When Colombian native Felipe Lleras came to the United States nearly two years ago, he spoke very little English. “I couldn’t understand 90 percent of what people were saying,” Lleras said. The task of learning to speak a new language was made even more difficult by the Southern accents he encountered.

However, within seventeen months Lleras made so much progress that he was selected to represent Heart of Georgia in a five county competition. He won that event thanks to the guidance and support of his English Literacy instructor, Pilar Archila, who also happens to be his sister.

After winning the competition, Felipe continued to represent Heart of Georgia in the statewide Exceptional Adult Georgians in Literacy (EAGLE) competition held in Atlanta. Felipe is quick to admit that he became involved in the Heart of Georgia English Literacy program because his sister was there, but adds that he would have enrolled even if his sibling had not been the instructor. “In order to accomplish anything anywhere, you need to be able to speak the language there,” he said. Pilar Archila is proud of her brother. “He was so eager to learn,” she said. “He just couldn’t get enough.”

Felipe and his family experienced a storybook migration to the U.S. When the economy in Colombia began to falter in the 1980s, the Lleras family knew that their best chance for success would lie elsewhere. Archila noted that Colombia is going through the greatest exodus of skilled professionals in its history. “People have been leaving to pursue better jobs and to raise their families in safer environments,” she said.

Felipe, who owned a construction company in Colombia, now works for Whigham Construction of Dublin, Georgia. His enthusiasm for his work shows even as he discusses cutting-edge industry methods and techniques. He knows he was fortunate to find a job with a company not scared of INS rules and regulations. His wife and their three children realize how fortunate they are to have had his visa approved.

Today, like the structures he helps raise from the ground, Felipe is building a new life for himself and his family on a solid foundation. That foundation has been reinforced with skills he learned in a town far from the country of his birth. Further, he is passing on what he has learned to his family including a brother, Andres, who has shown steady improvement attending ESL classes and sister, Carolina who will represent Pilar’s ESL class in the upcoming EAGLE competition. At present, Felipe will continue to focus on his future which includes continuing to work at Whigham and obtaining permanent resident status.