Fuerza Alliance educates students, provides service

Students interested in Hispanic culture and language have recently created a new group known as the Fuerza Alliance. This club is designed to educate students about Latino cultures and to provide services to the Spanish-speaking community of Ripon. The group has already begun its meetings and activities. Fuerza Alliance's first activity, a dance, took place March 3 at Lawrence University. The group has many other activities planned for the remainder of the semester.

"I would encourage anyone to join Fuerza Alliance," says sophomore Melissa Burgos, member of Fuerza Alliance. "I think it's really important to explore different cultures."

Fuerza Alliance will provide cultural education to its members through discussions of current issues in the Spanish-speaking world, museum visits, speakers, documentaries and traditional cultural activities.

"Group members will also have the opportunity to bond and learn more about the differences in culture and language through their interactions with each other," says sophomore member Willie Flores.

Fuerza Alliance hopes to dispel many of the negative misconceptions and stereotypes of the Spanish-speaking culture through fellowship, education and service. "One of our main goals is to point out the myths about Hispanic culture," says first year member Lucia Castro. "A lot of people have the wrong idea about us."

However, Fuerza Alliance is not limited to Latino students. They hope to gain members from all ethnicities. Because not all members are of Spanish-speaking descent, Fuerza Alliance might also serve as a powerful tool for students hoping to improve their Spanish.

"Fuerza Alliance has many native speakers," says Flores. "Through these relationships, English-speaking students can pick up more of the language."

As a community-service oriented group, Fuerza Alliance will also answer the need for bilingual liaisons in the hospital.

"When I first came to the U.S. my mom got sick and when she went to the hospital she couldn't communicate," says Castro. "It was a really frustrating experience."

Fuerza Alliance will compile a phone-list of bilingual students who can translate for Spanish-speaking patients in cases of emergencies and by appointment.

Another service activity underway is a weekly group study session for Spanish-speaking students in Ripon schools who could use the help of a bilingual tutor.

"We hope to hold the study sessions in Ripon [College's] library," says Flores. "Everyone will come for a few hours to do homework together and help the students with questions from any subject."

Fuerza Alliance also plans to help Hispanic high school students with the college search and application process.

"We want to help these students find and apply for scholarships and to prepare for college," says Flores.

Although Ripon is a small city, it still has a fairly large Spanish-speaking population, many of whom work in factories.

"I grew up in a small town that did not have a lot of resources for people who didn't speak English, and it was really frustrating for my family," says Burgos. "In Ripon, I help a family who doesn't speak English, and there is definitely a need to engage more students.