Cecropia Experiences: Remote Work and Migration

The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it many challenges but also paved the way for greater acceptance of remote work, especially in the technology and programming areas. It is now common to see 100% remote job offers when before it was questioned if this was really feasible due to the possible decrease in productivity, attention and commitment to work, among others. The social distancing forced us to take this path if we wanted to keep the digital world going while looking for an answer to what the future would bring with this new reality.

There are places that lend themselves better or worse to offer these services from our homes. In my country of origin, Venezuela, there is a great lack of public services. We are not only talking about electricity and water, internet connections are a very complicated issue because the country has a high cost of living but the prices of services are regulated. This implies that the maintenance of the platforms is minimal, the failures are constant and the speeds are very poor.

Trying to work in these conditions implies making large investments of money seeking to have
support from these services so that, in the worst case, we can continue working.
This became a permanent struggle that led me to consider something that I had been thinking about for a long time but had not yet seen the urgency to materialize: migrating to another country.

From my perspective, it was essential to consider a migration process to a country where I could not only
arrive, but also establish myself legally. Usually the legalization process with a job offer is much more straightforward and it was therefore ideal to look for a company that provides support in the desired country. Fortunately, Cecropia has an office in Bucaramanga, Colombia, and many of my compatriots have settled here with their help.

Having visited Colombia before, I was left with a pleasant impression. In many ways
reminds me of my country, with great beauty and quality in its people but without the suffering and limitations
discussed above. If migration processes are naturally difficult for all that is left behind, for leaving the comfort zone and launching into the unknown, choosing a country with a similar culture would probably make things more bearable.

Preparing for the trip was a complicated process. Among the most important things were selling what I could not take with me, such as my vehicle and large items, and finding the necessary information and documentation to travel with a pet in the cabin. Leaving someone legally empowered to act on my behalf and, painfully, sharing the last moments with family and friends, at least for an indeterminate amount of time. You never know when you might return to your place of origin, let alone with a pandemic that breaks all schemes. All this while doing your best to maintain the same quality of work and keep interruptions to a minimum. Complicated!

The trip itself was uneventful but there were extra stops. Despite the proximity between Venezuela and Colombia, there are currently no direct flights between the two nations. We had to take a detour to Panama and then return south, increasing the flight time to about 6 hours if we count the stopover. We had to wait in line at Migración Colombia for the last flight of the day. As I was traveling with a pet, additional checks at both airports were also necessary. Exhaustion was guaranteed.

Fortunately the next day was Saturday and I was able to get out a bit to see the city, at least the area where I was staying. Coming from a country that seems to have frozen in many areas 15 years ago, many things surprised me. Access to basic services on a constant basis, not worrying about the price of the currency to go shopping, great variety in the products available and much more. The stress of living in a new place was overshadowed by the novelties, by recovering normality in the day to day, leaving also the feeling of oppression aside.

Not everything is rosy, of course. Without friends in the new city you have to do many things alone,
take risks and discover on your own. I did count on the invaluable recommendations of co-workers (special recognition to Juan Pablo and Darío) but the familiarity I had in my country and city had vanished and I had to rebuild it from scratch in this new place. How do I get a new phone line? Why does the ham here taste like this? Many questions.

Overall, the change was very positive in my experience. There are certain things you don't know are critical until you lose connection three times during a work call and panic. Those headaches are, fingers crossed, a thing of the past. I am left with the task of adapting to this new reality, making it my own with all the good and bad it will have. To get to know this country and its people, to find my role in this space and to collaborate so that together we can develop in a prosperous way.

Carlos Berroterán

Senior Software Developer