Crossing the Atlantic with a suitcase full of projects has become an increasingly common reality for Paraguayan youth. Every year, more people leave the country to study, work, or start a new chapter abroad, facing cultural, emotional, and personal challenges. In this process, distance, adaptation, and the reconstruction of identity far from home have become a shared experience among those living outside Paraguay.
According to accounts from Paraguayans living in Ireland, the main reasons for emigrating center on academic training and personal growth. However, homesickness sets in quickly. In most cases, the absence of Sundays with family and everyday routines in Paraguay becomes the most difficult aspect of the migration experience.
Soila María López de Tynan arrived in Ireland in 1993. At that time, the Paraguayan presence in the country was virtually nonexistent. There were no social networks, associations, or communication channels. "There were just three of us Paraguayan women," she recalls.
Born in Puerto Pinasco and raised in Bañado Tacumbú, in Asunción, this was her first experience outside the country. She arrived after marrying her Irish husband and starting a new family life. One of the first shocks was the winter and snow, very different from the reality of her home country, which deeply marked her adaptation process.
Over the years, the Paraguayan presence began to grow, and today there are more than 500 compatriots in Ireland. During this process, the Association of Paraguayan Residents in Ireland (APRI) was established, formalized in 2022 as a space for gathering and support.
Today, Soila chairs the association, which serves as a support point for newcomers, especially English students. Through cultural gatherings and contact networks, APRI has become a key space for the Paraguayan community in Ireland.
For Julieta Benjamín, migration was not just a change of country but also a way of exploring herself. With a degree in Audiovisual Communication, and an actress and writer, she arrived in Ireland driven by curiosity and the need for personal growth.
Her journey reflects a constant search for something more, both professionally and internally, along with the desire to explore new versions of herself. Living in another country led her to face a new reality but also to see herself from a different perspective. Distance transforms the way one perceives one's own origins and opens a distinct sensitivity toward memory and roots.
This same perspective runs through her artistic work. In her poetry collection "La amnesia busca asilo en otra parte," memory and forgetting appear as a constant interplay, as if each memory were a way of reconstructing lived experience from afar.
For her, starting from scratch is not merely a geographical decision but a deeply human experience—that of stripping down and rebuilding oneself as many times as necessary in an entirely new environment.
In the case of Alejandro Rivas, an industrial engineer, the experience in Ireland fits into a broader educational journey. His decision to leave Paraguay responded to the need to expose himself to an international environment that would allow him to expand his academic and professional opportunities. Along the way, Ireland served as an intermediate step, a bridge to new goals abroad.
During his stay, he sought not only to improve the language but also to understand other ways of working, organizing, and thinking. From his perspective, more and more young Paraguayans are choosing similar paths, with the idea of acquiring new tools and then deciding how to reintegrate or move through the world with greater preparation.
"Abroad, we realize that there are new technologies, automation processes, and advances that are not yet as developed or implemented in our country," he says. He maintains that in Europe, innovations in automation, digitalization, and sustainability can be seen that are still expanding in Paraguay. In this regard, he emphasizes that there is also much to build in the country.
The story of Jessica Enciso reflects another side of migration—that of daily effort and the ability to adapt. With a degree in Sports Science and an acrobat, she arrived in Ireland determined to study English and work at the same time.
Before arriving in Europe, she had already had a previous experience in the United States, which gave her a first taste of life outside Paraguay. Even so, Ireland represented a deeper change and an entirely new routine.
The first months demanded great effort. Handling paperwork, searching for accommodation, starting classes, and finding work were all compounded by a language she did not yet fully command. Over time, English ceased to be an obstacle and became a tool that gave her independence and confidence.
Today, Jessica carries herself with confidence, which represents one of the most important achievements of this chapter. Beyond technical learning, she highlights the self-assurance she has gained and the ability to keep moving forward in new contexts.
For Lucas Grisetti, the migration experience has both bright spots and darker ones. Through his role at APRI, he participates in organizing cultural events and training spaces for the Paraguayan community in Ireland. He has lived in the European country for five years and describes the early days as the most difficult, especially due to the language barrier and the distance from family.