A mother’s love knows no boundaries.  Proof of that, are the stories of two Salvadoran families who, with support from IOM offices in Switzerland and El Salvador, and the Canton of Geneva through its local Red Cross, have set out on entrepreneurial projects that have benefited them both financially and personally.

Two years ago, the maternal love of Natividad drove her to migrate to Switzerland to be reunited with Cesia, her youngest daughter who had left El Salvador in search of better opportunities.

Maybelline, also a mother, decided to return to El Salvador, along with Cesia and Natividad, six months ago through the IOM Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Project for irregular migrants living in the Canton of Geneva.  Her love for her daughter brought her back home, and is also the reason why she decided to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a beautician.

The project provides return and reintegration support for those who decide to voluntarily return home.  The Swiss funded project provides 3,000 Swiss Francs for each returnee to set up a business or return to school.  IOM coordinates the return and provides the orientation needed for each returnee to create their reintegration projects; it also purchases the required materials. 

“The support received from the Swiss Government has been essential to providing an opportunity for social and economic integration for these women who were forced to migrate,” explains Cecilia Ramírez, IOM Project Coordinator in El Salvador.

Ramírez adds that the persons who have benefited from this project feel useful and are empowered to undertake projects that were interrupted by unexpected situations that forced them to migrate.

Each one of these women has faced a situation that obliged them to leave their country.  Cesia traveled to Switzerland hoping to find work to improve her family’s economic situation.  After living in a foreign country, she has returned with the certainty that a better future awaits her here, and that her seafood marketing business, established with support from the IOM and the Swiss Government, will help her reach her goals.

Meanwhile, Natividad has returned to her childhood home. With her sewing machine and her stove she prepares food items to sell door-to-door, and crafts and sells garments that are helping her build a promising future for her family.

“Living outside one’s country is hard.  What you miss the most is the food, your home, your family, and your belongings,” recalls Natividad, as she talks about her migration experience with
IOM’s Ramírez.

Maybelline is excited because she will graduate soon.  With her new skills she hopes to find a job that will help her contribute towards her family’s expenses and allow her to show her talent as a beautician.

“School is very demanding, actually it’s a lot like going to college.  Every day we have academic classes then practice sessions,” she explains.  “I hope to be an outstanding student in order to obtain a job right here or in another beauty shop.”

Six months have gone by since these three Salvadoran women returned to their country, and the results obtained so far with their respective life projects have been satisfactory to them and their families, but most of all to their country, which needs human capital for its economic and social development.

For further information contact:

Adriana Granados
Press and Communications Assistant
IOM San Salvador
Telephone: +503 2521 0535
E-Mail: pressassistant@iom.int