A Journey for Gloria Cazanacl

A NEW BEGINNING

Gloria Cazanacl pictured above
 Picture credit: Gloria Cazanacl

In Columbia I was studying in a very nice, nice University. I had everything, everything you can imagine. I had this nice University, this nice, rich boyfriend (laughs). My University [was] in a traditional building, you know? Where the capitol was. We would arrive, and we would arrive late and they would give us coffee, and tea, and cookies. Not a problem. And we graduated, yeah. And everything was nice. Then I came here, without even knowing what Minnesota was. Because, let’s face it, it’s not like you hear about Minnesota everywhere in the news. When you talk about the United States you hear about Washington and New York and Chicago. Not about Minnesota. I didn’t know where Minnesota was. So I came here and I see this beautiful, beautiful state full of lakes [and] nice people. Most of them nice people. And I was thinking, oh wow, here everybody is white and blonde, nobody is going to speak Spanish. And then I come, and I start visiting the city, and I see a lot of immigrants speaking Spanish. So that’s when I would [say] that would be the ah-ha moment. I had to do something. Before getting my work permit I had to work as a volunteer. It was not something like, oh yes, I am super nice, I am going to volunteer. No. It was because I had too, because I had to have some work experience before working.

I CAN DO THIS

When I came to Minnesota I started volunteering for Casa Esperanza. Casa Esperanza is a non profit organization that helps prevent domestic violence. So that’s when I realized the situation of immigrants here in Minnesota, and I decided to do something more. I think once you have [a] good education and you have [a] kind of means or a way to do something, you should do it. I continued working in a different number of organizations until I decided that I wanted to do something bigger, to have bigger programs. So I applied, to Minneapolis public schools, to different areas and this area was one. They interviewed me and they accepted me (laughs). So I started work volunteering for this organization [Wellstone International High School] and helping a lot of immigrants and hearing their stories and see[ing] the complexity of the immigration issue. And that’s when I realize that when you have more knowledge, when you have more possibilities, you have a bigger social responsibility.

After my ah-ha moment [it was] "Okay, I can do this". Nobody else is gonna do [it], because, believe me, it’s not like many people like to do this. When you work on non profits, first of all, salary is not great. Work is not work without finishing at 40 hours; it just continues, and there is more work and work. And now, I am working with the schools, and I wanted the schools because I would be able to impact more people. I wanted to work with high school students because I know that’s a very important moment in their lives. And especially it was immigrants, as an immigrant myself but also because of the circumstances in the country. Everything that we are facing they will need that extra hand and they need somebody who can stand outside and look to everything that is happening, and try to do something.

            I knew wanted to work with immigrants. Mostly working with immigrants and refugees because I came [to Minnesota] as an immigrant so I know there are many things you don’t know when you come here. Like starting how to take a bus. You don’t know how to pay for the bus, or how to go anywhere. How to ask for a direction, for directions to go to an address.There are people who cannot work, or they have this very low paying job, so they cannot buy everything they need. Where can they find extra food or extra clothing, or extra clothing for their families. Or if there are any people who suffer from domestic violence, where is legal help, shelters, or anything. I started with immigrants that way.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

            When you have more knowledge and more possibilities, you have more social responsibility. You know, sometimes, we have everything and we don’t realize how good we have it until you actually see, you know? [At] that point, you can decide to not do anything and just prosper and succeed and forget about the rest of the world. You cannot do that, you know? Because sooner rather than later, that is gonna come and bite you back, yeah? You are not gonna feel good about what you are doing, you are not gonna feel safe, you are gonna feel scared. All these things are happening now in the United States because people were thinking like only themselves, you know? Like individuals, and forgetting about many other people. And there we are (laughs). There we are where we are now.

I know many immigrants. They come here, they learn English, they have their career, and they forget about people. They are like, “We made it! This is the country of dreams! Now, we have two cars. I have this nice laptop, a house, somewhere very, very fancy”, you know? And they forget about people because they were able to succeed. They are in there, in their bubble. But I cannot do that. You cannot forget about people that were exactly like you or that were way worse than you, because they have the same rights as humans.

WELLSTONE INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

            I really enjoy my job! (Laughs) I don’t think it is super difficult, I think it is easy once you have the experience. I’ve been working with immigrants for twelve years. This school is full of immigrants, you know? 70% of them are Somali, and mostly refugees, and 29% Latino, mostly from Central America. Once you have the experience everything is like second nature. One very difficult thing is when you listen to their stories. We are talking about high school students. They are in the most important parts of their lives. They are building their GPA, they are deciding what they are going to do for their lives, yeah? We are talking about very smart students speaking English. They are learning English, but they know already many other languages. They have been in different countries. For example, from Somalia to France, from France to Germany, from Germany to United States. So when they were in Somalia they were already speaking two languages, plus three languages; French, German, now English. So they are super smart kids. 

           They had to suffer. They lost members of their families. Some of the families were already separated. They were relocated [and] are in different countries. [The students] have a big weight of tragedy in their lives. So when you listen to their stories, that’s kind of hard. I try to deal with the big issues, working person by person like "what is the goal here?" They need to learn English. They need to know what are the services in the cities. They need to graduate. If they have these three things, yes, they can prosper, they can succeed. As an immigrant myself I know basically what you need. 

Banner located in Wellstone International High School
Picture retrieved from: https://twitter.com/afwellstone

         One of the programs I have is after school tutoring, academic and ELL tutoring. [It] is very good because they [the tutors] work one on one with the students. Since the students don't speak English, they don't understand everything in the classes because they are just learning. Mathematics class, so the teacher explains the whole thing and the homework. They have no idea what the teacher had said, yeah? Or they are working directly with their laptops. They have laptops, but they don’t know exactly how to deal with the laptop. So they come with all these papers, and copies, and talk to the tutors and the tutors have to deal with every one of the students. So that is why I ask for many tutors. If I have many tutors I have fewer students per tutor and students are able to finish their homework and understand. Not only, like, "Oh he finished his homework, I’m going to just copy the same thing" you know? (laughs) No, they have to understand what they are doing because if they just go through the school, you know, and they don’t understand anything and they don’t learn, then they are not going to be able to have a good ACT test, you know? They are not going to be able to go to college, or they are going to be able to go to college, but they will have to take all these extra classes. All the extra English, all the extra reading, all the extra writing before they can actually start working for their own diploma, you know? For their career or their Associate's degree.

MIRRORING THE POPULATION

            I don’t think I’m going to keep this job until I retire. Hopefully someone is going to come and replace me; somebody like me or better, you know? For a school that is 70% Somali or Hmong, you need that person who actually might be one of those two cultures; a Somali or a Hmong who’s able to understand their language and their religion. I am learning! You know? I understand what an immigrant is. I am a political scientist, I know the story. I am an immigrant too, but I don’t get too many other things. For example, [their] religion is so different to my religion. I don’t understand what, why sometimes they are fasting or not and I am thinking, "Gee, no, they have to get more food! Because they have to do this homework and if they don’t have food they are not going to be able to understand." But for them that is so important, yeah? Or they are playing basketball with this heavy dress thing, you know? That has to be uncomfortable, what are they doing? I understand the theory of that, but I would like to understand more and I think somebody who understands more, should be there. And hopefully I would be somewhere else. Where I can see bigger programs and I can help more. I started as a volunteer. I was able to coordinate different programs in different organizations and every program was bigger than the other and more, with more impact. It’s been years, no? It’s not like it happened like this, boom! You know? That only happens with rich people (laughs). All [the] people who are not rich, we have to work. So, we work, and we work for years and years and we learn and we apply, and some of us are lucky enough to go up and up. Maybe I am not going to be able to go up and up, but, who knows, you know? 

           You know what is the problem sometimes, not only Minnesota but everywhere in the United States? That in the upper levels of management there are people who never ever deal with the people they are serving. With the people not mirroring the population they serve. So, if they are not mirroring the population how can they even understand what is happening in the world. How can they even serve, how can they even know what they need? They think they know what they need. Then maybe it’s not that, maybe they need something else. Curiosities might be the only way to understand other people and to understand what is happening. Be curious. So I hope somebody else comes and takes my place and I take the place of another person, [and] then (laughs) we can do something better.