A mensaje from the founders
by: Genoveva Rodríguez Castañeda
Have you had an idea?... more than that, have you ever had a calling to do the right thing?
For us, it started as a spark. After caring for it, making connections, and bringing more people in, we have ignited it into an Esperantza movement!
We envisioned a life abroad where Latinos find connections and resources to improve their lives while providing opportunities for professionals living abroad to break into a first-world market. We birthed and nurtured our idea and called it Esperantza.
The word Esperantza is a portmanteau of the word hope in Spanish (esperanza) and an artificial language created to promote international communication and bring peace to Europe The word esperanza, or hope in English, is the undying force we are all born with, the propeller that keeps us going in the darkest hours. The word Esperanto encapsulates our hope to unite people through a common language. Because we believe that Latinos deserve professional services where we are heard and seen for who we are.
In the business world, there is a tendency to say that everyone can have an idea, but a few have what it takes to make ideas a successful project. Esperantza sees it differently. We believe that this was a calling to do something bigger than us. Our self-proclaimed unicorn business was born in desperate times. We hope that by connecting each person with a professional that supports their need, we will be part of what makes our local Latino community stronger. We see a confirmation of this hope in you and every supporter of Esperantza. Think about this, we began a single thread. In only one year, our wool thread has been weaved and has left us many beautiful connections between Latin Americans from all walks of life. We will continue weaving so that it becomes our support network.
We hope to support all those who somehow swing on a tightrope when migrating, those of us who made the difficult choice to leave our families and friends in pursuit of a better life.
And this is why we self-acclaim our business as a unicorn. Because of the great need, people have to find support in mental health, our search for our magic work from within to live our truth so that we can share our light with you.
Things have not been easy. There has been a lot of learning for us on providing a product that stands out and works in a world where people look for quick fixes. Today we want to thank you for believing in us and giving us a chance to connect you with resources. Second, we want to share stories we treasure about the magic that happens when we bridge people and their worlds.
One of our female teachers, with a brilliant mathematical mind, stayed in her homeland and became an elementary teacher in a rural part of Guatemala. She is an inspiring force for children with curious minds, and they love her. However, schools and colleges don't have as many resources to pay their teachers, and, at times, money is tight. Through Esperantza, she has earned extra money teaching math classes to Latina girls living in the United States. This way, Esperantza empowers both teacher and student. Latina girls start actively participating in math classes because they have the security of reviewing at home what they have not understood in school. At the same time, by paying the teachers, we help them have the economic stability to make a difference in their country.
Our second story comes from our community outreach in social media. We have approached several current topics to inform our followers on ways to improve our lives. Something that hits home for most of us who have school-age children in America is the effects of bullying and violence. On November 4th, 2021, we talked with Rita Cabarrus and Maria Elena Davila. They combined their strengths to dissect and describe what could happen in our schools if teachers, parents, and children worked towards supporting one another. Rita has a 40-year trajectory of directing educational institutions whose mission is to form future adults with a deep understanding of the basic principle of democracy. That everyone has a voice and everyone deserves to be heard. So if anyone has a problem, they can bring it to the student-led court of justice. When asked about bullying in her class, a student in Rita's school responded: "Bullying in our school? No room for that as we are learning to connect and love each other instead". Maria Elena took a deep dive into family life, the role of trauma, and the needed support for both bully and victim.
In our new free product TIAS, we talked with a woman who comes from being a famous person in her country of origin. She recently migrated to the United States and is getting used to her new life. In the beginning, she had a negative attitude. Making lists of her misfortunes, aggravated by the physical pain she endures due to the heavy labor she has had to do. All the problems she described were tinged with a negative and hopeless lens. But one of our trained staff members could recognize the bright light that shimmered in her and worked with them so that she realized what attitudes were stopping her and focused on where she could get. Sometimes that is all it takes! Someone to listen to you and encourage you in your path. So in speaking to her about the job she had and liked, it became clear that if she improved her English, she could apply for a better job. This story, however, does not end there. We connected this person with a teacher abroad who knew how to recognize this woman's struggle and find a method to gain her trust. She became inspired to lift this woman up. In her words: "Transforming a face that hides pain into a genuine smile gave me the greatest satisfaction a teacher can get." This is because of the hope reciprocity law that says when your actions provide hope, your heart also receives it.
Remembering these stories made me think of my childhood when I spent the summers on a farm without electricity. We lit up dinner and the way to our rooms with candles. My favorite moment in the night was when mom would light her candle and pass the fire to us so that we could get our own light and thus guide our way. This is how the first year of Esperantza feels, a year of meeting people who believe in our project and inject us with their energy. A year of opening his arms and saying, stealing the text from Fito Paez, " Who said that the world is lost? I come today to offer my heart."
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by: Soledad Rodas
Almost a year after the pandemic began, I received a call that asked me to step into the unknown. The call was from two of my best friends from college. We have kept the friendship after almost twenty years of having graduated; we have collaborated professionally working on some projects... but this time they called me for something very different.
The three of us have lived outside our countries, far from our families and our culture. During this time, we have shared sorrows and joys. We constantly share and discuss the difficulties that as women, professionals, and mothers, we find when living abroad and always with the dream of being able to do something to change the reality of many others who go through the same experiences, or worse, who have it more difficult than us. But this time, it was no longer just a conversation in which we hung up and went on with our lives. No, this time we wanted to take action.
And that's how we started dreaming about our Esperantza project. Our purpose is to be able to help people who have great potential, personally and professionally, but whose life has surprised them and taken away their dreams... we want to give them that strength to help them find their way again. To find new hope, to heal the past, and to find the necessary tools so that, from today, they can be reunited with their path and those dreams that they one day had and that they still have for their children.
This year has been a lot of work, ups, and downs, doubts, but also dreams. We have met incredible people, who despite their difficulties, are in search of a better life and that has been our engine. I have nothing but gratitude for those people who have trusted and believed in us, who have listened to us, and who share our same dream: to change lives.
To all those who do not know us yet, I invite you to do so. Please send us a message or call us. We want to hear your stories and let you know ours. So that together we begin to create a community that in today's world has been lost.
May we grow together hand in hand with Esperantza!
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by: Lucrecia Vizcaino
"Hope is much deeper, determined, and inextinguishable". D.Tutu
This phrase comes from Archbishop Demond Tutu, a South African theologian. This idea filled me with enthusiasm the day we found a name for our project.
The word for Hope in Spanish is Esperanza. When speaking of the difference between hope and optimism, he said that optimism is more superficial and subject to the possibility of becoming pessimismwhenever the circumstances change. What keeps people fighting for their ideals and dreams, standing on the edge of precipices, is Hope.
He continued by saying that optimism depends on emotions, rather than reality. Those emotions may be temporary, but Hope stands on the firmness of conviction. He firmly believed, as we do, that there is no single hopeless situation.
I have returned to his discourse several times because Esperantza’s first year has been full of almost magical events in which we have lived these observations on Hope. We have seen it act in our lives and in the lives of those who have participated in our project.
Personally, as a woman, as a mother, and as a Hispanic in the United States, I have found myself in different parts of life, needing to recharge my energies, seek a guide, and return to my roots. Esperantza already offers services with which I feel identified and supported.
As founders, Esperantza makes sense to us from the depths of our being.
It allows us to give space to wellness providers, who have a genuine interest and desire to accompany and provide Hope. Who share their time, resources, and techniques, to improve the quality of life of others. When we meet people with this attitude toward life, we say that this person "has the Esperantza spirit!".
It allows us to meet migrants, who like us, have gone through or are having difficult experiences and pull from the ends of their strength, to ask for help. We know then that this person is "in need of Esperantza". Promoting these connections is the reason behind our project.
During this year we have learned to see Hope, as a state of mind, as a virtue. We use it as a qualifying adjective and even as a verb!
Facing a situation with hope is a choice. It is the attitude that allows us to stand up to adversity, knowing that it will pass. Interestingly it is a common characteristic of people who provide a service through Esperantza and also those who seek help on our platform. Amid adversity, Hope is the common emotional language.
All the actions we have taken as a team during the last year, have filled us with achievements small and big, and form what Esperantza is today! I intend that next year we will continue to dedicate ourselves with renewed vulnerability and courage to believe and grow in this project, which brings hope to all of us.
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