Testimonials
Testimonials from Hispanic Facilitators:
“I believe all of the skills are helpful for any couple, regardless of ethnic origin. I am convinced these skills will have a tremendous influence on our Hispanic families.”
“Active Relationships equips communication leaders with skills and tools that are user friendly and practical for any group. We used the material with Hispanic couples whose primary language was Spanish, with bilingual couples, and with monolingual Spanish speaking couples. In all cases the material was applicable and congruent as a tool to equip Hispanic couples in their communication skills.”
“I think the elements and the program as a whole are SUPERB and easy for anyone to understand. Many of the couples and individuals I have worked with have found it to be very much enlightening, like a ‘gem’ that has just been discovered. A very much needed program, especially for Hispanic couples.”
Testimonials from Hispanic Participants:
“Matrimonio Magnifico 2008”
Stories of Impact:
I would like to share with you my story and how HARP has been a tremendous part of it. My wife heard the announcement at our church that there was going to be a couple’s workshop in our church and me and my wife decided to register for that class. I did not know anything about couple’s classes. So we decided to go and we went. When I started listening to the teacher, and the interesting way he managed the class, I noticed that there were some things not right in my relationship. He started teaching about communication and the different styles of it. There I learned that I needed to communicate better with my wife and to listen more to her. I’ve learned that I had can express my feeling with respect and that I can resolve conflicts with respect. But one thing I was able to do and make me feel the most happiest person, was this: I had never told my wife and my kids that I love them, never in words. I would show my love by feeding them, getting what they needed but I never told them that I loved them. So, thanks to HARP I was able for the first time in my life to say that I love my wife with all my heart and I said it in front of everyone else in the class. I grew up with no love in my family, but now I understand that I can show and tell my wife and kids that I love them with all my heart.
R. Martinez
Active Marriage & Best Practices Workshop
June 20, 2009
The only thing I can share with you today is that when we attended the Active Marriage workshop I was able to really learn to understand my husband and how difficult for him it is to express his very deep feelings. We had trouble sometimes in our marriage because he would always keep everything to himself. I would judge him, get upset at him and sometimes scream at him. The problem was that I was not being able to let him talk and express his feelings. When we did the exercise of confiding the triggers my husband was able to share and express everything that he had within him and literally he was crying like a little boy in tears of happiness because he was finally releasing all of that sadness that he had been carrying for a long time. Thank you for all these classes that are making great changes in our lives.
A. Arguelles
Active Marriage & Best Practices
June 13, 2009
I am here at the Port Isabel Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas. I am here because of Domestic Violence. I want to thank Mr. Jose Cavazos for coming to teach us inmates at this immigration facility valuable skills that we can use to become better persons when we get out of here. My marriage was a complete disaster. Through HARP I’ve learned that I was repeating exactly what my father use to be and did to my mother. I had an argument with my wife and got so upset that I threw her the bowl of hot soup without hurting her (Thanks to God). She called the police and later I was brought here. My father use to do the same thing to my mother, but thanks to HARP I’ve learned that I can overcome those triggers and I learned to deal and resolve conflict with respect. I am still here paying for my crime but I know now that as soon I get out of here I will do my best to be a better person and a father; I will ask my ex-wife for forgiveness and I will try to have a good relationship with her - the mother of my children.
A. Aguilar
Active Adults Workshop
Port Isabel Detention Center
July 2009
I want to thank the HARP Staff for providing these wonderful workshops to our community. I was raised in a very poor family and my father was an alcoholic. I started cleaning windshields at the age of 4 in Mexico City. My father forced us to work to maintain his addiction. I grew up in a very violent home and lacking all those precious moments that any child would dream of. At the age of 12, I decided to get married to leave my house. I married a man 10 years older than me and had my first baby. My relationship with my husband was not the best relationship. He was full of negative thoughts, which created arguments and I was carrying my own baggage from all the issues that I faced when I was living with my parents.
Thank God for HARP Cameron County because it has been a marvelous blessing to our life. I completed all 3 workshops and I learned the essential skills to have a better relationship with my husband.
I learned the different communication styles, which taught me how to communicate with my husband. We also learned the wonderful conflict resolution tool (SMART)! During the Active Money workshop I learned to identify my beliefs and values about money and how to communicate with my husband about money. I learned to make a budget and stick to it! At the Romance and Intimacy workshop we reignited our romance and our relationship is now healthier!
N. Avila
Los Fresnos, Texas
Cameron County
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