Mexican hospitality: the Southern brothers

A migrant boy, part of a caravan of thousands traveling from Central America en route to the United States, walks through a makeshift camp in Mexico City [Hannah McKay/Reuters]

Mexico City - Jairo Mauricio Ramirez did not have to say many goodbyes in Honduras. A 16-year-old orphan, he joined thousands of US-bound migrants and refugees last month when they came through Ocotepeque, his hometown.

Ramirez hopes to make it to the United States to find work and continue his schooling beyond the Grade 7 level he was able to complete. He would like to be a doctor or an engineer.

"I always liked studying, but I could not afford to continue," Ramirez told Al Jazeera.

When Ramirez was eight years old, his father died in an accident. When he was 12, his mother died of a heart attack. He has no siblings.

Ramirez lived with an uncle, but his uncle left Honduras a few months ago to migrate to the US. Ramirez has not heard from him since. He had a job at a local hardware store for a while, but was let go.

"There is no work these days," he said.

When Al Jazeera spoke with Ramirez, he was waiting in line for a donated blanket to stay warm during the cold Mexico City nights. He and several thousand other Central Americans fleeing violence and poverty were staying in a stadium that had been transformed into a makeshift refugee camp.

Jairo Mauricio Ramirez, a 16-year-old Honduran orphan, waits in line for a blanket at the Mexico City stadium migrant and refugee camp [Sandra Cuffe/Al Jazeera]

Managed by the Mexico City government and the city human rights commission, the camp was abuzz with activity all week, as groups large and small trickled into the capital city.

Migrants and refugees rested in the stadium bleachers, large tents in the field, and grassy areas outside the stadium. Others received medical attention, watched their kids being entertained by clowns, or waited in line for food, clothing and blankets. Little cheering circles formed around impromptu dance and song performances here and there on the sports complex grounds.

An estimated 5,000 Central Americans stayed at the stadium this week, and thousands more are slowly making their way up through southern Mexicoin subsequent caravans from Honduras and El Salvador. Preparations for more caravans are in the works. Guatemalans, Nicaraguans, and other Latin Americans have also joined the various waves of the ongoing exodus.

Ramirez made it through the first 1,650km through Guatemala and up to Mexico City. Like most of the thousands of migrants and refugees, he wants to make it through the next 2,700km to theUS border.

At an assembly on Thursday evening, the migrants and refugees voted to choose a route to the Tijuana border crossing. It is more than 1,000km further away than the closest points of entry to the US, but it is a safer route. It avoids parts of northeastern Mexico with high rates of homicides and forced disappearances, including that of migrants and refugees.

Central American migrants taking part in a caravan towards the US, watch a film as they rest during a stop in the journey at a shelter, set up at the Sports City in Mexico City [Alfredo Estrella/AFP]

The assembly chose to depart at 5am local time (11:00 GMT) on Friday, but plans changed overnight and the majority of migrants and refugees at the stadium chose to stay in the hopes of obtaining bus transport to the border.

Many people chose not to wait, however, and hundreds of people set out towards Queretaro on Friday morning, along the route to Tijuana. The remaining thousands plan to leave before dawn on Saturday, migrant and refugee caravan spokespeople said at a press conference on Friday.

Sandra Cuffe

From. Aljazeera.com