RIP Lazarito ♥️

Will You Help Us Bring Lazaro Home One Last Time 🙏🏻♥️

Lazaro’s story was one of incredible courage, heartbreak, and resilience.

At just 16 years old, he fled on a makeshift boat built from plywood and old car tires—risking everything for a chance at freedom. He was caught during the escape and imprisoned in Guantánamo Bay. After his release, he became a resident of the United States, and later entered Canada, where he remained for many years as a protected refugee.

But about two years ago, the Canadian government ruled that he was no longer at risk if deported. That decision cast a darker shadow over his life. From that point on, Lazaro lived in constant fear of being taken away by the Canada Services Agency. The stress and anxiety of that looming threat never left him. I can only imagine the torment he endured, day in and day out because I was impacted by it and I wasn’t even the one living that threat. 

He never got the chance to return home.

During his years in exile, Lazaro lost his mother, a sister, and a brother—heartbreaking losses he carried quietly. Nearly a decade ago, I traveled to and had the chance to meet his family, after many years of no contact. I brought them love, letters, and messages from Lazaro. We cried, we laughed, and we held a celebration in his honor—complete with roasted pig, music, and tears. I recorded hours of video for him, and when I returned, we watched them together, crying and myself wondering how difficult this life would be to live. The joy, the pain, and the distance—it was all so raw.

Lazaro loved to fish, drink beer, and most of all, he loved to work. He didn’t like sitting still—he was always in motion, always pushing forward, no matter what burdens he carried. 

I once promised him that if he ever had to return to , I’d go with him. I never imagined it would be this way.

Now, we are in a position to honor that promise—with your help.

We are raising funds with his families support (who remain in their Third World country-) to help cover the costs of caring for Lazaro’s remains and to finally take him home after so many years away from his country and his family. This includes taking care of his body, funeral expenses and all the logistical and legal steps involved in returning him to , where his family is waiting to say their final goodbyes.

This is our chance to give back to someone who gave so much of himself to others.

Please donate if you’re able, and if not, sharing this page is also a tremendous help. Every bit of support brings us closer to bringing Lazaro home to rest, surrounded by the love he so deeply missed.

Rest in peace, Lazarito.

Your strength, your story, and your heart will never be forgotten.

You are loved and missed more than you will ever know. 🕊️💔