LatinaLista — Contrary to popular belief that Latinos are internet illiterate, statistics show that over 60 percent of the Latino population connect to the internet on some device, that includes the immigrant community.
Now, Spanish-speaking migrants in the U.S. have a new website tailored to their unique needs — all in quest of achieving that elusive “American Dream.”
Acceso Latino, created by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim’s foundation, is a site that provides free online tools to help improve immigrants’ quality of life on this side of the border.
According to a press release about the launch, the site features such impressive tools as:
- Online job training for in-demand employment, both in the United States and in their country of origin, as well as information about financial literacy.
- Academic education from elementary to the university level provided by Khan Academy, MIT-Open Course Ware, Coursera and Academica, that includes courses from top level universities such as Harvard, Stanford and Mexico´s National University, as well as original materials.
- Online resources for learning English and subjects like American history and civics.
- Health care information on common topics, including professional medical advice on maintaining a healthy lifestyle for the whole family.
Slim, being Mexican, obviously had his paisanos in mind when creating the site. Additional topics deal with human and labor rights and culture, with stories posted so far dealing more with Mexican culture than any other from a Spanish-speaking country.
There is also a detailed page on DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) explaining who is eligible and who is not.
The site is clearly in response to anti-immigrant sentiments in this country and the denial of services and affordable higher education to undocumented immigrants. It’s an effort to level the playing field for a demographic who find their lives held in limbo until Congress worries less about their re-election prospects and more about the day-to-day lives of real people.
“Acceso Latino will put valuable knowledge at the fingertips of everyone who wants to learn new skills and engage with their community. It is a simple but powerful resource that can potentially help millions of people improve their lives,” said Carlos Slim.
