My name is Julio Ferrer, I am 26 years old and I was born in the city of Maracaibo, Venezuela; In this city I had everything: a family, a home, friends, and, in addition, an education, thanks to which I became as an Industrial Engineer. On September 19, 2017 I decided to emigrate due to the situation which my country currently faces, I decided to leave behind all that I knew, hoping to achieve a better future for me and my family.
I arrived at Bogotá, Colombia, since in Maracaibo I met a colleague of Colombian nationality, who was the one who received me in his apartment while I looked for ways to find accommodation. To be honest, Colombia didn’t seem to be the best decision, but among so many acquaintances, Herman Barraza was the only one who lent his hand to me. And that’s how I decided to cross the border by land, passed through Maicao, and then took a direct bus to Bogotá; I remember that that was one of the worst days of my life, seeing my mother crying for me was very sad, but I had to be even stronger than that, because I had already made my decision. I remember arriving in Bogotá with $ 400,000 COP in my pocket, which, at the time, was just over half of the minimum wage. That is, I didn’t have much money.
After my arrival, I was impressed by many things, first the weather and the height of this city, I went from living in an extremely hot city, to living in a very cold place, it is a very abrupt change, I got a little sick at first, but I couldn’t buy medicines since I had to save money. I also felt that everything was very different, people, habits, the accent, etc, I could not believe that, even if we were neighboring countries, everything was so different from Venezuela. In spite of everything, I was very excited to start a new life, totally from scratch, I arrived in Colombia alone, it was me or me for everything.
I remember that the second day after my arrival, I went out to look for my first job; It was more complicated than I had thought, since I did not have a Colombian identification document they could not legally hire me, that’s why I had to go informal, two weeks later I went to the city’s downtown, where I got my first job selling cell phones, in a store whose owners were Paisas -from Medellín- (both very good people). In Maracaibo I had never sold anything, not even a candy, I had to do something that I had never done in my life. I spent two months in that job, I was fired from work because of my poor performance on sales, which was heartbreaking for me because I felt I had “failed.” After that, I spent a whole month without a job, the money was running out, and I remember that, in a week of that month, all I could eat was bread and water. Those were very hard moments, my mother used to write to me every night “Son are you alright?” And I used to tell her that everything was fine, to not worry her.
Fortunately, in that store I met a boy who went there a lot to buy phone accessories, he came from a family of good social status, we talked a lot and he had a lot of interest in knowing more about my situation, I commented him that that I was Venezuelan, that I spoke English and I was an engineer. He was very sorry for the situation I was going through, and many times he tried to help me work with companies, but since I still didn’t have the necessary legal documentation, it was not possible.
Finally, he puts me in touch with a family member of him, that’s where I met Doña Mercedes, who would be my angel in Colombia, to say so, this lady has a mini-market located in an affluent area of the city, I remember that We scheduled an appointment, I put on my “lucky shirt”, I went with my papers and my CV; When I arrived at the interview, I realized that she was a very polite lady, typical lady from Bogotá, very pretty.
Immediately, she asked me for my resume, and when she read it, she started crying, I asked her what was happening to her and she replied “How sad that a person as studied as you is going through this! I have nothing here to offer you more than being a delivery boy. “ I replied that I was not looking for a specific job, that I just wanted to work to get some money to eat. When she heard that, she looked for something to eat for me, and told me to go there on the weekend to see how did. I remember she gave me money for bus tickets to go back to my residence at the time. Over time, we created a very strong bond, Doña Mercedes always motivated me to find another job that would guarantee a better life for me.
Finally, the Colombian Immigration entity issued a statement saying there would be a new day to get the PEP (Special stay permit) with which I could work legally, which made me very happy. I started to apply for job offers online, especially to bilingual call centers. Days later, I received a call from a company called Teleperformance, which had no idea that existed, I remember that at that time I was working as a delivery boy, and I had to answer the call in the bathroom of the market since they had to do an interview in English by phone, fortunately everything went well, they summoned me to do tests personally, and they hired me. Finally, I was going to be able to have a legal, stable, and well-paid job!
Teleperformance is a French multinational of BPO, it is a contact center where I began my career as a service advisor, and in less than a year, I was promoted to Supervisor, which is my current position. On April 9, 2020 I will have been in the company for two years, which opened its doors to me and gave me the opportunity to have a more normal and dignified life. Recently, I underwent the process for my migrant visa to opt for a Colombian immigration card, which was approved, all thanks to the support I have obtained in Teleperfomance.
I currently live with my parents and siblings in Bogotá; At the moment I do not plan to return to Venezuela in the short-medium term, I would like to continue climbing seats and reaching things here in Colombia, a country to which I am grateful for the things it has taught me and for the good people with whom I have crossed paths with.
If I could add a reflection to this story, it would be that we should value what we have before it is late, not only the material things, but family. We do not know how much we can miss our homes until when we are away. My advice to all people who feel they should leave Venezuela is that when they arrive in another country they be aware that they are foreigners, that they are coming to the home of others, that they must adapt to the rules, habits, and ways of living of those people. We must be clear that this does not mean we are losing or forgetting our roots, this means being flexible and understanding that we are not in our country and therefore, our behavior must be in line with that. I keep my country with me, and I am another ambassador of it, and also proof that the good ones are more.
Never give up, remember that sooner or later, something good always comes.
