Back home in Venezuela, all his friends call Jatniel by his middle name, David. For him, the name Jatniel, picked by his parents from the Bible with the meaning of “God given”, is for his side as a faithful son to his father. However, as Vid, or David, he is that queer kid who dances to K-pop and paints his nails.
Jatniel is one of the first friends I made on campus. He has a true magic of making people feel at ease around him, perhaps through the way he gives everyone a hug whenever he sees them. Although being the oldest on campus, Jatniel gives the vibe of a responsible child. He would forget words in both English and Spanish, take goofy selfies with your iPad, or rant on and on about his favorite K-pop group. However, he would also take care of you as a second year, be the leader in all group activities, and choreograph performances for the whole Latino family.
It’s with this positive outgoingness that Jatniel approached me one day in the art room. When asked why he came to UWC, he gave an answer that is not surprising among the students in this school: to escape his family and country.
Jatniel is born into an incredibly Catholic family, with his parents both holding degrees in theology, and his dad being a respected local priest.
“Did you know that I have been a preacher since I was four years old? My dad would take me around the country to preach.” Jatniel said.
He went through his phone and showed me a video of him as a child practicing his prayers. Although he looked so juvenile, his pronunciation was already very clear, and he already acquired a captivating confidence in front of the camera.
When talking about his father’s faith, he described it as “almost lunatic”. He said that “if his father is sick, he would not go to the hospital, but start praying instead.”
“There’s a time when he told me to stay out of a barber shop because the people in there ‘looked gay‘ when they’re not even actually homosexual, they just had long hair.” He laughed when saying this, but we both know it’s not funny.
Despite being so involved in clerical work, Jatniel also knows clearly that he has liked boys ever since he was 8. Once in Sunday School, the teacher asked them to write down their prayers in a notebook. The only thing Jatniel wrote was: “Please make me stop liking men”. He thought that if he wrote less, God would concentrate all his powers on this one wish.
Yet this prayer was never granted. “I’m the best proof that you can’t just turn people straight.” He always says, “Either God does not listen to my prayer, or that He meant to create me this way. I still believe in God and especially Jesus’s teachings, but I don’t think this means I can’t be gay.”
He told me about how the Bible was unfairly modified in history to discriminate against homosexuals. “Originally this phrase in Hebrew referred to pedophiles, but then the church interpreted it as homosexual.”
Jatniel, dancing at a school performance
Jatniel’s journey to UWC Costa Rica is not easy. Despite receiving a full scholarship from his national committee, he still struggled to convince his father to let him study in another country. This is already his second time getting into UWC, as his father forbade him to enroll the first time. “If I can’t go to UWC”, Jatniel told me, “I would actually try to walk to Columbia and study there.”
Also Jatniel, who stole my iPad to take silly selfies
Jatniel with the Venezuelan Flag at UWC Day
I remember when he told me how he got into the college he wanted with a scholarship that allowed him to no longer ask for money from his parents. I hugged him so tightly that my tears came out. Jatniel is one of those people that you feel deserves all the love in the world. Not simply because of how much he had to fight just to be himself, but also because of how much happiness he radiates despite his struggles. Jatniel is one of those people that makes you feel like there's always hope in this world.