Born and raised in Mexico City, Ana Amador started travelling the world in her 20s.
She eventually found herself in Dunedin a few years ago studying a long-harboured passion.
She said she always wanted to work with people.
However, occupational therapy was not a common job title when she was growing up in Mexico.
"Family look after family members who are sick," she said.
After moving to New Zealand with her husband, Ms Amador began studying occupational therapy in 2018 at the Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin.
While studying, she worked as an interpreter, helping Spanish speakers who were new to New Zealand.
Her experience as an immigrant and her work with immigrants gave her a unique edge to the job with Community Link Upper Clutha.
Her predecessor "told me I will bring something into the team that she could never do because she would never understand how it is to move into this community".
Wānaka’s growing Latino community made Ms Amador’s presence in such a critical role even more beneficial.
Her ability to communicate in Spanish and understand the immigrant experience gave her an advantage in communicating with a potentially increasing number of immigrant patients.
Ms Amador said communicating with the older generation who had grown up in New Zealand was something she was a little nervous about, as she worried her patients might not be able to relate to her.
"I’m also really aware that it might be pretty difficult for some to understand my accent."
Despite speaking English fluently, her fears reflected a universal experience among immigrant communities in the workforce.
However, her anxious feelings did not diminish her enthusiasm.
A significant part of Ms Amador’s excitement for the new role was being able to work with people in a community that was growing more diverse every day.
- Rawan Saadi
