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I am Christina. I am from Indonesia. I am a part of the community of Saint Thomas Church. I was asked to become a part of the Promotoras I think because of my boyfriend’s immigration case and how much I have learned by communicating and supporting him. I also think I was invited because NSM has wanted to build a better relationship with the Indonesian community.
I am very busy, always running around from place to place and squeezing a lot of people into my schedule. My job as a Promotora involves growing bigger Indonesian community participation in NSM and delivering to the community what NSM does. I try to keep people updated about everything and to share information. When more of the Indonesian community knows what resources NSM has to offer, like support with city IDs and the Driver’s License for All Campaign, they will have to appreciate it because those are the things people really need.
This all involves building trust. The Indonesian community had lost in NSM in the past and I am trying to bring it back. I do this by going to the leader in the Indonesian community, a person people already trust, and communicating with him. It is him who then talks to the community about NSM and changes people’s attitudes. I do not go person to person myself because people do not know me. That is why it is so important to bring community leaders into this work.
For now, this is what the work looks like. Eventually it will grow and the leaders hope that I will become a legal resource for the community. Our goal is that people will learn to come to me with legal issues and then I will be able to bring their issues to NSM and use NSM’s resources and network to bring people the support they need. This is what we hope as we build more trust in the community.
The other Promotoras members are helpful because we all share information and because a few of them take the time to help me with my English. My English is not very good but the Promotoras work together to help one another understand.
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