Flores expressed the importance of education, community, and dreaming big dreams as he recounted his experience traveling in the footsteps of Hispanic immigrants.
Saul Flores, keynote speaker at the Presbyterian College 2024 Hispanic Heritage Month convocation, shared many valuable pieces of advice during his session this past Tuesday, September 24 in Edmunds Hall. One of the key ideas he kept returning to: believe in yourself, your dreams and passions, and where you come from.
“Sometimes, looking inwards is not enough,” said Flores. “Sometimes you need to look backwards to see where you’re coming from so that you know which direction to go.”
For Flores, “looking backwards” meant exploring his own personal heritage as the son of immigrant parents—his mother from Atencingo, Mexico, and his father from Santa Ana, El Salvador. To fully understand and raise awareness of the experiences of immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America, Flores himself spent three months walking and hitchhiking 5,328 miles in their footsteps. He started in Quito, Ecuador, and traveled to Charlotte, N.C.
“I walked across Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Belize, Mexico, and the U.S.,” said Flores. “When I finally stepped foot into El Paso, Texas, the project was picked up by media outlets across the entire world, like TED and NPR. This was something that had just started off as an idea. It evolved into something so much bigger than myself. It evolved into the story of my community.”
That community Flores speaks of includes a small, cinder block school in his mother’s hometown, built in the 1970s. His grandmother took him to visit the school while in college.
“She opened up this white, rustic gate, and it kind of creaked open,” said Flores, recalling his visit. “We stepped inside, and we saw 124 little kids with their hands around their hearts. And they begin to sing the Mexican national anthem. And it was so beautiful because they were welcoming us into this town. And I look at my grandmother, and she’s crying.”
Flores says he knew immediately that this was the community he was called to serve. Through proceeds from his journey, Flores raised enough funds to rebuild the little school.
“I’m sharing this with you because I want you guys to know that if you can cement yourself in a passion, and use that passion to serve a greater community, you guys have the capacity to create incredible change,” said Flores. “ I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”
Today, Flores is a philanthropist, photojournalist and speaker who is nationally recognized for his social impact projects.
