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Airman leaves Colombian home for family

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Joe Lacdan
  • 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. (AFPN) --  She left heaven. Not because she wanted to, but because her family needed her to leave.

But if Staff Sgt. Yaneth Alvarez had her way, she would still be sitting at her family’s old brick home nestled between Colombia’s Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Central mountains.

The 509th Medical Group Airman would be in Belen de Umbria. It’s a town she calls “el cielo en la tierra,” or heaven on earth.

But she knew as her grandparents, Gonzalo Alvarez and Carmen Tulia, grew older, their medical needs would grow, too. Her family always had enough to eat. But Mr. Alvarez -- who worked as a truck driver transporting coffee, fruits and meat to outlying cities -- earned little income.

So in the summer of 1993, at age 13, Sergeant Alvarez and her older brother joined their mother, Cielo, in the United States. They hoped to make a better living and be able to help family they left in Belen de Umbria.

“Somebody had to look after my family,” she said. “That’s my role.”

Sergeant Alvarez soon learned to embrace America and the opportunities it gives Latin Americans. She remembers one day at Miami Senior High School in downtown Miami. There was a classroom discussion where students debated whether the United States treats Latin Americans fairly.

She said some Latino students believe Latin Americans don’t receive the same rights as other Americans and that “Norte Americanos” constantly discriminate against them.

Sergeant Alvarez disagreed.

“If you’re born humble, you learn to live humble,” the 26-year-old said. “You don’t need anything else.”

Sergeant Alvarez said she felt nothing but gratitude toward her new country. So much that she decided to enlist in the Marines. She later decided on the Air Force because it allowed her to attend basic military training sooner.

In the Air Force, Sergeant Alvarez built a career she said would never have been possible in Colombia. Most Colombian women have few career opportunities and many remain in the household, she said.

“They cook and clean all day long,” she said.

The Airman aspired for more than that. While working in health service management at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, she was U.S. Pacific Command’s 2000 Airman of the Year.

“(America) gives me an opportunity -- as a minority female -- to succeed in a country that’s not mine,” said Sergeant Alvarez, who became a U.S. citizen in 1999. “I’m grateful because I’ve been able to provide my family with the basic needs any human being should have.”

At Whiteman her desire to excel continues. The Nuclear Operational Readiness Inspection team named her a superior performer during their October 2004 visit.

“She’s willing to go the extra mile,” said coworker Tech. Sgt. Sherry Odett. “Everything she does is outstanding.”

However, despite her success, each night when Sergeant Alvarez goes to bed, she longs to be home. Sometimes she imagines smelling fresh mangoes in the morning, children playing soccer in the road and hearing music from her neighbors’ homes.

She’s an American now. But she keeps the Colombian flag with her. She calls home nearly every day and sends money home each month. Her grandparents, who she calls her “real parents,” are especially important to her.

“They’re the backbone of a strong and united family,” Sergeant Alvarez said. “Without them, life wouldn’t make sense. They made us who we are.”

For now, the sergeant is content with her life in the United States. She applied for an ROTC scholarship to the University of South Florida to study nursing. Then she plans to make a career out of the Air Force, retire and return to the valleys of Belen de Umbria.

That has always been on her mind.

When she first arrived in Miami, the sergeant’s grandmother came with her. But the day Mrs. Tulia was to leave, the 13-year-old clung to her.

“I’ll be gone in body, but not in spirit,” Sergeant Alvarez remembers telling her grandmother. “I will be back.”