Category — Amigo News

Coverage of AmigoLatino by CNN

“Families divided, separated for years at a time. A heavy price that many illegal immigrants choose to pay to be able to live in the U.S. Well know there is a way they can reunite with out risking capture at the border, CNN’s Corinne Winter has that. “You are about to see the magic of technology, how a television and teleconferencing system have become powerful links for some unlikely users……” (watch video for full story)

It is not everyday that we find movies that are so close to what we stand for at AmigoLatino, the importance of the family unit and the real issues that many broken Latino families go through as a result of their migration to the north.

In the movie Under the Same Moon by Fox Studios, Executive Director Ligiah Villalobos, “says she wanted to explore the theme of abandoned children, a subject that became painfully real to her when her parents split up when she was 3 years old”. This is exactly one of the main issues we attempt to address at AmigoLatino, by democratizing access to affordable face-to-face video conferencing services, to allow families to keep in touch.

According to the Chicago Tribune’s review, Tracking both sides of story when immigrant family is split, “several of the film’s most memorable characters are nameless illegal immigrants shown struggling to reach el norte or, once there, struggling to make ends meet financially and not be sent back to Mexico. Reading over the script during pre-production, Riggen “suddenly discovered that all these characters have one thing in common.” “All these people risked their lives crossing the border, leaving everything behind, for love,” says Riggen, who was born and raised in Guadalajara, studied film at Columbia University and has lived in Los Angeles for the last several years. “For love of their families who they’re going to go reach, for love of their families who they leave behind and send money to. But it always has to do with love and family.”

Enjoy it and let us know if you like it!

I wanted to share a cool video application that I discovered through one of our favorite blogs, Techcrunch.

“Animoto lets you grab photos from Flickr, Facebook, Picassa, Smugmug, Photobucket, or your desktop. You can then upload a DRM-free song or choose from about a hundred licensed tracks on the site. It then does its magic and matches the photos to the music, “mimicking the post-production done by professional video editors,” says CEO Brad Jefferson. I mashed together some old Fllckr photos from a trip to Korea and a visit to HP Labs, added an Electronica beat, and the video above is what came out.”

See one of our AmigoLatino sample videos:

For more info about the post see the Techcrunch article
Source, Erick Schonfeld at Techcrunch

Thanks to our good friend Juan Guillermo from Hispanic Trending for sharing this video. Guaranteed to make you laugh so enjoy!!!

Amigo Live’s family reunions, story of the week
By Francisco Rendon

Nervousness and excitement were the feelings Norma Judith Perez was experiencing the day she was going to meet her boyfriend of 5 years, Aurelio Ixcot. But this time it was not one of the regular dates they used to go on in her native town of Quetzaltenango in Guatemala: the usual walk in the park in the afternoon or going to a party. After two years of being physically apart, Aurelio in Trenton New Jersey and Norma in Guatemala, and only keeping in touch via the telephone; today they were having a virtual date, face-to-face, thanks to the video conferencing services of AmigoLatino. During their highly emotional virtual conversation, both cried and laughed, and then at the end of their hour-long meeting, Aurelio took Norma by surprise by popping the big question, if she would agree to marry him? Although shocked, Norma took a couple of seconds to breath and then, to Aurelio’s relief, immediately cried out YES!!!!!!

Here are some of their comments about their experience connecting through Amigo Live, AmigoLatino’s affordable video conferencing service:

Q: How long was it been since you last saw each other?
A: It has been a little over 2 years that we have been apart, ever since I left Guatemala to come to the USA to work

Q: What did you to keep in touch during this time?
A: We talked over the phone on a weekly basis only (sometimes more)

Q: What were the emotions you were going through before your Amigo Live video conference today?
A: A lot of emotion including nervousness, excitement and happiness that I was going to finally see my girlfriend again

Q: Would you recommend the Amigo Live service to others?
Definitely!!!! It is worth every penny and it’s the best way to keep in touch with the ones you love the most. This service beats phone calls because I get to see her and talk to her at the same time. I will be returning every month now.

This meeting via Amigo Live took place between the Trenton, New Jersey office of Comunicaciones y Envios and AmigoLatino’s office in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. For more information visit us at www.amigolatino.com

At AmigoLatino we are constantly been asked by the majority of our mainly Hispanic customer base, who we think will be the best presidential candidate for the Hispanic population in the US. And although we think we have a good idea, it is still not clear if they will really be willing to “walk the talk” if given the opportunity. Therefore we are still evaluating what the candidates have to say about such an important topic.

Just right now, we heard from our good friend Juan Guillermo Tornoe, from Hispanic Trending, who just had the opportunity to interview Senator Barack Obama about his perspective on Hispanics in general:

Interview by Juan Guillermo Tornoe

A few days ago I had the privilege to receive Senator Obama’s answer to questions specifically regarding Latinos, their values, their culture, their importance to his candidacy. A very special thank you to all of you who made it possible.
Hispanic Trending: What similarities do you see between “Traditional” American Values and Hispanic Values?

Sen. Barack Obama: The challenges that Hispanics and all Americans face have been constant over the last twenty years – health, education, and economic insecurity. We need new leadership in Washington that understands the challenges working people and minorities face in this country.

I think most Americans share the same values, hopes, and aspirations, and the same struggles. Dr. King repeated often that our separate struggles – that of Latinos and African Americans – are really one. He would say that an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. It means that the Civil Rights Movement wasn’t just a movement of African-Americans, but Latino Americans, and white Americans, and every American who believes that equality and opportunity are not just words to be said but promises to be kept. (to read more follow the link to Hispanic Trending)

Ana Maria immigrated to the United States to seek better opportunities for the two young children she left behind in Guatemala. Coming from a tight loving family, Ana says that maintaining the special bond of family is one of her most important priorities. Moreover, one of the major traditions in her family has been to celebrate their birthdays together.

Therefore, as her first birthday away from those she cared the most about was approaching, she wondered if there was a way to keep their yearly tradition alive. As Ana searched for an option, a close friend told her about Amigo Live
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, AmigoLatino’s live family video conferencing service in Los Angeles, where she could see her kids again. So Ana immediately called to learn about the service and scheduled an appointment. When the day of her birthday finally came, she was able to enjoy the unique experience of a virtual reunion, filled with happiness and excitement, where the whole family from Guatemala, including her two kids, celebrated and serenaded her with a song of
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“Las Mañanitas“.

How do you feel after seeing your kids live?
It was an incredible and fulfilling experience to be able to see them and to share together my birthday with them. It gave me warmth to my heart being able to know that they are growing healthy and are receiving everything they need from my efforts of working here in the U.S.

Do you think this conference will make your family bonds stronger?
Definitely!! I was able to see that my kids were behaving properly just like I taught them now that they live with my mother. I can also check on them and see how they are doing in school, if they are getting everything I send them once in a while. I can also show them that they have a mother that cares for them more than anything else and that soon we will be together again.

In a scale of 1-10 how would you rate the experience?
A perfect 10!! Seeing my kids in real time, smiling, laughing! That is the best birthday present I can ask for. This is priceless and I will definitely be back to share more birthdays together through this wonderful service

Esther J. Cepeda -

Magnolio Palacios hadn’t visited his family in Guatemala in more than two years.

And Palacios, his wife, daughter and nephew were happy, and a little nervous, to finally come face to face with their loved ones - - including a baby boy they’d never met.

But their jitters fell away when they stepped into a cozy video- conferencing room where, on the screen, their family waited to see them. The first words out of Palacios’ mouth?

“Mira-vengo puro Osos!”

He said, “Look, I came dressed in all Bears clothes,” just as he would had he been bursting into his mother-in-law’s house in their native city of Quetzaltenango .

Palacios, 52, watched as wife Gladys Figueroa, 44, daughter Helsy Palacios Figueroa, 26, and nephew Wilfredo Figueroa, 19, all Jefferson Park residents, tearfully chatted with Gladys’ mother, Virginia, two sisters, Erika and Magdali, 3-year-old Angeles and 1- year-old Luis Emilio about how good they looked, what the families were up to — and whether the Bears would win the Super Bowl.

The Palacios-Figueroas are among the estimated 10 to 15 families who go to Amigo Latino, 3655 W. Lawrence, every week to visit with family members at the firm’s offices in Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, El Salvador and Colombia. These are visits often limited by money, immigration law and time constraints.

$40 GETS 30 MINUTES

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