Importante periódico de EEUU entrevistó a
nuestro fundador
Syracuse, 20 de octubre del 2004 -- Un
informativo artículo aparecido en el periódico The Post-Standard de la
ciudad de Syracuse, New York, resalta la labor que realiza actualmente Alvaro
Valencia, especialista de empleos y fundador de InfoChamba, entre la comunidad
hispana de los Estados Unidos.
A continuación la transcripción (en inglés) del texto
publicado el 14 de octubre del 2004 en la sección Neighbors del
mencionado periódico.
The Post-Standard -- October 14, 2004
Language
Link
Spanish-language
Web site attracts Hispanic job seekers
By Magarita Raycheva
Contributing writer
When he began working as a job
specialist in Syracuse two years ago, Alvaro Valencia said many of his Latino
clients kept asking where they could find information about jobs in Spanish.
Their questions prompted Valencia to
create InfoChamba.com, a Spanish Web site for Hispanic job seekers.
The Web site offers Latinos information
in Spanish about employment opportunities, job training programs, tips on
writing resumes, links to online job search engines and employment agencies.
Since the Web site was launched four
months ago, about 1,200 to 1,500 people visit each month.
“There was not enough information for
Hispanics that are not fluent in English”, said Valencia, a native of Peru,
who works as a job specialist at CNY Works. “I saw a link between two
worlds.”
Valencia came to Syracuse five years ago
to pursue a master’s degree in economics at Syracuse University’s Maxwell
School.
After his degree, he began working as a
job specialist. Before joining CNY Works in January, he worked at the Spanish
Action League and the West Side Learning Center.
Valencia said the Web site targets
Hispanic job seekers who are trying to enter the U.S. job market.
InfoChamba.com helps Latinos find jobs
by directing them to different job agencies and organizations, he said.
“They come here looking for better
opportunities and better education for their children,” said Rita Paniagua,
assistant director at the Spanish Action League. The hard part is finding jobs
and getting settled in a foreign country.” For them it’s a process and it
takes quite a while to get through,” Paniagua said.
Valencia compiled information for the
Web site by gathering job search tips from job specialists at the Spanish Action
League, CNY Works, JOBS Plus and other employment agencies in Syracuse.
Visitors to the site come from all over
the United States, South America and China, he said.
The Web site serves the area’s growing
Hispanic population, who often don’t speak English, said Oscarina Cruzata, a
Cuban native who works as a job coach at JOBS Plus, a Onondaga County employment
agency.
The Hispanic population in the Cayuga,
Madison, Oswego and Onondaga counties increased from 10,128 in 1990 to 15,112 in
2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Refugees coming from Cuba and other
Spanish-speaking countries need to find jobs quickly to pay back the loans they
took to come to the United States and support their families back home, she
said.
Sylvia Martinez-Daloia, a member of the
Association of Neighbors Concerned for Latino Advancement, said InfoChamba.com
will give Hispanics another avenue to find jobs and other employment services.
“Something
like this can also open the doors to networking, and networking is the key to
finding jobs,” Daloia said. “Then you start feeling a part of a
community.”
