By: Lidieth Arevalo, CMSC News ~ July 19, 2016
The California-Mexico Studies Center (CMSC) is pleased to announce that all 35 DACA-mented students participating in our Summer 2016 California-Mexico Dreamers Study Abroad Program have been approved forAdvance Parole, and will be participating in a unique 3-week language and cultural travel-study CSULB course in Mexico from July 26 to August 16, 2016.
Upon arrival, the participating Dreamers will spend 3 days in Mexico City where they will be immersed in an intensive acculturation and assimilation program agenda which will prepare them culturally, emotionally and psychologically for their unique visit to their country of origin, Mexico.
Subsequently, the participants will have the chance to travel independently on a family research project and visit their birthplace to reconnect with their families and roots of origin.
After their independent travel, the Dreamers will proceed to Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico where they will immerse into a comprehensive language and cultural educational program at the Centro Tlahuica de Lenguas e Intercambio Cultural Institute (CETLALIC); which consists of historical, cultural, linguistic, and academic "cátedras" on social movements, the Mexican educational, economic and political systems, various museum and archeological visits, and a 10-day home-stay living experience with Mexican host families while attending classes at the CETLALIC Institute.
The fundamental objective of the program is to replicate and promote a comprehensive Dreamers study abroad program model for other Colleges and Universities to implement and offer similar study abroad opporunities to their DACA-mented student population.
In effort to comply with such objective, the CMSC selected applicants from various Colleges and Universities who have strong desire to give back to their community. For instance, the Summer 2016 California-Mexico Dreamers Study Abroad Program will have representation from 14 different colleges and universities from Northern, Central, and Southern California, including a social worker/counselor from Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Illinois.
Moreover, it's important to note that the Summer 2016 California-Mexico Dreamers Program wouldn't have been possible without the support of both U.S. and Mexico foundations, institutions, and individuals.
Therefore, the CMSC wants to give special thanks to The Juntos Podemos Foundation and IME-Becas, Mexico’s Canciller Claudia Ruiz Masseiu, and Ambassador Carlos Sada, Consul General of Mexico in Los Angeles Carlos Garcia de Alba and Consul Adriana Argaiz, Congressman Alan Lowenthal and Field Deputy Irantzu Pujadas, Hermandad Mexicana, CETLALIC, and sponsorships made possible by CSULB President Jane C. Conoley, CSU Northridge Dream Center Director Dario Fernandez, L.A. Mission College President Monte Perez, University of La Verne’s Daniel Loera, USC’s professor Francisco Valero, former CSULB EOP Director David Sandoval, El Pollo Loco, and everyone who participated and donated to our Marco Antonio Firebaugh Dreamers Study Abroad Scholarship Fund.
The CMSC appreciates the continuous effort and support to give more Dreamers the opportunity to not only broaden their horizons by studying abroad for the first time, but also, for giving them a once in a lifetime opportunity to reconnect with their roots and return to their country of origin.
