PORTLAND, Maine — All this week on NEWS CENTER Maine, reporter Hannah Yechivi will be highlighting Hispanic community members who call Maine home and contribute to making Maine a better place to live and work for all. The features are in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month.
Rosita Roberge moved to Maine 27 years ago. She married a Mainer and decided to move to Vacationland to start a family.
The Guatemala native quickly found a way to share a piece of her culture with Mainers by using her voice. Quite literally, when she got to Maine, her English skills were slim, but she still took a chance on learning the ins and outs of how to run a radio program. She has now been doing it for almost 30 years.
Rosita now knows and speaks fluent English. Throughout the years, having this platform has helped her feel more confident in herself while allowing her to show other Hispanic residents of Maine that they can do meaningful things for the community.
"Good morning, buenos dias, este es el programa latinos with Rosita," is what Rosita says right at 9 a.m. at the start of her show.
"Si fue duro por que no tenia a mi familia cerca, y encima de eso el frio y todo el cambio cultural, que era muy diferente de donde yo vivi."
"It was hard at the beginning. I didn't have any of my family close; it was cold, and all of the cultural change ... It was very different from where I had lived," Rosita said.
While Rosita took English classes, someone convinced her to participate in the University of Southern Maine's radio show. She went through the training and was immediately offered a slot.
"Era como, como una forma de hacerme sentir bien de mi misma por que me estaba divorciando en ese tiempo cuando empeze la radio."
"It was a way for me to feel good about myself because I was going through a divorce when I started the radio show," Rosita said.
Rosita only plays Latin music, and she never plays the same songs. She creates a different playlist every Saturday, depending on her mood and what she feels people should wake up with. Of course, she says her music choices are always happy and energetic.
"However I feel that day, that's how it rolls out," Rosita said with a laugh.
"Yo tenia un tape donde grabe al principio cuando hacia los programas, y se me escuchaba que no tenia confianza en mi misma!"
"I had a tape where I recorded a few of my first shows. If you heard myself ... You could notice I had no confidence in myself," Rosita explained.
She hopes her story will help people, especially women, to get outside of their comfort zone and try new things they may have never imagined they could do.
"Yo continue, por que yo me di cuenta que cuando empeze a hacer esto aqui en el aire y estaba en el microfono, me sentia muy bien de mi misma. Me sentia que estaba contribuyendo a algo."
"I continued doing the radio shows because I realized, when the microphone was on and live, I felt really good about myself. I felt like I was contributing to something," Rosita said.
Jessica Lockhart is the program director at WMPG, where Rosita does her shows.
"It's really important for Mainers to embrace all the people that are here. If the traditional Mainer isn't aware of this kind of music, we are so happy to present it to them," Lockhart said.
Rosita plays music from all sorts of years, styles, and genres, like salsa, merengue, cumbia, and zamba.
"Yo pienso que la musica es capaz de curar dolores en el corazon, y es capaz de y tambien darle a uno una tereapia."
"I believe music is capable of healing pain in your heart, and it is capable of giving people therapy," Rosita expressed.
Besides playing music, she also talks about community events, relevant information for Latinos, and other news.
All her years of support for Hispanic Mainers have been recognized. She was honored to get the Cesar Chavez Award in 2003 by the city of Portland for her efforts to help Latin people in her community.
"Fue un roconocimiento para el trabajo que hago aqui en la radio."
"It was a recognition for the work I do here at the radio station," Rosita said.
Rosita said she loves Maine and appreciates what the state has given her and her children.
"Yo me siento parte de la comunidad, me siento parte de Maine."
"I feel part of the community, part of Maine," she said.
Rosita's radio show happens every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on 90.9 F.M. WMPG.