Hispanic girls urged to hold onto heritage
By Roxye Arellano
Diversity Institute Fellow
07.31.02
Latino girls whose families immigrate to the United States don’t have to lose their sense of cultural identity in order to fit into the American way of life, a local Hispanic leader said during a speech on July 12.
Teresa Nelson, who lived in Puerto Rico until she was 16, was among several speakers addressing issues of diversity at the Celebration of Cultures festival at the Scarritt-Bennett Center on the campus of Vanderbilt University.
Nelson said Latino immigrant children often have to live two separate lives, speaking English at school during the day and Spanish at home during the evening. Nelson, who now lives in Nashville, is a Girl Scouts leader and is particularly concerned about the transition that young Latino girls must make once they arrive in the United States.
“We don’t want the girls to assimilate to the new country,” she said. “We want them to get used to a new life but not let go of their past.”
Nelson reflected on her experience. Although as a Puerto Rican, she is not considered an immigrant, she still had to make major adjustments after her family relocated to the states roughly 20 years ago.
Years later, she decided to start a program called Hermanitas, which means “little sis,” to help other girls through the process. Nelson said she met with school counselors and social workers to discuss what they seemed to notice about Latino students. Most said that the young girls wanted to fit in.
Hermanitas gives the girls an opportunity to bond with other children feeling the same way as they do, and it provides them information about other Latinas who have succeeded in a bilingual environment, Nelson said. Hermanitas is funded and sponsored by the Girl Scouts of Cumberland Valley and is in its eighth year.
Nelson said enrollment is currently down, but she believes that the numbers will pick up when the kids are back in school and have full access to the program.
“We have had over 150 girls that ranged from 8-12 years old in our programs,” said Nelson. “This is a way for the young girls to gather, become friends, work on projects and familiarize themselves with others.”
At least one family in the audience is well aware of the challenges of which Nelson spoke.
Dannaly Chavarria, 10, had to translate questions from a reporter for her father.
“This program is good for her moral,” her father, Dionisio Chavarria, said in Spanish. “It’s great they allow the program to be taught in both English and Spanish.”