The successful integration of Hispanic immigrants into American society is a crucial challenge for the nation, because future prosperity, as well as employment and educational opportunities for millions of people, depend on it. So it follows that programs and initiatives supporting immigrants’ education from the ground up are very important.
One such program is found in Los Angeles, California, a city with one of the largest Hispanic populations in America. The Centro Latino para la Alfabetización (Latino Center for Literacy), has as its goal, teaching immigrants to read and write. This is particularly important in a city like Los Angeles where there are around 200,000 illiterate Hispanics. Reducing this number and achieving integration through education is probably the best way to decrease the number of neighborhoods suffering from drugs, violence, educational failure, unwanted pregnancies, gangs, etc. These programs are important because in most cases, solutions to big problems begin with small steps, and education lays the groundwork for any personal, social or community project.

The Centro Latino para la Alfabetización, founded in 1991 by the Nicaraguan Marcos Cajina, directed by Ana María Ruiz, has been teaching Hispanics how to read and write since then through their program “Leamos” (Let’s read). This is yet another example of how people’s lives can be transformed through simple but effective action, by providing them with the most basic tool to integration in this country.
In this program, the majority of participants are immigrants from poverty-stricken rural communities in Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador, who began working at a very young age. Although for many of these individuals, these kinds of programs are seem trivial among so many more serious problems, the truth is these types of programs are integral to solving many immigrants’ problems, and can make a real difference and an impact in their lives, opening the door to new opportunities for personal growth, and integration.
Often we ask where the American Dream continues to live and thrive, and we are answered with stories of Hispanic immigrants that without money for transportation, or books, not only learn to read and write, speak English and manage their finances, but prosper, create new businesses, find work, pursue higher education and make their dreams of a better, freer and happier life come true. Starting from zero, these immigrants make dreams come true with effort and hard work. This is the American dream that still lives and thrives, supported by conservative values and positive actions in the real world.

Because of this, the Centro Latino para la Alfabetización and their “Leamos” program, like other similar programs, represents yet another facet of the United States: a facet that pays its respects to the efforts of its people, human beings with first and last names, likes and dislikes, with hopes and dreams.
In the beginning, the Centro Latino para la Alfabetización gave classes in schools, churches, libraries, and other public spaces, but since 1999, classes are imparted in its center in Los Angeles, where students of varying ages receive free classes. The “Leamos” program is currently being extended to other counties in California, a fact that speaks of the immigrant population’s influence in the area. After students master literacy, the center offers “functional classes” of English, health, math, finances and other subjects to provide students with a complete education.
Social integration programs like this one must be supported and recognized, because they will lead us to a fairer and more egalitarian society for all Americans.