Meet Lina Maria Roa Our New Intern

 

We welcome the new SIMI apprentice Lina Maria Roa from the University of Valencia (Spain) who is currently conducting her Master’s degree in International Migration (MIM). She is Colombian and a migrant who currently resides in Valencia Spain. She has chosen the “Master in International Migration” in order to later specialize and be able to work and serve the immigrant population regardless of their race, gender, language and nationality in a more suitable and professional way. She has worked closely with the victims of the armed conflict in Colombia and in Spain and worked with migrants from different countries, cultures, religions, and languages where she was able to learn and enrich her knowledge about the migratory movements and their causes.

 

How long have you worked with immigrants and where?

 

I have worked with immigrants from different countries, cultures, religions, and languages for over 10 years. During that time, I learned to understand the phenomenon of migration better, enriching my knowledge by listening to their stories which show us the hardship and reality that many families in the world are going through, and under which circumstances they are forced to migrate, leaving their entire lives behind within a system that is insensitive and blind to their problems. Many Governments do not even want to assume their responsibilities and have commitments to help them, in a more humane way to the migrants. If we go to the teachings of the scriptures, I remember a biblical quote in Jeremiah 22:3 that invited us not to mistreat or use violence, much less be oppressors of foreigners. (“thus says the LORD: `Do justice and justice and deliver the dispossessed from the hands of their oppressor. Do not mistreat or do violence to foreigners either, orphan or widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place”).

 

Why did you choose the Master in Immigration?

 

I decided to undertake my Master’s of Immigration because by working voluntarily with migrants I wanted to have the necessary tools and knowledge that would enable me to better understand my job and allow me to study different theories explaining why people emigrate. This research will allow me to help in a particular case in order to offer the right help to each person.

 

Why did you choose SIMI for your apprenticeship?

 

It was my dream to join the SIMI Institute as an apprentice because during the Master’s program, I investigated the SIMI Institute and I knew how closely and effectively SIMI is trying to understand and solve the problems of the Migrant population, preparing from the institute the people who work in favor of help this group. For this reason, I was sure to join SIMI where I can learn the necessary tools and techniques in order to help migrants in the most correct way and teach the people in my field, how to better deal with migrants, how to understand their needs and how to fulfill since they are the one who suffers and go through the difficult moments, where they are leaving their families and taking risks while emigrating. Later when they arrive in the country of destination, they face so many difficulties, and many times they become invisible to the authorities because they don’t care about them moreover there are fewer professionally trained persons in migration to provide them with more humane attention and to be able to help them the correct way.

 

What are your future plans?

 

In the future, after completing my master’s in immigration I would want to join an Organization such as SIMI that would give me an opportunity to sever migrants, to be able to give them solutions that facilitate their migration processes and to fight for their rights so that they do not become invisible and fall into the risk of exclusion. I would like to change the negative concepts about migrants in society so that they do not see migrants as an enemy or someone who comes to take away a job or the social aid that the government gives.