WAUKESHA - When Juana Avila and her family moved from Mexico City to Waukesha a decade ago, she lived in fear.

Every time someone came to her door or the phone rang, she was afraid. She was too scared to even go the grocery store on her own.

"I didn’t understand the language or the culture," she said. "It was very difficult. My husband was the only one who spoke English when we first came here. I couldn’t even help my kids with their homework."

A job opportunity brought Avila to Waukesha 10 years ago. She came here with her husband, Antonio Palacios, a GE employee, and their two children, Claudia Guadalupe, now 16, and Jose, now 12.

Avila, 40, who holds a degree in biology from a university in Mexico City, said she took classes in English here, but it took about five years for her to feel comfortable with the language of her adopted homeland.

And then there was the additional culture shock - not just the differences between the Latino and American culture - but between big and small city living, she said.

"It was definitely a change coming from a crowded, noisy and polluted big city to a place that is peaceful and relaxing," she recalled with a laugh.

Today, through her job as community educator with the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha extension, Avila can easily relate to those in the Latino community going through the same struggles.

"She walks the walk. She identifies so much with the Latino population here," said Karen Cooper, office services coordinator at the extension, and Avila’s co-worker. "She has a very strong empathy for their struggles."

She has been busy helping to organize a program through the extension entitled "Walk An Hour In My Shoes," to teach community groups about the Latino culture.

The presentation will help organizations give better service to the Latino community, she said.

"It’s been my experience that sometimes prejudice is a matter of perception, that we don’t give each side the chance to share each other’s culture to break down stereotypes," she said. "It’s often a lack of understanding."

Avila also enjoys working with young people of Latino descent.

"Some of the kids struggle because they are trying to find their own identity," she said. "They live in one situation during the day at school but at home, there may be different values."

Avila is one of two bilingual leaders of the recently formed Lateeno Leadership 4-H Club, the first 4-H Latino community club in the state.

The idea of the club is to help kids stay connected with their roots, to be proud of their heritage and to teach other kids about it, Avila said.

There is a colorful pinata that hangs from the ceiling above her desk and a coffee cup that serves as an impromptu holder for small flags representing Mexico and a host of Latin American countries resting on top of a nearby shelf, but Avila isn’t only interested in her own heritage and traditions.

"She doesn’t just teach others about her culture. She is always trying to learn more about that of others," Cooper said. "We have a Christmas tree farm and she has come out for the last several years for the holiday. She is trying our culture, too."

Avila said she is looking forward to becoming an American citizen.

"I’m very excited about taking the citizenship test and I am looking forward to the day I am a United States citizen," she said. "I’m really looking forward to being able to vote. It’s a great opportunity and an important right."

Linda McAlpine can be reached at lmcalpine@conleynet.com