http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=2804
By William Kaempffer, Register Staff
When Ricardo Leon, set upon by an armed robber, called out for help, his friend and neighbor came to his aid and died because of it. Now the immigrant community in Fair Haven is banding together to help get Freddy Salinas back to his native http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3519.
“It’s a familial tradition,” said Luis Toral, 44, a fellow Ecuadorian, “to have the body back in his home country.”
A homemade collection box sat on the counter at his restaurant at 549 Ferry St. in Fair Haven, identical to the one at Costitas Musicales y Algo Mas a few doors down. Similar collections are being done in Meriden, East Haven, and Waterbury.
As the population of immigrants in Fair Haven continues to grow, so does the number of coffins being shipped back to places such as Mexico, Columbia, El Salvador and Ecuador. With http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3148 leaving people reluctant to cremate loved ones, a death often can heap thousands of dollars in unexpected debt on families already struggling to eke out an existence here.The Rev. James Manship, pastor St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church on Blatchley Avenue, spoke of Salinas’ death at Mass Sunday and asked his congregation, a melting pot of people from 18 Spanish-speaking countries and Brazil, to give what they could.
In this church, which offers English classes and advocated for illegal immigrants swept up in federal immigration raids last year, this has become another core function: to assist, in whatever way it can, in repatriating the deceased to their native land.
“Tragically, most of the people who die here are young people and tragic deaths: drownings, car accidents, murders,” Manship said.
Earlier this winter, the church worked to help repatriate the body of a young Mexican who was hit by a train in the Hill.
When that need arises, he said, the community as a whole, not just those from the person’s home country, usually assist.
“In general, wherever you’re from, everyone can sympathize with a family trying to get a body — particularly a loved one — home,” Manship said. That often falls on the oldest sibling or relative.
In this case, it fell on the mother of Salinas’ six-month-old son and her family.