A group of Filipino-Canadian youth role models and independent filmmakers led the second part of Daloy-Puso: Flowing from the Heart event held recently in Ike Barber Learning Centre at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in a bid to nurture and strengthen the leadership skills of a growing number of Filipino-Canadian youth in British Columbia.
“Through an exciting series of talks by dynamic youth leaders in the community, theatre and skits, this event aims to inspire our youth for greater recognition, respect, and responsibility for and within our community,” UBC Professor Leonora Angeles said when she welcomed event participants.
The whole-day event entitled Performing Inter-cultural Leadership among Filipino-Canadian Youth in British Columbia kicked off with Pecha Kucha talks by select young Filipino-Canadian leaders. It was followed by the presentation of short documentary films: Standstill by Joella Caballu; Whispers of Life and Reciprocal Response by Joshua Ferguson and Florian Halbedi. A forum theater workshop by UBC alumnus Dennis Gupa and interdisciplinary artist Janice Valdez was also held with participation of Charles Tupper Secondary School students.
A Canadian research on intergenerational social mobility done by Dr. Philip Kelly of York University, show that there is considerable upward mobility among the children of immigrants.
Children of Filipino families, however, veer away from the overall pattern. In summary, “Filipino youth present a double anomaly: they are less likely to hold a degree than either their parents or their peers in other racial groups.”
“I strongly encourage the entire members of Filipino families to participate in activities like this so we can collectively come up with solutions to address issues facing the young generations in the Filipino-Canadian community.” Professor Angeles said.
