the story of tree of life '84

BY ALL MEANS, MAURICIO RODRIGUEZ SHOULD NOT BE ALIVE TODAY. GROWING UP IN THE SUBURBS OF LOS ANGELES, HE LED A FAIRLY NORMAL CHILDHOOD AND COMFORTABLE EXISTENCE. EVERYTHING CHANGED WHEN AT THE AGE OF 15, HE UNCOVERED A PAINFUL PAST WROUGHT WITH ADULTERY, MALICE, BROKENNESS, AND AS HE WOULD COME TO FIND OUT, ATTEMPTED MURDER. 

BORN IN A REMOTE AREA OF ESTELÍ, NICARAGUA TO AN UNMARRIED MOTHER AND ALCOHOLIC FATHER WITH 25 OTHER CHILDREN, NEWBORN MAURICIO WAS THROWN INTO THE OPEN HOLE OF AN OUTHOUSE AND ABANDONED TO DIE. HIS MOTHER THEN LODGED LARGE STONES IN THE PIT TO ENSURE HIS DEATH AND COVER HER CRIME. 

IT WASN’T UNTIL DAYS LATER, WHEN A GROUP OF BOYS PLAYING SOCCER NEARBY HEARD THE CRIES COMING FROM WITHIN THE OUTHOUSE, THAT MAURICIO WAS RESCUED AND TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL. WHY HE DIDN’T EVEN BEAR A SCRAPE OR A BRUISE WAS BEYOND REASON OR EXPLANATION. WHY HE HAD MIRACULOUSLY LANDED ON A WEDGED BOARD THAT BROKE HIS FALL BAFFLED EVERYONE. 

AFTER A LONG PERIOD OF DEEP QUESTIONING AND HURT FOLLOWING THE DISCOVERY OF HIS PAST, MAURICIO BEGAN LIVING IN THE CONFIDENCE THAT HE IS ALIVE TODAY FOR A REASON, AND SURELY NOT FOR A LIFE OF COMFORT IN LOS ANGELES. WITH THIS CONVICTION AND DETERMINATION, HE RECENTLY MADE THE BOLD DECISION TO MOVE HIS LIFE TO THE VERY LAND HE WAS BORN ON, A LAND OF HURT AND OF MIRACLES, IN ORDER TO RESTORE THE YOUNG MOTHERS AND CHILDREN OF NICARAGUA INTO THEIR TRUE IDENTITIES.