Javier Calleja’s journey to the United States from Uruguay shaped who he is today. Adversity struck him from a young age while losing both his biological and step father, and working his way up to becoming a professor after being homeless here in Harrisonburg for a period of time. Javier Calleja, is now running for Harrisonburg city council and his story and journey to the position he is in today pushes him to continue the hard work instilled in him since a child.
“Uruguay to me means who I am as a person. I always say I could not have been born in a better place than Montevideo, Uruguay, and I think everybody can feel like that about the place they were born. My four kids were born here in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and I don’t think I could have given them a better place to be born than Harrisonburg, Virginia. So Montevideo, Uruguay to me means heritage, it means everything that I needed to have to be able to survive the years that I did here under the circumstances that I was in,” Calleja said.
From the smells of the traditional Uruguayan Gnocchi, to the sounds of over 20 kids playing soccer in the neighborhoods of Montevideo, Uruguay. Family has been rooted in Javier Calljeha’s life since he was young.
“I remember that on the 29th of each month we cook Gnocchi, a Uruguayan thing, not to get confused with an Italian thing, it’s a Uruguayan custom. I remember my Grandpa and Grandma cooking Gnocchis and the sauce, and they put a leaf [In the dish], and whoever got the leaf had to wash the dishes,” Calljeha said.
One of Calleja’s main memories of Uruguay was playing soccer in his neighborhood with all of his friends.
“We were playing soccer. It didn’t matter who you were or what neighborhood you were from, you got together. You play soccer, you have 20-plus friends from around the block or from around the town, and you just play, just to play it. And every game was like the final of the world cup.” Calljeha said.
Tragedy struck Calleja at a young age, as his biological father would die from an aneurysm while Calleja was just 8 months old.
“My biological father passed when I was eight months old. He had an aneurysm. He was 21 years old and a Navy guy,” Calleja said.
Following the passing of his biological father, his mom remarried. He calls his stepfather dad. Calleja grew up with him and learned many valuable lessons until tragedy struck again when he was 14.
“My dad passed by a tragic accident. It was a drunk driver. He was driving a truck, one of those big trucks that haul rocks away, and my dad was riding his bike, and you know the drunk driver impacted my dad, and my dad passed,” Calleja said.
Calleja learned a lot of what he calls wonderful qualities from his dad that still stick with him today.
“He was a great guy, you know, a very honest guy. [He] taught me the absolute best. I wish I had had him longer. He had a great level of integrity, was hard working, and anything you can think good of a person, that was him,” Calleja said.
The heavy tolls of tragedy impacted his family greatly, often having the water and electricity turned off in his home in Montevideo, Uruguay.
“We were pushed into extreme poverty because he [Javier’s dad] was the one who provided in the house. Mom didn’t have a job, and Dad only worked, and we didn’t have anything. Electricity was cut off, the water at some point also. It was hard to secure food,” Calleja said.
The importance of hard work was instilled in him from a young age, as he had to provide for his family to make sure he could eat at night and make sure the water would still run.
“I went to work when I was eight, I grabbed a detergent bottle, and what I did with the detergent was I diluted it in bottles, filled it with water, and started selling it in my neighborhood because I saw a guy doing the same. With that money, I paid for the electric bill, so the electricity could be turned back on,” Calleja said.
Following high school, Calleja was unable to find a job in Uruguay, so he set out to make it to the United States, eventually ending up homeless shortly after arriving in America.
“We didn’t have the help we thought we were going to receive, they didn’t pick us up in the airport, and I ended up homeless. I started to question everything, God, life, my motive for being here. I was missing my friends, my family, my mom, my pillow, my dog, the very little things I had, I was missing everything,” Calleja said.
Calleja was faced with the decision of eating or having a place to stay, as his money was running low shortly after arriving in the United States.
“Everything by the second was disappearing. We couldn’t eat because if we ate, we wouldn’t have money for the hotel the next night. The hotel was costing $100 per night, so we really only had a little money left,” Calleja said.
From sleeping in plazas and on park benches, this new way of life was taking a toll on Calleja. A lucky gift from a vending machine sparked hope once again.
“I go to a vending machine, and put a quarter to get a drink, the vending machine gives me two cans, instead of one. You are very vulnerable at that point, one of your lowest points, you know, and when the vending machine gave me two cans of soda instead of one, I can’t put it into words, but it gave me some sort of, keep fighting, keep going,” Calleja said.
Calleja did just that, by making phone calls, and a bus ride to Harrisonburg, Virginia.
“I was homeless here in [Harrisonburg] for a little bit, until somebody was able to rent a room for me, and help me get a job,” Calleja said.
Calleja’s work ethic which was instilled in him from a young age, remained, as he got two jobs, after arriving in Harrisonburg. He worked at Mcdonald’s and as a janitor at James Madison University, at 18 years old. Seeing kids his age having fun motivated him to eventually go to college.
“My first jobs were as a janitor and a fast food worker, I used to work at Mcdonalds and also James Madison University, working in housekeeping, and I saw the kids being students, and I was their age, I was 18. You know, and I wanted to be a college student, and I said I’m not dreaming big enough,” Calleja said.
Calleja knew the key to reaching any goals within the United States was to learn English, so he set aside the little free time he had, to sharpen his skills.
“The little time I had, I grabbed a book that they gave me at a restaurant, and the book said the same thing in English and Spanish, and so I put three hours aside every day, religiously, every single day, and read the book to learn English,” Calleja said.
Calleja knew the hard work he was putting in every day would eventually pay off, and knew he didn’t want to go back to Uruguay.
Calleja saved up enough money and decided to fulfill what he came to the United States for, which was to go to college.
“I decided to go to college because that’s what I came for and that’s what I wanted to do, and so I did, I went to Eastern Mennonite University, they got my transcript from Uruguay, and they helped me out with that because I didn’t know how to do the process, and I got in, and never failed a class,” Calleja said.
Calleja eventually graduated from Eastern Mennonite, and while Calleja was completing his student teaching, he received a flier about a University in Spain and decided to reach out.
“ I reached out, and the guy answered and said ‘I will host you, and you don’t have to pay for your PhD’, and I was in shock,” Calleja said.
Receiving a scholarship to complete his PhD, and receive his Masters along the way, Calleja graduated and worked as a Spanish Language teacher at Alexandria City High School. Commuting 2 hours both ways, Calleja was up for the challenge.
“I get to the class, and the kids say they don’t want to learn the language, and they are getting suspended left and right, and I said I’m not going to suspend them, if they want to leave my class, I’m going to leave with them, and they said ‘we’ll see how long you last’, Calleja said.
Calleja wanted to bring change and make learning Spanish fun, his great learning style kept kids engaged and out of trouble.
“Unfortunately, the first year I wrote a few referrals, quite a few, but from the second and third year, all the way up until my sixth year, I did not have to write one referral, not one single kid left my class, not one single kid got suspended from my class,” Calleja said.
Calleja earned the ‘Role Model Teacher of the Year Award’ for his dedication and skills within the classroom.
“We had an amazing team, and we were achieving five’s and four’s on our AP exams for German, French, Latin, and Spanish and we were earning national attention, so I was surprised receiving the award because I was just doing what I always do at work, I do my absolute best,” Calleja said.
Calleja eventually became a professor, teaching Spanish Language at James Madison University, where he currently teaches, reaching the highest of his goals within his career in Education.
What he’s running on – Calleja’s policy stances
Wanting equal representation was a motivator for Calleja to run for city council, making sure people from all backgrounds feel represented.
“I wanted to have equal representation, making sure that people with low incomes, and people with high paying jobs are all taken into consideration, so I want to make sure that we have somebody who represents all people all the time, and not some people some of the time,” Calleja said.
Calleja also wants to make sure that the youth feel represented and heard within the City Council.
“I want to bring you guys, and when I say you guys, I mean the youth into politics, I want to make sure everybody’s represented, I want the kids to see that they have somebody like me there and that they too can make it,” Calleja said.
Calleja understands the importance of smart planning to make sure that citizens don’t feel the brunt of projects needed for a growing city.
“I want to make sure that if we have a plan in place, the plan is going to reflect the growth of the city, and we can look back into historical data and data now to project future growth, and so then that way we don’t have to continuously have to raise taxes, because if it gets too expensive, it’s going to get to the point where people are going to have to leave and go,” Said Calleja.
Calleja recognizes that economic issues also impact community safety, a top issue of his campaign.
“If we don’t plan accordingly and continue to have to raise taxes, we are going to fall into the risk that those in the most vulnerable situations can no longer afford rent, or if they are able to afford rent they might not be able to afford basic necessities, and that goes into safety, safety also has to do with proper nutrition, and safety has to do with kids being able to have mom and dad at home, because if rent continues to go up and affordable housing becomes too expensive, then who can really afford it,” Calleja said.
Calleja seeks to integrate a parent-teacher relationship to ensure that students receive a first class education.
“First of all, teachers and parents are partnered, parents are the decision makers on the kids’ education, because you can’t erase parents out of the equation. If parents aren’t fully informed, and they cannot make the decisions, then it’s not a full education. We also want to ensure that our teachers have the resources that they need, and so they don’t have overcrowded classrooms,” Calleja said.
Calleja’s teaching experience allows him to understand the hard work teachers bring to the classroom and the need for the school board to be fully equipped to allow teachers to support students.
“Out of their paycheck, teachers they take a lot of money to bring resources into the classroom, because they really care about their students, so my idea is that we are going to support the school board, making sure that the school board makes the decisions that are going to benefit students, parents and teachers,” said Calleja.
Calleja seeks to bring forth positive change to the City by ensuring that citizens can afford to live here and make sure that students receive the highest quality education possible through creating partnerships between parents and teachers. Calleja looks to use his work ethic learned through hard work and dedication working through adversity and the struggles of immigrating to a new country to allow all citizens to feel represented.
“If I go back to the little kid, who started working at age eight, just the fact that I was able to grab books and be able to read and write, or complete an education, beyond my wildest dreams,” Calleja said.
