Guillermina Vasquez says that education opens up a better future for people — especially for the Mexican immigrants who arrive in the U.S. without much formal schooling.
Vasquez is quick to add that she's thankful for the help she's received in seeking her education at the Plaza Comunitaria at Cerritos College.
"Plaza Comunitaria opened the door for me so I could succeed," Guillermina said during a recent ceremony at the Mexican Consulate in the Westlake district of Los Angeles.
The ceremony came in part thanks to Tortillas Guerrero, a Mexican tortilla company that donated $110,000 to the scholarship program at the Institute of Mexicans Abroad (IME), which sponsors the Plaza Comunitaria at Cerritos College and 12 others throughout Los Angeles County. The Plaza Comunitarias were established by the IME with the support of the Mexican Consulate in 2005. The Mexican government and various businesses and non-profit organizations in the U.S. have provided more than $1 million for the program. The funds are managed by the University of California, which signed an agreement in 2005 with the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations to operate the project with the objective of educating Mexican immigrants.
Vasquez is a housewife with four children, and she arrived in the U.S. from her hometown of Colima, Mexico, with an elementary school education. That's as far as she went in school for the next 32 years — until the IME program gave her a boost.
"I want to be successful and my goal has not been easy. Rather it has been a constant struggle," said the recent high school graduate.
Part of the struggle has been working 12 hours a day and still finding time to spend two hours each day in classes at Plaza Comunitaria, where she has worked to finish high school.
Vasquez said that her efforts to continue her education have helped her get ahead. She now works in a seniors' clinic and earns an income of $35,000 a year.
Alfredo Bueno came to the U.S. from Aguascalientes, Mexico, and has been attending a Plaza Comunitaria, taking a first step toward education by becoming literate in Spanish.
Darybuth Martinez, the coordinator of Plaza Comunitaria at Cerritos College, said that many immigrant students have shown up seeking classes in computers, welding, plastic injection, and other trade courses even though they lacked basic education.
"There were 18-year-old students who didn't know how to even read or write," Martinez said. "We started out with 10 students learning to read first in their language and then in English."
Mexican Consul General, Juan Marcos Gutierrez, emphasized that the IME Scholarships have provide economic support for teachers and coordinators of the Plaza Comunitarias so that they, in turn, can support immigrants as they seek education.
Mireya Olivera is editor of Impulso.
Photos by Impulso
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