The New Beginning by Maria-Elena Heed

Maria was born in a remote place called Quintero, a commune of Valparaiso. The family home was a humble abode in the middle of the campo, with no electricity and no gas but they got by.

Her father, an alcoholic,  believed that the only reason girls wanted to go to school was to learn to read and   write so they could write letters and  get together with boys. Consequently, her parents didn't send Maria or her siblings to school. 

Maria was just fifteen when she made the brave decision to run away from home. She came to this decision one evening, when her father once again came home drunk.  He was being violent,  verbally and physically, abusive towards her. This behaviour was becoming more of a norm whenever her father went out on a drinking spree which was getting to be nearly every night.

Although Maria was illiterate, she knew she wanted a better life than the one she had.  She  was a hardworking girl, always helping mum to do any job around the house, no job was too much for her to do.  She wasn't afraid to seek employment as a domestic in “the big city”. She packed what few belongings she had, and off she went to start her journey to the unknown. 

Maria caught the bus to Valparaíso and met a young girl, around her age, called Juani.  Her family also lived in Quintero and she had been visiting them but now that her holidays were over she had to go back to work in Valparaiso (the “big city”). Maria and Juani became acquainted with each other, and talked about how life was in Valparaiso,  and after a while Maria disclosed her predicament with  the family, and that she had no choice but to run away.

Juani  mentioned that her boss’s sister in law, Mrs Janssen was looking for a housemaid, she explained that the family was  well-known and had a jewellery shop  called Janssen & Hnos. in the town. She suggested to Maria she might be suited and should go and see Mrs Janssen. She told her the address to go and see them.   Maria was most grateful for giving her this information and repeated the address several times to memorise it since she couldn't read or write. 

Maria repeated: ‘Avenida Almirante Montt,  Numero 1’ 

After two and half long hours in the bus they were now in Valparaiso at the central bus station. Maria had never been on a trip before,  let alone  on a coach for that length of time going to “the big city”. They said their goodbyes once they got off the bus,  each one  taking  their route.

In amazement, Maria stood there for a few seconds to admire the buzzing of the city. There were horse and carts on the road going to and from, people crossing the roads, container cargo ships at a distance just docking.  She was in awe by the vastness of the city. And said to herself: ‘ My new life begins here’!  And that is how my grandmother ended up living in Valparaiso. 

To be continued…