Student's survey finds close family ties, strong work ethic among city's Hispanics
By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
Union Leader Staff
Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx ... b41b8c326f

MANCHESTER – A recent survey of Manchester area Hispanics show few use public assistance; most rarely get involved in their children's education, though they expect their offspring to go to college; and most work full-time but earn relatively low wages.

The findings suggest that lack of English fluency among Latino immigrants presents the greatest challenge facing this rapidly growing community, said Dawn R. Wyman, who conducted the needs-assessment survey.

Results are based on 115 responses to a written questionnaire distributed in Manchester at the Latin American Center and the Latino Festival since last August, she said.

"It was interesting to see they have expectations for their children to graduate from high school and to go on to college. However, they are not involved with their children in school and that tells me a lot," said Wyman, who is working toward her master's degree in social work at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. She did the survey as her community project.

Few Latinos also indicated they used public assistance programs such as food stamps, Head Start and welfare, she said.

In addition, while 75 percent of respondents said they work full-time, most — 53.6 percent — reported earning between $10,000 and $35,000, she said. A total of 19.6 percent had household income of more than $35,000; 26.8 percent earn less than $10,000, the survey showed.

Income is "lower if you don't speak English," Wyman said.

Besides language, culture also plays a role, she said.

Latinos' strong work ethic and traditional close-knit families might also explain why they don't tap public assistance programs, Wyman said.

"Their families are strong units . . . They rely on each other for support more than they would perhaps the government," she said.

In addition, the high regard Latinos have for teachers also could explain why parents rarely get involved in school matters, she said.

"They respect the teachers and they don't go to parent-teacher meetings easily," said Eileen Phinney, co-director of the Latin American Center.

Still, Phinney acknowledged most Hispanics don't speak English fluently.


HILARION
Manchester businessman Fernando Hilarion sees the lack of English skills as the major obstacle facing the Hispanic community. He said it not only prevents them from assimilating within U.S. culture, but also marginalizes them in the economy.

"Any job they can do with their hands, they are excellent at it. When it comes to learning to mix with . . . the Anglo culture, they are very lazy at it. They don't want to do it because they don't want to learn the language," said Hilarion.

Hilarion suspects part of the problem stems from the fact that most Hispanics come here for a better life. But, for most, a better life "means having more money, not necessarily excelling themselves," he said.

"I always tell them, if you speak English you compete with everybody," Hilarion said.

"The people who don't speak English compete with the people who don't speak English," he added. This generally means jobs in landscaping, construction, housekeeping and restaurants, he said.

The survey showed most respondents held jobs in factories, construction, restaurants and cleaning services.

Hilarion set two goals for himself when he left Colombia 30 years ago: get a college degree and learn English.

Today he speaks fluent English and has a master's degree in business administration from New Hampshire College, now Southern New Hampshire University. He and his wife, Alba Lucia Hilarion, own Two Guys Food Market, a Manchester grocery that caters to the Latino community, along with several other properties.

But Fabian, a computer analyst from Colombia who came here three years ago, said it's not so easy to learn the language as a newcomer struggling to get by.

"It's a vicious circle. You have to work a lot, but at bad pay because you don't speak English. But because you have to work a lot, you don't have time to learn English," said Fabian, who asked that only his first name be used because he feared for his family's safety in Colombia.

Wyman disagreed with Hilarion, saying she has taught children at the Latin American Center eager to learn.

"One of the reasons there are barriers to their learning English is because they are working so much; it's not really an easy thing for them to do," Wyman said.

The 115 people who responded to the survey listed 15 different countries of origin, including the United States. Most came from Uruguay, Mexico and Puerto Rico.