Filipino Star News. “Fil-Am kids pour out heartaches at discussion on biracial issues,” 29 March 2016.
Screengrab of the article as it appears on Filipino Star News.
“Fil-Am kids pour out heartaches at discussion on biracial issues”
Month: June 2016
‘Mobile Childhoods in Filipino Transnational Families’
The Enable Kids Project team congratulates Itaru Nagasaka, Ph.D. (one of the team members) and Asuncion Fresnoza-Flot, Ph.D. on their recent co-edited publication titled, “Mobile Childhoods in Filipino Transnational Families,” published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2015.
The book discusses the lived experiences of 1.5-generation Filipino migrants in different countries and takes on topics such as identity construction, family dynamics and challenges and mobile motherhood, among others. The edited volume was launched during the Enable Kids Project conference in Manila on March 30.
For more information about the book, click here.
Book cover: Palgrave Macmillan (provided by Itaru Nagasaka)
Migrant children’s voices in ‘Art as Reality: The Transition of Filipino Migrant Children in the Middle East’
Living abroad has a significant impact on the children of migrants, not just the left-behind, but also those who join their parents in their countries of destination. The voices of migrant children who go through the different phases of adjustment, settlement and integration in countries where their OFW parents are based also need to be heard.
In 2013, the Philippine embassy in Oman published a book titled, “Art as Reality: The Transition of Filipino Migrant Children in the Middle East,” a collection of artistic and literary works by children of OFWs on the challenges and triumphs of migrating to another country. The featured artworks, essays and poems of Filipino migrant children from different countries in the Middle East creatively depicted their experiences and expressed their views of moving to an unfamiliar place, adjusting to a new lifestyle and learning the local culture.
“Art as Reality” was a project spearheaded by Araceli Jimeno, wife of the Philippine ambassador in Oman at the time. “We wanted to understand how they felt. It helps teachers, parents, and other elders understand them better. If you let them write and draw, it’s amazing how much they know and have to express,” Jimeno said, in an interview with the Times of Oman.
Jimeno initially organized a student competition for OFW children in Philippine schools in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in 2012. The call for submissions asked children to describe their experience of transition and adjustment in the new country through painting, drawing and other art forms, and through essays and poetry. The contest received hundreds of entries from Filipino students in Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Close to 600 submissions arrived from 21 schools in the GCC countries. The winning entries selected by the judges gave Jimeno the idea of publishing them into a collected volume. In the end, nearly 60 essays and poems, and 90 paintings and drawings were chosen for the book, Jimeno told Times of Oman.
Staff members of the embassy and volunteers from the Filipino community in Oman helped with the publication. The book was also sponsored by the following agencies: The National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Commission on Filipinos Overseas, AMA Education System, Metrobank Foundation, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Pag-IBIG Fund, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and Philippine Social Security System.
In 2013, the book won “Best Print Award – Book Category” at the at the Migration Advocacy and Media Awards, held at the SSS Magsaysay Hall in Quezon City on December 18, which is also celebrated as International Migrants Day. The awards program was founded in 2011 by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, recognizing outstanding works by the media that have raised public awareness on migration issues in the Philippines and have promoted the rights, welfare and positive representation of Filipinos abroad.
References:
Embassy of the Philippines, Muscat-Oman. (2013). Art as Reality: The Transitions of Filipino Migrant Children in the Middle East. Muscat: The Embassy of the Philippines in Oman / Mazoon Printing, LLC.
“Art as Reality” Facebook Page. https://www.facebook.com/Art-as-Reality-138874842923377/info/?tab=page_info
Times of Oman. (2013). “Filipino expat kids’ art put on display,” 10 June. Retrieved 9 June 2016 from http://timesofoman.com/article/18009/Oman?page=1.
Sabillo, K. A. (2013). “Inquirer.net columnist wins in migration advocacy and media awards.” Inquirer.net, 17 December. Retrieved 9 June 2016 from http://globalnation.inquirer.net/94447/inquirer-net-columnist-wins-in-migration-advocacy-and-media-awards.
Nieva-Nishimori, M. A. (2013). “Book on triumphs of OFW children in M. East honored.” ABSCBNnews.com, 27 December. Retrieved 9 June 2016 from http://news.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/12/27/13/book-triumphs-ofw-children-m-east-honored.
Embassy of the Philippines in Oman. “President Aquino lauds book on Filipino migrant children in the Middle East.” Official Website. Retrieved 9 June 2016 from http://muscatpe.dfa.gov.ph/newsroom/news-and-press-releases/132-president-aquino-lauds-book-on-filipino-migrant-children-in-the-middle-east.
Seoul Exchange Visit (May 15-18, 2016)
The Enable Kids Project is pleased to share photos from a successful exchange visit in Seoul from May 15 to 18, 2016. Many thanks to Dr. Angela Kim for making all the arrangements of the Seoul program and thanks to all partners in Korea for the warm welcome and their cooperation in making the exchange visit a great learning experience.
On May 16 and 17, the project team visited the offices of the Suwon Multicultural Family Support Center and the Danuri Helpline for Women Migrants and Multicultural Families, and met with the heads and staff of each organization for briefings on their programs and services.
Also on May 17, the team presented preliminary findings of the mapping of policies and programs in the three countries at a symposium in Dongguk University, which was attended by faculty and graduate students of the Department of International and Multicultural Studies. The team is grateful to Dr. Eun-Sook Seo, professor at the department and also Director of the Institute for Multicultural Integration for co-organizing this event. During the symposium, graduate students of the department also presented their research findings about multicultural children in Korea.
As a final activity, team members and researchers of the IOM Migration Research and Training Centre (IOM-MRTC) had a research exchange on May 18. The forum, titled “Do Migration and Integration Policies Consider Children? A Mapping of Initiatives in South Korea, Japan and the Philippines,” provided a venue for the project team to share findings from the three countries and for IOM-MRTC researchers to share their research on various aspects concerning children of migrant and multicultural families in Korea. The exchange was followed by insightful discussions. Special thanks to Dr. Seori Choi for organizing the forum.
Photo credit: IOM Migration Research & Training Centre
Photo credit: IOM Migration Research & Training Centre
Photo credit: IOM Migration Research & Training Centre
Photo credit: IOM Migration Research & Training Centre
We will be uploading these photos at the Enable Kids Project website (enablekidsproject.wordpress.com) soon, along with additional content, including specific details about each activity and updated profiles of programs and services.
Enable Kids Project 