Enrique’s Journey | Chapter Four

Riders sit atop a northbound freight train as it rolls through lush Veracruz state in Mexico. Enrique’s experiences in Chiapas state taught him to fear the worst from people. Here, he was stunned by the kindness: people in many villages streaming toward the tracks with gifts.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Children race alongside a train in Chiapas state in southern Mexico. As migrants head north into Veracruz and Oaxaca, the displays of kindness toward migrants become more frequent.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

A migrant resting along the tracks in Oaxaca, Mexico, opens his Bible to show names and phone numbers scrawled inside. Many Central American travelers on the freight trains carry small Bibles. Security and immigration police often check for money to steal, but usually return the Bibles.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Magdalena Gonzalez Roman, left, and her brother Jesus prepare to throw food and clothing to migrants aboard a freight train in Encinar, in Mexico’s Veracruz state.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

The hands of migrants and food givers meet as a train passes through Fortin de las Flores in Veracruz state. A World Bank study found that 42.5% of Mexicans live on $2 or less a day. Here, in rural areas, the people who live along the tracks are often the poorest.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Maria Luisa Mora Martin, more than 100 years old, fills bags with food. “If I have one tortilla, I give half away, “ she said. “I know God will bring me more.”  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Young train-riding migrants headed for the United States pass through a tunnel outside Orizaba in Veracruz state. The tracks have begun to climb and the climate will soon turn icy. Near here, Enrique asked a man if he could spare a peso for food. Looking at his scars, the man gave him 15 pesos.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Guatemalan brothers Juan, left, and Jorge Velasquez Felipe clasp hands and yell to hear their echo in a tunnel in the mountains outside Orizaba.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Honduran teenagers on a speeding train huddle around a fire made of clothes and trash. When the train slows, the migrants jog alongside to try to keep warm.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Workers stack freshly made bricks in San Luis Potosi. Enrique worked here for a day and a half.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

A group of Central American men rest on and under cardboard next to the Rio Grande on the Nuevo Laredo side. The encampment is similar to the one Enrique found after he arrived in the Mexican city. He decided to stay in the camp while he planned his crossing.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)