He Left to Save His Mother: A Migrant’s Move Reshapes a Friendship

By Mark DaCosta- Sometimes life leaves little room for certainty. You step away from what is familiar, knowing only that you cannot remain where you are. That is the choice Ricardo now faces as he walks into an uncertain new chapter — leaving behind a Georgetown apartment he shared for three years with a close Guyanese friend, not because the friendship has ended, but because his mother’s failing health demands a sacrifice.

He does not know exactly what the move will bring. He knows only what he is trying to save — a little more money, a little more hope, and perhaps a little more time for his mother.

A Venezuelan migrant named Ricardo, who became a friend of this writer, came to our country to escape hardship in his own country. He has now left the Georgetown apartment he shared for three years with his Guyanese friend. He is moving into free accommodation provided by his employer so that he can send more money to his seriously ill mother. The story shows how economic necessity shapes the private lives of migrants, and how it can strain even close friendships.