Information:
Casa Guanajuato
2750 Buford Hwy., Atlanta.
678-522-7170
migrante.guanajuato.gob.mx
Sisters Verónica Toscano de Leger and Graciela Vizcarra have made it their mission to help their fellow migrants from the Mexican state of Guanajuato, through a liaison and assistance initiative established in 2010 known as Casa Guanajuato-Georgia.
“We founded Casa Guanajuato because of the need we saw in our community for information, liaisons and documentation. It was a way of connecting with the government. We started knocking on doors and offering services and programs … as well as working with the corresponding authorities in order to create a channel for [our citizen’s] complaints,” explained Toscano de Leger.
CGG also works with artists and artisans, with the goal of promoting and disseminating Guanajuato’s vast culture.
For Toscano de Leger, the three years that she served as president of CGG were not always easy, but her passion for service outweighed the obstacles.
“Little by little people began coming to Casa Guanajuato, which was located at a space in Marietta that my sister Graciela loaned to us. They would request different kinds of information (doctors, lawyers, authorities). We would search for the answers, and we began acting as liaisons,” said Toscano de Leger.
Upon hearing about CGG’s work, migrants from the Mexican states of Michoacán and Zacatecas sought information and advice to open similar establishments for their own citizens.
In 2013 Toscano de Leger was invited by her home state’s government to form part of the board of the Instituto Estatal de Atención Al Migrante Guanajuatense y sus Familias, one of the first decrees signed by Miguel Márquez as governor.
“Gov. Márquez knows migrants’ needs well, because in his youth he himself was a migrant. He is the child of farmers, and his father was a bracero (temporary contract laborer). During summer vacations he would come with his father to work in the fields in California,” explained Toscano de Leger, who in 2014 was named director of the Georgia Liaison Office for the Government of Guanajuato.
“We issue birth certificates and proof of identity completely free of charge. As well, we have repatriated a woman suffering from kidney failure, along with her 10-year-old child, as well as we have repatriated 13 deceased individuals to their places of origin, with the help of the Mexican Consulate,” she added.
For Susana Guerra Vallejo, director of IEAMG, it is of great value that Atlanta is the fifth city in the country to have this type of governmental office.
“The office is the message of bringing Guanajuato, in all of its immensity, closer to its citizens who are far away from their land. Our commitment is to help them wholly, through public policies that impact their quality of life,” assured Guerra Vallejo.
Thanks to Toscano de Leger’s efforts with Casa Guanajuato, and now the new Georgia Liaison Office for the Government of Guanajuato, three new clubs for citizens of Guanajuato have formed. These groups have taken advantage of the programs offered by the government of Guanajuato, as well as the Mexican government, to help their home towns.
The club located in Marietta is made up of seven members who, in 2013 helped acquire a new tractor for their families in the village of Puerta de San Germán.
“In the beginning we were skeptical, because the Mexican government promises a lot and never fulfills its end. Our village is made up of farmers, that’s why we asked for help to buy a tractor to work the land. Two years later we were approved. Our relatives are happy with the results in the sowing of alfalfa, corn, wheat and sorghum,” said Juanito Muñoz, who immigrated to Georgia 10 years ago and works in construction.
Last year the Marietta group solicited assistance in the purchase of yet another new tractor, and their request was approved. According to Muñoz, the club is already contemplating their next project.
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