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"A Distant Dream Became a Reality" with the Help of the Ariel Job Center in Chile

When Tohias and his wife Valentina arrived in Chile in early 2004 looking for a better life, their objective was clear — to find employment as soon as possible in order to be able to develop both personally and professionally. "This was our new home, and we wanted to make ourselves successful here," explains Tohias.

He and Valentina thought that their goal was attainable — each of them with university degrees and experience, fluency in multiple languages and, as important, the desire to succeed. "Though I was born in Peru and Valentina had left Chile at 13 years old, our expectations were high to be able to settle back in here." They were eager to join the country’s culturally rich 25,000-person Jewish community.

Tohias began his search, but was surprised to find how much he struggled to achieve concrete results. "Thanks to a few friends, we found the Ariel Job Center in Santiago de Chile and things began to change," he said. The Center, funded by a local donor and with technical assistance from JDC, helps those within Chile’s Jewish community who are unemployed or underemployed to find optimal jobs.

Tohias enrolled in a course through the Ariel Center which taught him strategies for conducting an employment search. "From the first week, I felt that I had reached a new understanding. My concept of looking for a job entirely changed; I began implementing what I was learning and, week by week, I saw how their method yielded great results and helped more and more people to find work!"

Determined to be a success story, Tohias rededicated himself with the help of the Ariel Center. "I felt supported at every moment — it was like being a trapeze artist, flying with a safety net..." says the poetic man.

Tohias says that he came to understand that the experience of being unemployed is not shameful, but rather a legitimate challenge confronting many individuals, including Argentine Jews and other Latin American neighbors that have been negatively impacted by the region’s economic crisis. "It is an opportunity that life gives you to achieve something better — and a stage that each of us goes through at some time in our lives."

The young man proudly shares that he participated "in practically all of the activities that the Ariel Job Center offered me," including the contact workshop and the video training, where he learned the best method to approaching work interviews.

"What some weeks ago seemed a distant dream became a reality — and now I am writing to thank the Ariel Job Center on my lunch hour from the PC in my new office..."

Valentina, too, began to work, and the couple is well on their way to building for themselves the future that they have longed for. "With all of my heart I want to thank the team at the Ariel Job Center for all that they did for us — for their dedication, advice and support — particularly in the most difficult moments."

May 2006