When a person migrates to another country, either for work or because they were displaced from their territory by armed conflicts, there are many situations that can affect them. One of the main issues is integration.
Integration is about adapting to the customs of the new place where the migrant settles. This is not just the language but also other cultural aspects that the person will learn and have to get used to
This is why the Corazón Migrante (Migrant Heart) program was created by Merling Sapene, who is an expert in change management, leader of high social impact projects, consultant, writer.
This program was created based on the premise that immigrants go through critical difficulties in the process of insertion in the country where they migrate, which are caused by not being able to manage emotions they experience in the integration process.
Corazón Migrante is a digital platform where migrants can learn how to manage emotions to achieve effective and happy integration. The program is not created for a particular group of migrants but instead looks to achieve a global impact, regardless of age, sex, social status or education.
This program seeks to influence migrants’ state of well-being, adaptability, attitude, as well as cultivate feelings of hope, happiness, peace, confidence, as they work towards their future.
Corazón Migrante is available not only in Spanish but also in other languages such as English and French. The program hopes to influence public policies in the countries where it is implemented so that this program is included in migration initiatives. The program has the potential to impact Latin American countries such as Chile, Argentina, Colombia and other countries such as Canada, Belgium, and Germany.
“I was motivated to start ‘Corazón Migrante’ after going through my own experience of emigrating from my country, and experiencing the feeling of leaving everything behind and starting over in another place. The process of integration is heartbreaking and at the same time enriching.” Merling shares.
Following the publication of her first book in 2018, “Avoid bumps during the integration path,” Merling was invited to the United Nations to lead a panel on migration in Latin America.
This helped her to realize that her book and related workshops could be of great use as a tool that can help millions of people around the world by equipping them with knowledge and turning them into an inexhaustible source of value and wealth generation for the countries that host them.
The Corazón Migrante program began in 2020, with pilot testing and implementation in 2020 and 2021. The program has been successfully applied in Chile, Canada, Belgium, and soon in Ecuador.
This program was awarded a prize at the Social Innovation Summit for Migration 2020, in the category of Health and Wellness. After receiving this award, Merling continued work to scale and leverage the program throughout Latin America, starting with Chile and Argentina.
Merling is completely convinced that Corazón Migrante can help millions of people to obtain the necessary tools for a more successful and enriching social integration. The platform is the only one of its kind that provides emotional support for migrants.
“With this program, migrants can learn about the curve of change, how to become aware of the emotions experienced when migrating, how to access self-help tools, how to acquire skills to manage their emotions, how to define their vision of integration and develop their detailed plan of action for integration.” Merling explains.
In the near future, Merling is focusing on growing Corazón Migrante, which was chosen by Hola America to go through a scaling process. They will continue to nurture and create new strategic alliances globally to expand this solution to migrants in different areas in the world through Spanish, English and French tools. For the near future, Merling is focused on growing the project to its full potential
If you want to know more about Corazón Migrante, click here.