Seizing Every Opportunity
Promotora tackles English, life in the ER, and her new goal: becoming an RN

 
Coming to the United States 14 years ago from her native Guatemala has been an interesting and challenging road for Margarita Ajanel. She and her husband came in search of better opportunities. “Everything was totally different here. I initially came to find a good job, but in the beginning, I felt very alone.” Once she started taking some English language classes her confidence grew. Still, times were tough. “So often we wanted to go home. But we helped each other. When he said that he wanted to leave, I reminded him that we came here for more opportunities. When I wanted to ho home, he’d tell me the same thing. Somehow we got through it.”

 
Ajenal was first exposed to Little Company of Mary (LCM) when she applied to become a promotora (community health worker) for Ready for School, a program at Wilmington Park Elementary School, run by LCM in partnership with LA Unified School District. The promotoras help mostly immigrant parents assimilate into our culture and prepare their young children for kindergarten.

Alina Bueno Nadsady supervises the promotoras and remembers her first meeting with Ajanel. “She was very quiet, even shy,” Nadsady describes, “but very calm. She apologized that her English wasn’t very good, but she tried to use it throughout the interview.”

Ajanel thrived in her new job. She loved helping parents and making a difference in their lives. She has continued to study English, obtained her GED in 2006 and is now taking computer classes to become proficient in Microsoft Office.

With her success as a promotora, her personal determination, and her improved skill-set, Ajanel was promoted to a new job in the Little Company of Mary Hospital emergency department as an assistant case manager. This position is part of a new program run by LCM’s community health department to help primarily low-income individuals find additional health resources available to them.   Continue »

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