Throughout February WNED/WBFO is recognizing everyday citizens of Western New York who are doing amazing things in their communities. Our “Making a Difference” project emphasizes the importance of volunteerism and encourage others to lend a helping hand. Here is the story of a community champion who is “making a difference.”
Like many immigrants who now call Western New York home, Colombian Native MarCe Zerrate says she moved to the Queen City with her husband and was surprised by how difficult it was to find people from her own culture.
“When I moved here, I did not meet anyone from Colombia or from Mexico or from Puerto Rico.”
Zerrate says one of her first experiences was meeting a young boy who seemed ashamed of his own Latin American Heritage.
“He was not happy with me because I tried to speak in Spanish to him in front of everyone. And it make me so sad to see that a young kid did not want to be proud of his heritage.”
Following that exchange, Zerrate says she saw a need to bring cultures together, to find ways to celebrate diversity. Zerrate founded Amor and Heritage, a dance company that brings the Colombian community together and teachers groups all around the region about Latin America.
“These are the colors of the Colombian flag,” says Zerrate to a group of young children as she points to the flag.
Zerrate also tells us, “I bring our big skirts that we use to dance most of the traditional dances that we do… It’s very exciting to see how they receive the new information about different countries.”
Zerrate spreads the message of celebrating diversity to all cultures, but says reaching out to other Colombians has become a passion, like working with FANA, an organization that helps Western New York families adopt children from Colombia. Zerrate offers those kids a connection to their roots.
“My culture,” she says “is you are smiling all the time, you are dancing all the time, you cannot stay still… I am able to teach them a little bit more about where the cities in Colombia are situated and then I teach them dance from different cities within Colombia.”
Zerrate actively works to change the perceptions of Colombians. Her piers – like Charles Torres of the Puerto Rican and Hispanic Day Parade – say Zerrate’s efforts have made a difference.
Torres talks about Zerrate with a smile, “Because of her positive attitude in life, but also what she brings that is representative of our community is something that makes us very proud of her and her accomplishments”
Zerrate says initially she needed to feel she was living in a diverse community– but then recognized it was just what the community needed as well.
“I realized if we can create a program where we can fuse all these cultures together, we can make a difference by letting everyone know, these are the countries that are here in your community right now, and this is who they are and we could make like a melting pot of culture where every culture is celebrated.
Listen to WBFO throughout February for more stories of people who are Making a Difference in Western New York.
Screen the Making a Difference TV documentary video and audio stories at wned.org.
You can also nominate someone for next year’s production of “Making a Difference.” Visit wned.org/makingadifference to submit your nomination. The deadline is February 28th.