{{{Editor’s Note: This has been an annual event that I look forward to each year. Grateful that the organizers have found a way to adapt, and in some important ways, enhance it for 2020 – AG}})
SARATOGA COUNTY – Each August, Visión celebrates Saratoga’s immigrant community with the release of new photos to the Estamos Aquí (We Are Here) exhibit while raising critical funds for Saratoga County EOC’s grassroots Latino Community Advocacy Program (LCAP). LCAP empowers immigrants to build strong community ties and healthy, thriving families.
“Saratoga brings together people from all over the world each year,” said EOC Executive Director Jo Anne Hume. “The Estamos Aquí photography exhibit has always captured that global spirit and amplified the experiences of our immigrant neighbors who contribute so much to Saratoga’s success, and we’re so excited to take that to the next level with all the opportunities holding the event digitally brings.”
Preparando a los mejores/Preparing the best
Patricia Castro (2019)
Lo que más disfruto de mi trabajo es ver a los caballos correr, desatar toda esa tremenda energía y que sientan por un momento la libertad. Lo que disfruto mucho, es que trabajando con caballos siempre se crean instancias para plasmar en una fotografía.
Cada vez que veo un caballo correr, acostado en su establo, a un pájaro posarse sobre las tinas de agua, a un hot walker caminar, a un groom acariciar su caballo, a una ardilla corriendo, cada detalle me parece un momento digno de plasmar en un recuerdo imborrable, como es la fotografía, para poder compartir con otros lo hermoso que es mi trabajo.
Doy gracias a Dios que un dia tuve la valentía de dejar mi país y mi zona de confort, descubrir que pasando los limites o el horizonte que conocía hay un mundo lleno de cosas interesantes por aprender y encontrar un trabajo que amo hacer, algo que no parece trabajo, algo que me hace feliz.
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What I enjoy most about my job is seeing the horses run, unleashing all that tremendous energy and feeling, for a moment, freedom. What I enjoy a lot, is that working with the horses always creates instances to capture in a photograph.
Each time that I see a horse run, laying down in its stable, a bird perched on the tubs of water, a hotwalker walking, a groom stroking his horse, a squirrel running, each detail seems to me like a moment worthy of capturing in a permanent moment, such as photography, to be able to share with others the beauty that is my job.
I thank God that one day I had the courage to leave my country and my comfort zone, to discover that beyond the limits or the horizon that I knew there is a world full of interesting things to learn and to discover a job that I love doing, something that doesn’t seem like work, something that makes me happy.
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This year, Honorary Co-Chairs Cindy Munter & Michelle Paquette-Deuel noted that the mission remains the same, but Visión will run throughout the month of August, anchored by three special online events that can be viewed on the EOC Facebook page or on the EOC website.
7 p.m., Aug. 11: Welcome & New Website Release
This virtual welcome program will include the unveiling of a new website housing the entire Estamos Aquí (We Are Here) photography collection, which provides widespread public access to this important body of work that shares the experiences of immigrant members of our community.
7 p.m., Aug. 18: New Exhibit Release & Photography Panel
The 2020 Estamos Aquí (We Are Here) exhibit will be released. Photographers and instructors will discuss this year’s photographs.
7 p.m., Aug. 25: Building a Welcoming Community
This roundtable discussion will talk about specific ways to create an equitable and welcoming community for immigrants in Saratoga County.
Humberto Alvarez (2019)
Es una experiencia en el que te arriesgas a peligros extensos, pero a la vez te llenan de emociones porque encuentras situaciones impactantes.
La experimentación de estas aventuras, te pueden ayudar no solo físicamente sino también psicológicamente, porque puedes levantar tu autoestima y vencer tus miedos.
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It’s an experience in which you expose yourself to extensive dangers, but at the same time fills you with emotions because you encounter impacting situations.
The experience of these adventures, they can help you not only physically, but also psychologically, because you can lift your self-esteem and overcome your fears
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Un descanso después del trabajo/A break after work
Marisela Aguirre Gallegos (2019)
Nos gusta ir muy seguido a relajarnos en el parque después de terminar del trabajo. Me siento bien disfrutando con mi esposo. Desde el parque conversamos con nuestros hijos por video llamada y compartimos todos juntos.
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We like to very frequently to relax in the park after finishing work. It feels nice enjoying it with my husband. From the park we talk with our children by video call and we all spend time together.
“One of the things that I’ve been impressed with is how the instructors who speak the students’ native language and share a similar cultural background are able to provide examples that are culturally meaningful,” said EOC Deputy Director Krystle Nowhitney Hernandez. “The students have really capitalized on the extensive lessons that can now be offered because the workshop is being held virtually and I think it promises to be one of the most dynamic exhibits yet.”
All proceeds benefit the Latino Community Advocacy Program, a grassroots effort of Saratoga County EOC, which is designed to help immigrants be part of the community by hosting English classes, offering translation and interpretation, providing assistance filing taxes and opening bank accounts, as well as many other services.
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