The Zhapaq family from the Kazakh city of Almaty were hoping to realize their American dream and begin a new life in the United States this summer.
But after their quest to enter the United States illegally almost ended in tragedy, they are instead back to their old lives again in the working-class neighborhood of Shanyraq.
Baikhan Zhapaq, his wife Arai Zhaparqulova, and two of their four children were among the survivors after a boat carrying 18 illegal migrants sank off Colombia's Caribbean coast on July 9. At least one person died in the incident.
The family say they sold their car and livestock and borrowed money, leaving their house as collateral in collecting $40,000 to finance their ill-fated journey to the United States.
They planned to travel from Kazakhstan to neighboring Uzbekistan before flying to Qatar and then taking a plane to Brazil -- a popular route for the thousands of Kazakh migrants who have headed to the United States.
From Brazil they would continue the journey northward -- through Colombia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico -- to reach the U.S. border.
The family say they wanted to leave Kazakhstan due to financial hardship and to provide better opportunities for their children.
Zhapaq who worked as a driver at the Almaty airport, says he earned a "decent salary" but it wasn't enough to feed the family of six.
"We used the [state] child allowance to pay our mortgage and for children's clothes and school expenses," said Zhaparqulova, 35.
"To earn extra money, I baked and sold pies. We worked and worked but were never able to make enough money," she said. "We needed [the equivalent of] $1,250 a month to have a normal life, but our income was much smaller than that."
Plans Unravel
The couple embarked on their long journey in late June, taking along two of their children -- teenage son Bekos and his 5-year-old brother, Daryn.
Accompanying them was 46-year-old Qabidulla Qali, a chef from Almaty whom the couple befriended on a chat group of Kazakhs seeking to move to the United States.
Soon the five of them arrived in Brazil, where their plan began to unravel. Airport officials in Rio de Janeiro did not allow them to board their flight to the Nicaraguan capital, Managua.
"We had valid return tickets, we had a hotel reservation in Managua, but they still didn't allow us [to fly]. We were desperate," Zhapaq, 36, said, adding that officials told them Nicaragua had sent a list of passengers who must be banned from boarding the plane.
The United States has begun putting pressure on countries in South and Central America to take measures to stop illegal migrants who use their territory to reach the United States. Washington imposed sanctions on Nicaragua in May, accusing it of aiding the trafficking of migrants.
Zhapaq says the family decided to go back to Kazakhstan and that Qali even bought a ticket to Almaty. But then they changed their minds and instead approached some people smugglers to arrange their journey to Nicaragua by a clandestine sea route.
The family said they paid $8,500 to the traffickers to take them from Colombia's San Andres Island to Nicaragua. Late on July 8, the Kazakhs joined other illegal migrants from Iran, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela aboard a small boat.
There were 20 people, including two captains on the fishing boat, which had no seats.
'This Is The End'
"After going some 10 kilometers on the boat, the island disappeared from view and then big waves began to rise, but we didn't pay attention to it. Everyone was sitting quietly immersed in their thoughts," Zhaparqulova recalled.
But everything changed a few minutes later as a large wave flipped the boat, scattering the migrants and their belongings into the open sea in the middle of the night.
Eventually, the family found each other in the water and spent hours clinging to a gasoline barrel that stayed afloat.
"I can't possibly describe what was going on in my mind in those moments," Zhapaq recalled. "My whole life flashed before my eyes. I was scared for the children. I thought, 'We should have gone back [to Kazakhstan when we weren't allowed to board our flight in Rio]. Now we'll die here, this is the end.'"
"We were very scared, but we tried to stay calm so we wouldn't scare the kids. We told them a boat will come and rescue us," Zhaparqulova said.
"I was thinking, 'How many minutes do we have before we will die here in the sea? How long can we manage to stay afloat before drowning? I was thinking about the two children we left behind in Kazakhstan, and about these two who were with us in the sea, in pitch dark."
Zhaparqulova described how the "waves were rising high" and crashing over them.
"The saltwater was stinging our eyes, and we swallowed it. We felt sick. We were holding the children up so they wouldn't sink," the mother said.
At least 15 of the migrants, including the Zhapaq family, were eventually rescued by a Colombian Navy rapid-reaction unit. But Qali didn't make it. Rescuers recovered his body from the sea.
Back Home
The family's luggage, money, and clothes were all lost at sea, but their passports were miraculously left intact inside a small shoulder bag that Zhapaq had sealed with tape before the boat journey.
"We were exhausted and in shock, unable to utter a word," Zhapaq said, describing the moments after being rescued and taken to a Colombian migration center.
"For three days they took good care of us, gave us food and clothes, [but] the migration center workers tried to make sure that we didn't leave the facility," he said. "Someone would always accompany us even to the kitchen and the toilet. But we didn't have any intention of trying to go to the United States [at that point]. We only wanted to go home. I forgot about all the loans and told myself that I would find a way to earn money."
Colombian officials requested that the family leave the country as soon as possible. Three days later, a relative in Kazakhstan purchased them one-way tickets to Almaty. On July 14, Zhapaq and his family arrived back in Kazakhstan.
With no jobs and no money and big loans to repay, the couple are trying to rebuild their lives while also struggling to deal with the trauma they suffered. But they have not given up on their American dream.
But the next time they want to explore legal routes.
"The path we tried isn't worth the risk, especially with children," Zhapaq said. "It was our fate to go through that [ordeal]."
