Issue date: 8/28/08 Section: 2 Day

Media Credit: Matt Fields-Johnson

When his family moved from Campeche, Mexico 10 years ago, Aaron Mar Sifuentes, now 25, was seeking to raise the quality of life for himself and his loved ones.

Now, as he lifts his 1-year-old son Anthony onto the monkey bars of the St. Joseph's Catholic Church playground, an unbreakable smile streaks across his face. Sifuentes knows that Anthony and his older brother, 4-year-old Angel, will have the opportunity to grow up and go to school in the United States.

But, his extended family is split between his Yucatan hometown and Bowling Green. His father and a brother remain in Mexico but Sifuentes has the company of another brother and his niece, Wendi, who watches and waits for her turn to play with her uncle.

Sifuentes is part of a large Latin American population in Bowling Green that came here with similar hopes for their families. Every day after work, some members of that community gather in at local parks to play soccer or enjoy time with their loved ones.

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