Damian and thats where were gonna begin todays show, comunidad del valle, with carnaval. Its back in full force and with us back also is Rodrigo Duran who spends a lot of time away from us, but hes back here on the show. Welcome back, rodrigo. Rodrigo duran thank you, damian, thank you for having me. Im always looking forward to these. Damian i appreciate you. Well, its back better than ever. Tell us about carnaval 2024. Rodrigo yeah, were celebrating our 46th anniversary at carnaval San Francisco, taking place in the Mission District on saturday, may 25th, and sunday, may 26th. Both days are for the festival, the grand parade is only on sunday, may 26th, and we have a lot of great things in store. Damian tell us about some of those great things that we have to look forward to. Rodrigo so, for our festival we have four wonderful headliners that are going to represent carnaval, because its multicultural. So, if you like corridos, you like mexican regional music, we have noel torres coming from mexico. If you want to listen to some hot timba salsa from puerto rico, were bringing pirulo y la tribu. If you want to dance to punta, garifuna music from honduras, we have banda blanca who will be dancing, sopa de caracol, and for folks that like ballads and just want to be serenaded, we have franco whos gonna be singing toda la vida. Damian i remember that one. And were looking at some great video that you provided us of last years parade. Again, this is more than just a parade now, right . I mean, were talking about the parade on sunday, but as you mentioned, festival on saturday and sunday. Rodrigo thats correct, and you know, the parade is like our gem, right . Thats where all of the beautiful colors, and cultures, and dances come together, you know, and celebrate on the streets of Mission District, and were really honored again that this year with our theme on indigenous roots, to have with us dr. Rigoberta menchu, the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize recipient as our grand marshal, so we couldnt be more than, you know, ecstatic and in honored to have her. Damian wow, i mean, this separates it a little bit. Its not just a party on and listen to great music, now were talking about a real, Living Legend in rigoberta menchu. I mean, this is gonna be an educational festival as well. Rodrigo there you go, thats what we do with everything. Not only are we celebrating, having fun, you know, doing the party, i guess, but were educating ourselves. Were bringing awareness of issues, not only here locally, but around the world, and we get to do that in a fun way. I mean, it doesnt get any better than that. Damian oh, absolutely, well, thats something to look forward to, but again, its a twoday festival, the first one on saturday, and then sunday is the parade, ending with the festival. Its memorial day weekend, what more do you want . Threeday weekend, lets show you that information for festival 2024. There is the web address, its always happening, only happening, in San Francisco. Well, well be back with rodrigo here on comunidad del valle, stay with us. Damian were back here on comunidad del valle with Rodrigo Duran, the mero, mero of the carnaval San Francisco 2024. Do you ever get, rodrigo, you know, because you wanna represent everybody, the colombiano saying, hey, what about us, what about our music, the mexicano saying, what about us . Los basileros, i mean, theyre always gonna be there. Do you get any of that . Rodrigo thats part of the fun, you know, its balancing all the beautiful cultures, and that happens at the grand parade. So, i hear the dominicanos, i hear the puerto ricans, say, hey, what about us . Well, welcome to the grand parade, this is where you showcase the best of the best of their cultura, and its open, its open for anyone to participate and be part of. So, at the end of the day, everyone has an opportunity to showcase the best of their culture. Damian and you know what . And they say about latinos that were not monolithic, that were not just one group, were a combination of many different groups, and carnaval showcases each and every one of those groups. Rodrigo yeah, when we celebrate our carnaval, we are representing 23 Different Countries and cultures from latin america and the caribbean, so exactly what you said, thats 23 different histories, you know, of how those countries and cultures came to be, and everyone has that opportunity to showcase their beauty, their language, and their music in our festival and grand parade. Damian now, aside from brazil, rank San Franciscos carnaval for us. Where does it rank outside of brazil . You cant compete with brazil. Rodrigo carnaval in San Francisco ranks as the most magical and multicultural in the world, [laughing], because you cant find Something Like our carnival, you know. You can find definitely larger ones, because in latin america, you know, its the whole country celebrating, but you wont find something as diverse where you get 200 low riders, right . And then you have panamanians, and then you have brazilians, puerto ricans, salvadorians, dominicans, and so on and so forth. You wont find this combination almost anywhere around the world, so thats what makes it unique and magical. Damian you know, and in San Francisco, we have the Cherry Blossom parade, and several other parades and festivals, now rank carnaval in San Francisco. Is it the number one event, the iconic event of San Francisco . Rodrigo well, im biased, of course, i think that. But you know what . It is the celebration for all, thats what we do say, because you will find dancing, some of the best salseros that are not latino, you know, theyre asian, theyre white, theyre africanamerican, and the same goes for all the different styles of dancing. And so, carnaval is that melting pot of what makes this city and this bay area so unique, and its the multiculturalism, and we embody that in every single celebration, so i can say that. Damian and do you have scouts that go out to other countries to say, lets get that group, that band, and have that in a festival, or do they come to you and say, we want to be a part of it . Rodrigo its both, its both, because we have those ties and those relationships across the borders, right . North, south, east, west, but specifically latin america. We have folks that travel there every february because they celebrate their carnaval there. So, they go travel, bring us information, and tell us of these wonderful dance groups and artists that want to participate at our carnaval. So, every year we get folks from bolivia, from colombia, from mexico, that just come to our celebration, and we have of course, dr. Rigoberta menchu coming from guatemala, so we have our people out there. Damian its gonna be lit in San Francisco. Gracias, rodrigo, for bringing it each and every year to San Francisco. I appreciate your help. Rodrigo thank you, thank you, damian. Damian lets share that information. Carnaval is happening memorial day weekend in San Francisco, twoday festival, and the parade on sunday. Up next here on comunidad del valle, preparing for college. Stay with us. Damian many students have received already their confirmation or acceptance letters for college, and thats been a very stressful time for those families. I know it was for my family. Joining us now is malyna, my daughter, she just completed her freshman year at George Washington university in washington d. C. Shes home for a couple of weeks before she goes back to washington for an internship. Malyna isnt it great that your dad is a reporter and he said youre gonna be on the show today, whether you like it or not . Malyna trujillo i didnt really have a choice. Damian well, were really proud. I talked about the stress that we went through last year. What can you tell the students who went through it this year, maybe the parents, and maybe even the juniors and sophomores who are watching the show or their families, about how to handle that stress . Because it is stressful. Malyna yeah, it was definitely really stressful for me, and i can see that the more i got stressed, the more you guys got stressed, and so to deal with that, i just had to remind myself that the whole application system, in my opinion, can be really random, and if you think you deserve to go somewhere, you might not get in because of one little thing that theyre not looking for that year. And so, in my opinion, it really doesnt say anything about the kind of student you are, the kind of person you are, and so i would just lean on that idea. That really, in the end it doesnt matter, and my value isnt in what these institutions think of me. And so, i think the system can definitely be really random, and its built to benefit people who dont look like us, and so, reminding myself of that all the time definitely helped deal with the stress. But i think for parents, what helped the most was just being supportive. Students know what deadlines theyre facing, so, like, reminding me every five seconds that something is due doesnt exactly help, but just knowing that youre there and that if i just need to talk about something, i can. And that wherever ill end up, ill be fine, and that ill end up where im meant to be. Damian oh, absolutely, were very proud of you and i know that when you were home, im gonna share a secret here, youre afraid of the dark, youre afraid to go upstairs if its dark. Now youre on the other side of the country, and youre right in the metro, youre going to places on your own, talk about that transformation that you went through from one year to the next. Malyna i think it was a lot worse for other people. Theres, like, a diverse range of students there, people who had parents who didnt make them clean, or do chores, or do laundry, or anything, and so i think they have it a lot worse. They had to learn how to do all that. But for me, i think just forcing myself to be independent and go places on my own because i didnt have a choice, thats all i had to do. And so, moving so far away was the push that i needed, and now im fine doing on my own. I rented a uhaul, that was fun, and im able to move out, move in on my own, get everything done, talk to my professors, and of course, you guys are always there for support through facetime or text, but for the most part im doing fine on my own. Damian it sounds like you really are. Now, talk aboutyou say yourself you are brown and proud, and you were raised that way, to have pride in your culture. Talk about how youre bringing that to washington d. C. Malyna i think in high school, going from a really Diverse School where all cultures are appreciated, to a predominantly White Institution in pwi was a little bit difficult, but i think i was able to find my people in my mentors, and my friends, my professors, and i think it was a little bit more difficult. I had to reach out on my own and, like, take that first step on my own, which i havent had to do in the past. But in the end, i definitely found my people that i can rely on that are going through the same thing as me, and that can help me out. And so, i think it was difficult at first, theres definitely a lot of privileged people and racist people at my school, but in the end, i found my people and im able to rely on them, and i still love my school, im doing great. Damian oh, well, we know you are, youre doing absolutely wonderful. Well, now youre the daughter of a former farm worker, youre the granddaughter of a vietnam veteran, talk about how maybe you hope to bring those values and that background to the halls of congress or even to the white house. Malyna well, i think even starting in college, im bringing my background in through the latino groups im in, like lulac gw, folklorico, but im also bringing it into spaces that are predominantly white or predominantly men, especially coming from an all girls school. That was an adjustment. Theres a lot of mansplainers, but i bring my background into, like, those womens prelaw association, or association of hispanic journalists, or even in my classes where i might be the only latina or the only girl. I just keep it in my mind and its important for me to bring that experience, because it holds a perspective as well. And so, im able to bring that perspective with me and share ideas and participate in class and not be scared to raise my hand. Damian yeah, you dont like mansplaining then, huh . Well, mija, were very proud of you. Youre gonna return back to washington. Youre here in san jose now to do a summer internship, so were proud of you. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Maybe itll help a family or two in the bay area. Thank you, mija. Malyna thank you. Damian alright, well be back here on comunidad del valle. We have some more interesting topics and music, stay with us. Damian and were back here on comunidad del valle. Reminder that that qr code at the bottom of your screen is so that you can register to vote. That takes you directly to the secretary of States Office in sacramento so you can register to vote now here on comunidad del valle. Well, some great things happening here in the bay area through el salvador. With me is luis lopez and joe albers, cofounders, both of them, of the Grande Center for education and economic opportunity. Gentlemen, welcome to the show. Thank you for being here, thank you. Well, well start with you, mr. Albers, tell us about the Grande Center and how youre working collaboratively with them here in the bay area. Joe albers yeah, so Grande Center started as a dream of mine for a long time. I first went to el salvador when i was 20, 24 years ago, and i fell in love with this Amazing Community which luis is here and could tell you a little bit more about it directly. And since then, ive been in a relationship and lived there after i graduated college and always done everything i can to help. And the pandemic inspired me to work remotely, to be able to help the people of el salvador, and start Grande Center for education and economic opportunity. Damian and whats that center doing for the folks in el salvador, sir . Joe so, we have a k12 catholic school. Right now, we just have first through fourth graders that will continue to grow out until we get all the way through high school, and we also have an Adult TrainingWorkforce Initiative that we train local adults into entry level tech careers, and we also launched a company to have them work remotely from el salvador for usa based companies in artificial intelligence, a job called data labeling. Damian wow, what kind of difference, luis, has this been making in el salvador for you . Luis lopez well, i think this is a very Important Program for our country, and as we know, we are the First Company doing this data labeling, so that made me feel proud because im doing something for my country. Damian and its important, right, mr. Albers, that countries like el salvador do not fall behind when it comes to technology and the usage of technology this way. You want to make sure that every country is on par, if not even better than some of the other maybe more developed countries. Joe yeah, were in a unique opportunity time frame, right, in the world, and the global context with understanding how the way of working is changing, and were trying to leverage and to really bring more opportunity to regions like el salvador, to really open up and show the world its talented workforce that we have that can grow and be very capable of accessing and supporting companies here in the United States. Damian talk, if you will, luis, about the the situation in el salvador. How are things there and how is this, again, how is this agency helping maybe improve things for every family there . Luis well, i think the most common thing is that when a young man, a young woman, finish the high school, their plan is come to the United States and looking for a better opportunity, and i think with this program, we are providing them a chance to stay in the country, to stay with the families, and to provide them a job to support their families. So, i think its very important. Damian thats a fascinating aspect, if you will, and did you dig back, mr. Albers, to your jesuit upbringing at the bellarmine in santa claira university . Joe absolutely, education is all about transformation and Opening Doors for people, so when i lived in el salvador, six months after high school there, i graduated, i taught english in the school. Ninety percent of the students had immigrated illegally to the United States, and for me, the loss of talent and ability for social transformation and Economic Development in the region takes a significant hit when your most talented people are leaving consistently. So, our mission is to give people opportunity, open doors for them to be able to stay with their family. People dont immigrate for no reason, they immigrate for education, for economic opportunity, for a better future, and were trying to build that in el salvador. Damian how are american countries receiving that, or how have they received it . Its a fabulous opportunity for them and for central america. Joe yeah, so were in the process of trying to grow our company. We just opened our doors last march, and were looking for companies in artificial intelligence, those who are working in in any type of Computer Vision or natural language processing and need data labeling in their own time zone. Thats our big advantage we can offer. Most of these operations operate out of india or other parts across the globe, and our client that weve been working with is very happy that we are working live and were able to give much higher output and stronger results with them as they also are participating in a great mission. One thing i forgot to mention is that our company, the profit from our company doesnt go to any investors, it goes actually straight back to the school. And so, its a cycle of opportunity, leveraging the own talent of salvadorans to help their future generations have better education. Damian wow, no need for that urgent necessity to immigrate to this country for a better life, theyre finding it. And hopefully with the expansion, things might improve even more. Lets show you some information on the screen. If you wanna get a hold of the folks that are here with this Great Program helping the folks in el salvador, there is a website. Its the Grande Center for education and economic opportunity, educating the folks in el salvador. His father scott had a heart attack, all while we are living through a pandemic. If anyone needs to come home, and deserves to come home after a long year, it is them. Life changing surprises you didnt tell us that. George transformations, and reveals. [screeching] no wow george when families and communities come together,