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Supporting our prodigal youth

07/25/2011 By Leave a Comment

by Maitri Pamo

Humans, for the most part, are social creatures. We seek connections with others in order to function happily and productively in society. Disconnection from others in our community and from the larger society can cause a variety of obstacles not only for the individual, but also for the community itself. As our numbers continue to grow within the U.S. population, it is important for every Latino individual to engage and interact in order to help our people prosper within our country.  

Photo: jscreationzs freedigitalphotos.net

Several articles have been written concerning the pivotal role that education plays in advancing our Latino community. Recently, the Escalera Program of the National Council of La Raza, published a report, Positive Development Strategies for Disconnected Latino Youth, that addresses many of the obstacles faced by Latino youth. While reading the report, I was struck by the section that discusses reconnection strategies to bring these individuals back into a mental framework that will aid them to reach their full potential.

For a young person who may face challenges posed by an unstable home life, obstacles presented by an unsuccessful school experience can contribute to poor self esteem and disconnection, both of which will limit their success in life. Such individuals may sometimes feel an inward push to “reconnect” and the report details such inciting events as witnessing the academic success of their peers, lack of job preparation and skills and childbirth as some of the reasons that individuals might seek to re-engage with a productive community. The Escalera Program seeks to support these young people, taking into account their individual circumstances and tailoring solutions to help them stay on track to succeed.

One of the most influential aspects of Escalera’s involvement is the role model presentation. Having direct access to an individual who has overcome similar challenges to succeed, is invaluable to a struggling young adult. Beyond that important connection, Escalera provides a safe, open environment for the individual to not feel disadvantaged because their peers appear more successful; being among other young people facing similar problems leads to the formation of a supportive community.

Addressing the tangible difficulties of continuing an education while providing real world training, Escalera has partnered with the Casa Verde Builder’s program to allow youth to study in preparation for their GED certification for half the day while receiving green jobs training for the second half of the day. Stipends for their work help keep students motivated. Other partnerships with AltaMed and HELP aid youth with unstable housing and employment needs to stabilize those aspects of their lives.

This comprehensive approach is crucial to support our youth on their road to reconnection and success. This model can serve as an important template for other programs seeking to reach out to our most important resource:  our Latino future.

Staff writer, Maitri Pamo.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of
the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.

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About Maitri Pamo

Matri was born in Guatemala City and emigrated to the U.S. with her parents when she was a toddler. Her childhood years were spent in Washington D.C. She was fortunate to have been aided and encouraged to apply to a great school in Virginia by a teacher who saw a spark in her when she taught her in the DC public school system. Maitri was disadvantaged in that she then became the only Latina in her class for many years. When it came time to go to college, she left for New York City, the place of her childhood dreams, to attend Barnard College, Columbia University. She graduated with a degree in Foreign Area Studies, with a concentration in Latin America. When she finally realized what she wanted to do professionally, she enrolled in three extra years of undergraduate coursework in order to fulfill the requirements for application to veterinary medical school. She graduated from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine with a degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.

In addition to her professional life, a life she finds not only rewarding but constantly challenging, Maitri is a wife and a mother of three young children. She is an activist, interested in furthering knowledge, participating and directly involving herself in the areas of human and non human animal rights and environmentalism. She tries to engage in the world around her to influence it as much as she can to help secure a healthy, peaceful living environment for her children and all other living beings on the planet. She is a benevolent misanthrope, a polyglot, a lover of travel. She has wild plans of obtaining a law degree when her children are older. She is currently practicing emergency medicine and volunteers her services wherever they are needed.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.

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