20 Juani Santos

Juani was born into a Venezuela barrio in Maracaibo, a very poor area of Venezuela. He lived with 9 family members. His dad Jose was a supporter of the opposition government. He admired America and American sports, and he taught Juani how to play from a very young age. One Sunday afternoon when he was 14, his father was taken because he was a so called “rebel”. Juani knew he had to escape the country before he was come after. His family understood and piled together all the money they had to help him escape into Colombia. He made it into Bogota, and promptly snuck onto a boat to America. Juani’s family had friends from the USA, and so he made his way to them. Once Juani settled into his new family, he went to high school and joined the football team. He was short, but speedy and elusive. Once he was 16, he was the starter in varsity and was scoring touchdowns regularly. He was an amazing player. He is hoping to make it into college to try and help his family to come to the states, and maybe even try to get his father out of jail. How? He has no idea.