“I give it a ten,” said Fatima Trana de Flores, when she was asked how important El Centro de La Raza is for the Hispanic community.
Originally and very proudly Nicaraguan, Fatima Trana de Flores was happy to share her story about how El Centro de La Raza helped her interview and land a job at the Embassy of Guatemala.
Like many immigration stories, she spent several years separated from her husband, as he worked in the US several years before she could join him. Once she arrived, it took time to adjust to the climate, food, different culture, but the hardest by far was the language barrier.
When she indicated to her human resource manager where she worked that she wanted to grow professionally, they referred her to El Centro de La Raza to find training opportunities for Spanish-speakers. Though she had worked in Nicaragua, she definitely appreciated the ability to refresh several work skills she had not used in a while.
Through El Centro de La Raza, she was able to improve her resume, develop her office skills, practice job interviewing, and find a great fit by attending career fairs.
Her recommendation? Always study to better yourself as a worker and a person. She encourages people to study and to find ways to contribute their grain of sand to the economy and development of this country.
Fatima says her next steps include practicing English on a daily and eventually, she hopes to find work in defense of human rights with a nonprofit or government agency and address gender violence, in particular. We look forward to continuing to see her grow and inspire!
The health and success of El Centro de la Raza begins with you. Support from a broad base of community members including foundations, individuals, and corporations is critical to our success and we ask that you carefully consider making a personally meaningful gift – it may be the largest gift you have ever made.
