leaving Spain.
But sometimes those are the people who make a difference. He knows that you cannot sit on a sofa and wait.
He has to fight, win or fail, but feel that he is alive, and that as a human being he is something different from animals. Taking a risk is the first step to making a change.
Despite not knowing much English and waiting for a place where he could spend his first nights, his zest for life and overcoming gives him the strength to go onwards to start a new stage in London charged with desires and opportunities.
“Raymundo, my friend… is going to help me get the National Insurance number, the bank account to be able to legitimise my situation and to start work as soon as possible. It is a challenge for me.” Now he will make do with any work to start. ave come to London with what little I had left and with some money to get by, but I’m a worker, and I believe that everyone has a purpose and everyone makes their own destiny.”
(Translated by Claire Donneky – Email: claire.donneky@ukgateway.net) – Photos: Pixabay
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