Philanthropist, photojournalist, and nationally recognized speaker Saul Flores shared the experiences from his 5,328-mile, three-month journey walking and hitchhiking from Ecuador to Charlotte, North Carolina. During that time, Flores documented the hardships, joy, and hope migrants face, which he shared in his keynote speech, “Walk of the Immigrants,” delivered to students, faculty and staff at Rose-Hulman’s March 30 program commemorating the birthday of Cesar Chavez.

The son of migrants, as a senior in college, Flores bought a one-way ticket to Ecuador with the goals of walking across Latin America as other immigrants have, raising awareness of their plight, documenting his journey through photos, and using funds raised from selling those images to reconstruct an elementary school in Atencingo, Mexico. 

“What started off as an idea evolved into something so much bigger than myself,” Flores told the Rose-Hulman audience. “It evolved into the story of my community, and I’m sharing this with you not because I want you to become champions of immigration. I’m sure a lot of you already are. I’m sharing this with you because I want you to know that if you cement yourself in a passion, and you use that passion to serve a greater community, you will have the capacity to create incredible change.”

Flores’ work has been featured on National Public Radio, MSNBC, and TED. He has been featured as a keynote speaker for dozens of universities, inspiring audiences through his visual presentations, in which he helps people realize the capacity of their immense human potential given times of extreme adversity.

Flores’ appearance was part of Rose-Hulman’s Diversity Speaker Series sponsored by the top-ranked STEM college’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion.