“This changes the mindset of a person. If at any time you have acted badly with the natives of your country or any other illiterate person…money changes you and you reconsider and reflect.”
He is a Bolivian man from Cochabamba, a city in the middle of Bolivia. In April 2002, at the age of 24 he left his birth city to fly to London.
Before deciding to change his life, more than a decade ago, he studied law at university, but during his last year, just before graduating he decided to set out on a new journey.
“I was just about to finish, but there I was the devil’s advocate, I prefer to clean in London then help get criminals from my country out of jail,” he says. When he arrived he had the intention of working in cleaning, “like everyone”, he says. Later in restaurants, kitchens, bars, “it’s like everything, first it was a little difficult, but little by little you learn words and you start to improve,” he explains.
Marco had a student visa for ten years, “ten years were bound by hand and foot,” he explains. He could only work 20 hours, and he also had to study and comply with British laws.
Now his level of English has improved, but when he arrived, he started to learn with an English-Spanish book that he borrowed from the library.
During this time, he could not get any help from the state, he had to pay for his English classes himself to be able to show his student status in the UK, “in any case, it worked, and after 10 years I finally got British citizenship” he explains.
According to Marco, when it was the Labour Party with Tony Blair, the migration situation was a little more flexible, and the government gave more help to immigrants.
However, he says that when David Cameron took responsibility of the government, things changed, they opened up the borders to immigrants from Eastern Europe and they took away a lot of jobs from latinos.
“Here British people don’t want to work, they only want to be in a comfortable jobs, where they don’t have to get their hands dirty.”
Marcos doesn’t understand why people complain that there isn’t any work, “You have to open your eyes, you can’t only do what is convenient or what you like,” he states.
On the other hand, one of the reasons why this city is so attractive, is its multicultural environment, you could say in London there is always someone who comes from your country, and who looks like you.
Marcos moved from Holborn and Bank, and he wasn’t very friendly with the Latin community, only meeting with them “when there is chaos, the Latinos are present,” he says.
To progress in this city, you cannot be sheltered by your community, “you have to evolve,” he says.
The Latin community has grown sufficiently in the last few years. According to a study by the Queen Mary University in London, the Latin American population of London has grown almost four times more between 2001 and 2011 reaching 113,500. The Brazilians are the biggest national group of the Latin Americans, followed by the Colombians, and there is also a large number of Ecuadorians, Bolivians and Peruvians.
The study also showed that the young and well educated population of Latin America had high levels of employment, 85% have a job, but 40% of the workers of Latin America experienced abuse and work exploitation and 11% are paid less than the national minimum wage, a rate ten times higher than the average rate of British people experiencing similar issues.
One of the things that this country teaches you is personal progress. It helps you value who you are and what you have. Good people learn to judge, analyse and change their point of view.
“This changes the mindset of a person. If at any time you have acted badly with the natives of your country or any other illiterate person…. money changes you and you reconsider and reflect,” explains Marco.
An immigrant is always going to be better in his country of origin, because here they can always say “you are not from this country, go back to where you belong,” he says. But one thing is clear, in London anyone can improve and excel themselves, you only have to open your eyes and be prepared. “As a friend said, if you go to a building with 13 flats and knock on all of the doors, I’m sure that one will open and this person will help you, despite the other 12 saying no.”
(Translated by: Rachel Sharp) – Photos: Pixabay
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