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ANAK: year four for you
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As we enter into our fifth year as your ANAK, we continue to learn and grow as we maintain our service to our community. It is important for us to look back at what we have accomplished as we approach the coming year. It has been a monumental year indeed and here is just a snapshot of some of our major events this past year.
After devastation struck the Philippines in late September 2009, our community came together in numerous efforts to support our fellow kababayan back home. ANAK, in collaboration with the University of Winnipeg Filipino Students’ Association (UWFSA), raised over one thousand dollars through After the Rain: A Benefit Concert for the Victims of Typhoon Ondoy. One hundred percent of the funds raised were donated to the Canadian Red Cross and their relief efforts in the Philippines.
We were grateful to the Daniel McIntyre St. Matthews Community Association for their continued support of ANAK’s Kapatid In-School Mentorship Program and Bahay Kubo Initiative. These after-school programs at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute (DMCI) and Wellington Elementary School bridge newcomers and Canadian-born Filipino youth in friendship through mentorship and reciprocal learning. In February many mentors and kapatids enjoyed their winter firsts, skating and tobogganing in the Winter Park at the Forks. The program wrapped up for this school year with a barbeque picnic at Assiniboine Park.
In July, ANAK invited over a dozen Filipino-Canadian students to take part in the Faculty of Medicine UM Biomedical Summer Camp for inner-city children.
In June we celebrated the opening of the From Manila to Manitoba Filipino-Canadian Oral History Exhibit at the Manitoba Museum. It took two years of research and design into the exploration of our story for this first-ever exhibit on the Filipino-Canadian community in Winnipeg. Through the captured oral histories, the exhibit brings us together with an understanding of our underlying commonality. This exhibit will run until September 26th.
For its fourth consecutive year, the ANAK Liwayway Scholarship for Leadership Excellence was awarded to recent high school graduates. This year’s recipients Marielle Gallajones (Churchill High School) and Ryan Carlo Amurao (Sisler High School) were awarded full tuition to the Philippine Studies Summer Institute at the University of Winnipeg in August. Both took part in a citywide competition that included both an extensive essay and interview. Their essays will be featured in the upcoming issues of Pilipino Express. Julian Arcega (DMCI) was also awarded the ANAK Liwayway Citizenship Book Award for his active volunteerism in our mentorship programs and for his academic studies. Congratulations!
I would like to also take this opportunity to give huge thanks to our volunteers and supporters, especially our friends at Pilipino Express! There’s only more to look forward to from your ANAK!
[Editor’s note: More power to all the members and leaders of ANAK!]
Daisydee Bautista is the Director of ANAK.
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Visit ANAK online at www. anak.ca.
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