October 18, 2000
Page B5
ÿ o rtla n ô (Dbeeruer
Mentoring Hispanic Youths to Succeed
Bv Jos R amos
T he P ortland O bserver
R aq u el A g u illo n , a y o u th ed u c a ­
tion ad v o cate for M u ltn o m ah C o u n ty
re c en tly a tte n d e d a b u sin ess lu n ­
ch eon at P o rtla n d ’s C o n v en tio n C en ­
ter on T h u rsd a y , O ct. 5 w ith th ree
h ig h sc h o o l L a tin a s as g u e sts o f
honor. T h e an n u al ev e n t w as a m ix ed
g ath erin g o f 700 statew id e d ig n ita r­
ies and en tre p re n e u rs alo n g w ith rep ­
resen tativ es from g o v ern m en t ag en ­
c ie s a n d c o rp o ra tio n s su p p o rtin g
m inority en terp rise developm ent. F or
the stu d e n ts, it c h a lle n g e d th eir c u l­
tural ste re o ty p e o f b u sin esses run
o n ly b y m en , esp e c ia lly a fte r b ein g
ex p o se d to m an y su ccessfu l w om en
en tre p re n e u rs.
A g u illo n ’s focus has b een to help
H isp an ic y o u th s su c c e e d in sch o o l
an d cre a te m ea n in g fu l ties w ith th eir
c o m m u n ity . S h e g ets d ire c tly in ­
v o lv e d w ith th em at the F am ily R e­
so u rce C e n te r w ith in th e C la ra V ista
A p a r t m e n t s w h e r e M u ltn o m a h
C o u n ty h as a satellite o ffic e there.
T h ro u g h a p a r tn e r s h ip b e tw e e n
M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty an d the H aci­
en d a C o m m u n ity D evelopm ent o f the
a p artm en t co m p le x , so cial serv ice
r e s o u r c e s lik e y o u th a d v o c a c y ,
h ealth care, v io len ce p rev en tio n and
co u n se lin g are m ad e a v ailab le to the
re sid en ts.
A s a w ay to engage kids in co m m u ­
n ity in v o lv e m e n t, A g u ill o n le d
m e m b e r s o f th e U r b a n L a tin o
Y o u th p r o g r a m to d o th e r e m o d ­
e lin g w o rk o n an o ld ro o m w ith in the
C la ra V ista A p a rtm e n ts. T h ey all
w o rk e d to g e th e r by in sta llin g the
c a rp e tin g a n d d o in g th e n ec e ssa ry
p a in t-w o rk . T o g iv e th e ro o m an a r­
tistic finish, th e k id s c o m m is s io n e d
a n a r t i s t to p a in t a m u r a l o n th e
w a ll b y u s in g $ 3 5 0 0 in g ra n t fu n d s
fro m th e R e g io n a l A r ts C o u n c il ,
a p p li e d fo r b y A g u ill o n a n d V o l­
u n te e r s o f A m e r ic a . “ I ’m v e r y
in s p ir e d b y th e d e d ic a tio n o f a ll
o f th e s tu d e n ts and th e n u m b e r o f
h o u rs th at th ey h ad p u t in. I t ’s a
b eau tifu l m u ral o f a tro p ical b each
are a ,” e x p re sse d A guillon.
F o llo w in g the su ccess o f th e ir last
co m m u n ity p ro ject, th e U rb an L atino
Y o u th w ill ag ain b e p lacin g a n o th e r
m u ral w ith in the com plex.
H elp in g H isp an ic y o u th s d o w ell
in s c h o o l w a s a n e e d m e t b y
M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty th ro u g h th eir
H o m e w o rk C lub. It h as b een o ffe re d
as an a fter-sch o o l re so u rce for the
last eig h t y ears. S tu d en ts c an m eet
w ith A g u illo n aid ed by a team o f
tutors, m ostly from local colleges and
G rant H igh S chool in the C lara V ista
A p artm en t’s B altazar O rtiz C o m m u ­
nity C enter. “ It is w o n d erfu l to see
students p a rticip atin g on a regular
Brenda Reyes (from left), Imelda Reyes and Nancy Robles are high school Latinas with an interest in
business. As part of the Bienestar program by Multnomah County at the Clara Vista Apartments, they were
treated to a luncheon at the Convention Center where minority-owned entrepreneurs were honored.
Linfield Student Earns Gates Millennium Scholarship
Laura V azquez w as eight when she
m oved to the united States from Mexico.
She spoke no English.
Today, as a sophom ore at Linfield
College, she is fluent in three languages
- Spanisl l, English and G erm an- and was
recently aw arded a Gates M illennium
Scholarship from the Bill and M elinda
G ates Foundation.
The Gates M illennium Scholars Pro­
gram, administered by the United N egro
College Fund, provides scholarships and
fellowships forminority students. Awards
supplement existing financial aidandelimi-
nate the need for scholars to borrow
m oney o r spend excessive time at jobs,
bo thofw hich can be a barrier to com plet­
ing a college degree. In its fust year, the
foundation aw arded 4,000 scholarships
to students across the nation.
V azquez’s academ ic success is due in
Is Mexico Asking the Right Questions?
Bs J acob G. H ornberger for T he P ortland
O bserver
In o rd e r to so lv e a p ro b lem , it is
n e c e ssa ry to a sk the rig h t q u estio n s.
D u rin g h is re cen t v isit to W ash ­
in g to n , M e x ic a n P r e s id e n t- e le c t
V icen te F ox ask ed the w ro n g q u e s­
tions: “ H o w can w e narro w the gap in
in co m e o n b o th sides o f th e b o rd e r? ”
an d “ H o w c a n w e p u t to g eth er a fund
fo r d e v e lo p m e n t? ”
T h e q u e stio n s that F ox sh o u ld ask
in stead are: W h at are the cau ses o f
p o v e rty ? W h a t are the cau ses o f
w e a lth ? W h y h a v e th e M e x ic a n
peo p le a lw a y s had a lo w er stan d ard
o f living th a n A m erican s?
C ould th e reaso n be that M ex ican s
have a d iffe re n t h isto ry a n d cu ltu re?
P erhaps, b u t th e A m erican S o u th ­
w est sh ares m u c h o f th e sam e h isto ry
and cu ltu re, sin ce it w as o n ce p art o f
Mexico.
C o u ld th e re aso n lie w ith n atu ral
reso u rc e s? P erh ap s, b u t ev e ry o n e
k n o w s th at M ex ico has b een b le sse d
w ith en o rm o u s reserves o f p etro leu m .
C ould education explain the dispari­
ties o f incom e and wealth ? Perhaps, but
in Mexico, as in the United States, the
state has established a system o f free
education for all children in the country.
The real reason for the wealth and
poverty o f a nation is not a comfortable
one for Fox o r any other M exican politi­
cian o r bureaucrat, w hich is the primary
reason that they w ould rather not discuss
it. The reason for the relative poverty o f
the Mexican people lies with the Mexican
governm ent itself or, m ore specifically,
with the economic system under which
the M exican people have suffered for
m any decades.
M e x ic o ’s e c o n o m ic sy stem is a
co m b in atio n o f m ercan tilism , so c ia l­
ism , an d fascism , all w rap p ed into one
d irty little p ack ag e, a p ack ag e th at for
d ecad es has p ro v id ed th e m ean s by
w h ich M ex ican p u b lic officia ls h av e
p lu n d ered and lo o ted the M ex ican
p e o p le th ro u g h tax es, licen sin g fees,
p erm its, reg u la to ry fines, an d , o f
co u rse, g o o d o ld -fa sh io n e d co rru p t
bribes com m only know n as m ordidos.
In M ex ico , the state is ev ery w h ere
an d tax es an d c o n tro ls ev ery th in g .
A n d it’s all ju s tifie d b y crad le-to -
g rav e g o v ern m en t w elfare an d re g u ­
lato ry p ro g ram s, su ch as o ld -ag e a s­
sistan ce, h ealth care, p u b lic e d u c a ­
tio n , a n d o c cu p atio n al licen su re.
Thus, the reason M exico is poor has
nothing to do with history, culture, re­
sources or education. M exico is poor
because for m ore than 175 years, the
Mexican governm ent has had the pow er
to com bat poverty and “help the people"
with its bureaucracies, agencies, taxes,
w elfare and regulation.
volunteered at their elementary school
and helped herchi ldren in their English as
a second language classes.
Education has always been a priority
for the Vazquez family. As a junior at
Hood River High School, Vazquez stud­
ied inGermany.
large part to the foresight o f her parents.
Lupe and Maria V ázquezofH ood River.
Vázquez said her mother, w ho has
worked in te kitchen at W y ’ East Middle
School in Odell for the past four years,
helped V ázquez and her tw o brothers in
their transition tot he United States. She
T h e U .S . C e n su s B u reau tru m p ets
rising in c o m e s in to d a y ’s u p b eat re ­
lease. F o r A frican -A m erican and H is­
panic families, how ever, the new s is not
so cheery. Black m edian household in-
com e($25351)didnotrisefrom 1997and
1998, despite the boom ing economy.
Hispanic median household income rose
4.8%, but only to $28,33 0 , ju s t 5 8 % o f
the w h ite m ed ian .
O n e p ie c e o f g o o d n ew s from
to d a y ’s C e n su s release, th at H isp an ic
p o v erty ra te s hav e fallen , d o es n o t
m ean th at th ese fa m ilies are fin an ­
cially secure. A ta b o u t2 6 % , A frican -
A m erican an d H ispanic p o v erty rates
are m o re th a n th ree tim e s h ig h e r the
w hite rate o f 8% . T h e g a p in w ealth
b etw een w h ite fam ilies an d b lack o r
H isp an ic fam ilies rem ain s huge. The
percentage o fb lack o r H ispanic house­
holds w ith zero o r negativ e n et w orth
(greater d eb t than assets) is tw ice as
high as for w hite households.
A ccess to h o m e o w n e rsh ip , long
seen as th e k ey to a c h ie v in g the
A m erican d ream , is still restricted for
b lack an d H isp an ic fam ilies b ecau se
o f em p lo y m en t, h o u sin g , lending and
o th e r d iscrim in atio n . T h e ir rate o f
h o m e o w n e rsh ip is o n ly ab o u t tw o-
th ird s the rate for w h ite h o u seh o ld s.
“T o have a sense o f sense o f eco­
nomic security, families need savings to
fal I back on during hard times and invest­
m ents for retirem ent," sa id C h u c k
C o llin s, c o -d ire c to r o f U n ited for a
F air E conom y.
A guillon c o m m en ted on h er e x ­
tensive w ork as a youth ad v o cate
o v er the years has been p erso n ally
and p ro fessio n ally rew arding. “ W e
at M ultnom ah C o u n ty are so a p p re­
ciativ e o f the p eople, o rg an izatio n s
and bu sin esses that support the w ork
w e do w ith H ispanic y o u th s.”
A n u p c o m in g p ro g ra m c a lle d
U nicas S om os U nidas, tran slated as
w e are unique; we are united, is in the
w o rk s, head ed by A guillon, u n d er
the d irectio n o f M ultnom ah C ounty.
It w ill conceptually be an after-school
program för young Latinas from G re­
gory H eights M iddle School in N orth­
east P ortland. T h eir idea is to g ive the
girls a ch an ce to openly ex p lo re d if­
ferent d ev elo p m en tal issues in v o lv ­
ing such things as their im age, p re ­
sen tatio n and ap pearance. P lan s are
for reg u lar m eetin g s o f ev ery other
w eek from 4-5 p.m .
Match
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