Welcome to episode 25 of The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants Podcast. I am your host Heidy De La Cruz, and we are celebrating one year of this podcast this week!!!! The official anniversary is April 19!!!! So, to celebrate, I am doing a $50 gift card giveaway on my Instagram starting tomorrow (April 19 until Friday, April 21, 8 pm EST). Follow me on Instagram for the official rules to enter the giveaway!!!!

Thank you so much for all your support this past year, and I cannot wait to see how far this podcast gets!!! All for God’s glory, Amen!

Alright, let’s get into the episode.

Today I talk with Rosana Acklin – who is from São Paulo, Brazil. And she came to the United States through the Au Pair Program. I’ll be honest, prior to this episode, I had not heard of this program, so I learned a lot with Rosana.

With this program, participants become nannies for the host families; however, there are requirements for both sides and here are a few:

Au Pairs requirements:

1. Must be able to speak English.

2. Between the ages of 18 to 26 years of age.

3. Successfully pass a background check.

4. Training/experience with kids

5. Must have a secondary school degree.

Host family requirement:

1. Provide an appropriate private room.

2. Be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident fluent in English.

3. Pay a weekly minimum stipend based on the program selected.

4. Include the au pair in family meals, outings, and holidays whenever possible.

5. Limit childcare to no more than 10 hours and a maximum of 45 hours per week.

If you would like the complete list of requirements or are interested in the Au Pair Program, please contact an immigration attorney.

We talked about her struggle at the beginning of being away from her family and not having other Brazilians around where she lived. Now, there are more people from Brazil, but when she first moved to Michigan, she didn’t know any.

We also talked about her experience going back home the first time after moving and how she did not miss the business of living in a big city.

I truly enjoyed talking with Rosana about her unique experience of coming to the United States. I learned about the Au Pair Program and am excited to share this knowledge with you all.

Thank you so much for your continuous support, and I hope you enjoy this episode!

With Love, Heidy

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