Zamora

(EFE) That is the objective of the so-called “Zamora Challenge” which has already managed to get 34 people from Cuba and Argentina to settle in towns in the province.

For this, the descendants of emigrants in Latin American countries who wish to return to Zamora are offered training, flight tickets, a work contract and a rural house for rent with the deposit and the first three months paid.

At the end of March, the first families of this pilot program, promoted by the Ministry of Family and Equal Opportunities of the Junta de Castilla y León, arrived from Cuba and Argentina to settle in the regions of Sanabria and Toro.

There were eight personal assistants and as many companions, including five children already in school who in one of the cases have prevented the rural school of Lubián from having to close next year.

In view of the good results, the initiative has now been extended to another 18 people, this time all of them from Cuba.

At the end of March, the first families of this pilot program promoted by the Ministry of Family and Equal Opportunities arrived from Cuba and Argentina.

Among the new settlers there are three children, a month-old baby and the eight new caregivers who, starting Monday, will settle with their families in their new homes in the Benavente, Toro and Sayago regions.

Arelis Echemendía, who recently arrived in Zamora from Havana, acknowledged this Friday at a press conference that at first she had doubts as to whether what was being proposed to her was real and she has shown her desire, together with her family, to integrate and work in the environment. rural zamorano.

Drisis Montero, from Santiago de Cuba, has also reiterated his intention to “work and do it well” after thanking them for the improvement of opportunities that the program offers them.

The manager of the Intras Foundation, Pablo Gómez, who is in charge of facilitating the training and employability of the descendants of emigrants who have joined the program, has indicated that it is expected that throughout this month new families will arrive through this An initiative that is also open to recruiting caregivers to repopulate the rural areas of Zamora in countries such as Uruguay, Venezuela or Mexico.

The “Zamora Challenge” program, which is carried out in collaboration with the Castilian-Leonese centers and the Zamora houses in Latin American countries, has a budget of 500,000 euros.

The intention is to extend it soon to other provinces of Castilla y León with the same philosophy: that the descendants of emigrants who “crossed the pond” can return to find a future and help combat depopulation in rural areas of the land of their ancestors. .

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