Bilingual Newsletter
- Eleazar Juárez: Promoting change in the community
“I’m
always thinking how am I going to pay for rent and is my family doing financially
okay. As well as work 30 hours a week at my job, take the bus…but I’m
working on Amnesty stuff on my lunch breaks: making phone calls sending emails
at 11, 12 at night,” Eleazar explained how he interweaves his activism
with the rest of his responsibilities. In the end, Eleazar is completely conviced
that "its all worth it."
This month we feature an interview with Eleazar Juárez, who is a local Student Area Coordinator with Amnesty International Arizona. Born in México and raised in the border town of Yuma, Arizona, Eleazar is deeply committed to issues of immigration and refugees. He is currently finishing up his undergraduate degree at Arizona State University.
Eleazar has been active while attending college. He and other activists are in the process of extending an organization from a student group at Arizona State University to a national non-profit organization based out of Arizona. Community Outreach and Advocacy for Refugees (COAR) formerly known as Refugee Resettlement Volunteers is making a difference in the community. They work with about 4 or 5 resettlement agencies in Phoenix, Arizona. The organization assists refugee families in the resettlement process and fully integrating into a new society. The group is now developing the project to expand to other universities with high refugee population. “We educate community members on refugee issues and what it means to be a refugee. Here being so close to the border, people think of refugee, they automatically associate it with the word ‘immigrant’ and we are trying to separate the two.” Eleazar explained how the greater community is benefiting and learning about the forced movement of peoples from around the world, due to economic, social, cultural, political, religious, sexual orientation, and other forms of persecution.
One of Eleazar’s big projects is to build diversity within AI’s
the student participation at the Arizona State University, throughout the state
and region. “It’s a matter of every once in awhile taking off your
Amnesty hat and just being an activist. Just being someone that cares about
human rights, since we are fighting for the same cause, and we need to work
with each other. The best thing is finding an issue that we care about and then
we go from there.” He went on to say, “Amnesty International provides
you with the resources to help out however you can. Whether it’s online
through the mail, if you can’t attend one meeting you can still be part
of the organization which is really awesome.”
We commend your dedication, Eleazar! ¡Adelante!
- Amnesty International USA
Learn more on AIUSA's Refugee program. »
