Turning Pages:
Lost Identity A Book About Culture
Authour's Note Growing up, I never made much of an effort to become more culturally connected to my Filipino heritage. Since I was born and raised in Canada, I wasn't familiar with the routines and languages of a traditional Filipino household. Whenever I was given the opportunity as a child to learn more about my culture, I would often choose not to. Throughout my life, I remained oblivious to the Filipino heritage I came from. A big reason as to why I was so reluctant to learn about my culture was that I didn't think people would accept it. Being one of the few Filipino students at my school, it was hard to willingly tell people about my heritage. As a child, I did explain my culture to classmates a few times, but usually, their responses were "I've never heard of that before!" or "What is that?" These comments may sound fairly harmless, but they still impacted me because they made me feel even more unwilling to make an effort to explain myself. After analyzing these patterns within my journey, which I'm still working on to this day, I was enthusiastic about writing a story to emphasize why our cultures are valid and deserve to be celebrated! Children of various cultures shouldn't have to feel burdened to be unique in a world where diversity is so meaningful. To whoever is reading this, you deserve to unapologetically embrace who you are without judgment or fear. Treat everyone's differences as you want yours to be treated, that way; you contribute to building an inclusive community. It is a difficult journey to face, but if you have supportive people beside you, the journey will be worth taking. -Tayla Barbosa
[Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and events are used fictitiously.]
Dedication
Dedicated to every child of colour and immigrant who has ever doubted their worth. Your culture is beautiful.
[Please recognize that this book explores topics not commonly taught in schools.]
Cece and her Dad are hosting a potluck for their family friends. She helps out by setting up the table while her Dad is cooking sinigang, a Filipino stew dish.
"Cece, aren't you excited for the potluck? You’ll get to try lots of delicious foods from different cultures! Your auntie is bringing paella, and my friend, Henry, is cooking a Korean dish called bibimbap." Cece's Dad exclaims. "There will be lots of great stories that you’ll hear, and you're going to be sharing your own stories too, right?" he asks.
Cece doesn’t respond. She proceeds to fiddle with the utensils. "Cece, did you hear what I asked you?" her Dad says. "Yeah," Cece nods glumly. "So…?" her Dad pushes. She lets out a sigh, "Sure, I'm excited."
"Cece, are you sure you're excited?" Her Dad furrows his brow. "I already said I am!" Cece snaps back. "Why do you have to ask twice?" She rushes upstairs to her room and slams the door. “Cece, don't be disrespectful!” her Dad scolds.
He pauses for a moment thinking, "why is she acting like this? Shouldn't a potluck be exciting?"
Setting aside his stew, Cece's Dad walks up the stairs and knocks on her door. "Our guests will be arriving any moment. Can you please tell me what's going on?"
Cece slowly opens the door with teary eyes. "Come here, Cece," her Dad says soothingly. He holds out his arms for a hug.
"Dad, earlier you told me to share my stories, but there's nothing special about them!"
"Didn't you spend all night preparing them?" her Dad asks.
"I did, but I don't want to tell my stories to anyone," Cece replies.
"But don't you want to share your culture with everyone else?"
"No, I don't want people to hear stories about a part of myself that I don’t even like!" she sniffs.
"Why don't you like that part of yourself?" he questions.
"Because it makes me feel different, and I don't like feeling different!" she cries.
"Cece, there's nothing wrong with being different.
Sometimes, we try to change ourselves around other people so we can fit in. But the world is very diverse, so the best way to fit in is to be yourself," Cece's Dad explains to her.
"Why is being myself better than being like everyone else?" Cece asks.
"Well, just imagine how boring it would be if we were all the same!”
He sits down next to her, "A potluck isn't a potluck if everyone there shares the same food right? It's the same thing with our world, Cece, we all bring our own unique cultures to the table."
"But what if people don’t like our culture, or think it's funny?" Cece asks.
"We shouldn't be laughing at anyone for their culture. Instead, we should learn to respect each other's cultures. With diversity comes differences, and that's what makes each of our cultures so beautiful," her Dad explains.
"I hope that after our potluck, you will be encouraged to embrace who you are. Always remember, if you're willing to accept everyone’s differences, there will be people who will accept yours too," Cece's Dad adds.
Cece's Dad wipes the tears off her face and she looks at him with a bright smile.
"Thank you, Dad," Cece says with a grin.
"No problem, Anak. Now, you're going to be doing lots of storytelling today, right?" he teases.
"You bet, Dad!"
Acknowledgements As a team based in Richmond, BC, we would like to acknowledge that we work on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Musqueam, Stó:lō (Staw-low), Stz'uminus (Sha-Main-Us), Kwantlen, and Tsawwassen peoples. We would like to thank our team members for continuing to be such amazing leaders who stayed dedicated to our organization and cause, regardless of how difficult this past year has been. You have been an anchor for this organization. A big thank you to Andrea Lam, Minaho Chiew, and Dominique Bautista for providing feedback and reviewing this book. Our appreciation also goes out to our mentor, Danae Tracey, for guiding us and helping us build our organization. Thank you to TakingITGlobal, the Government of Canada, and the Canada Service Corps for generously supporting our project! Learn more about the RisingYouth grants and apply for your own youth-led project at www.risingyouth.ca! Glossary
Helping Hands Team
Anak: means ‘child’ in Tagalog.
Presidents: Mary Ortega, Asra Fatima
Bibimbap: Korean dish with rice, beef, vegetables, and chili paste.
Marketing: Samantha Santos, Kennice Wong, Elizabeth Nomellini
Culture: the traditions, languages, ideas, art, and religion of different groups of people. These things can pass on to the future generations of these groups.
External Communications Director: Mikaela Jurado
Diverse: the differences between one another; race, culture, age, religion, etc. Paella: a Spanish rice dish, typically with meat, fish, seafood, and vegetables Potluck: a meal/party where people bring food to share. Sinigang: Filipino stew dish.
Financial Director: Sarassa Katayama Editors: Syndio Chun, Silvia Li
Cece and her Dad are hosting a potluck where people from many different cultures will attend. However, Cece seems uncomfortable with sharing her own culture. Lost Identity is the second book of Helping Hands' Turning Pages series. We hope, as a team of many different types of people from different cultures and backgrounds, that this book brings comfort to those who feel disconnected from their culture.
Who Are We?
Helping Hands is a youth-led charitable organization based in Richmond, BC. Our mission is to provide youth with the proper knowledge and resources on social and humanitarian issues. By empowering fellow youth through our local and global service projects, we strive to encourage them to make positive changes in their communities.
Scan this QR code to find resources about culture harmony, our team, and future initiatives.