By the end of this week, students across Niverville High School (NHS) will be a little more schooled in what it means to be of Asian descent. This is thanks to students like Naomi Sarmiento, a Grade 11 student of Filipino background.
Sarmiento is joined by two other students, Eddy Paez and Ruolin Zhang, to bring three days of Asian Heritage events to NHS for the second year running.
“The idea is to essentially reignite the interest in our culture, especially in this community,” Sarmiento says. “I want to use this event to push us forward and to accept the facts [of our heritage].”
May is recognized as Asian Heritage Month across the country. NHS’s events will run from May 14–16 and provide students with three days of activities to celebrate the culture.
On day one, Paez and Zhang will provide some background on celebrations and traditions inherent to their respective Filipino and Chinese backgrounds.
Zhang will address the importance of the lunar new year in many Asian traditions.
Paez’s focus will be on traditional celebrations like the debut, an event which recognizes a young lady’s transition from childhood to adulthood. This coming-of-age celebration is similar in many ways to the Spanish quinceañera and involves ball gowns, cultural food, and a formal dance with the special males in her life.
“Asians in general like to celebrate [life events] surrounding growth and just moving from one stage to another,” Sarmiento says.
Other traditional celebrations include Fatima, a celebration of the Mother Mary, and of course getting a jumpstart on Christmas.
“Christmas is a huge thing in the Philippines,” Sarmiento says. “It starts in September. We have Christmas trees and everything up [months before December].”
Day two will include a visit by Marie Mallari of Sugar Blooms and Cakes, a Filipino-based bakery in Winnipeg. Mallari works alongside her mother, Genevieve Melegrito. The two have become famous for their win in season three of The Big Bake Holiday on The Food Network.
During this session, students will have the hands-on opportunity to decorate cakes while learning about how Mallari and her mother integrate their culture right into their business.
On day three, the event will get political. Sarmiento was excited to receive confirmation that some of Manitoba’s elected officials of Asian descent will attend the school to take part in a panel discussion on the importance of recognizing and celebrating cultural differences.
Paez will moderate the panel, consisting of MLA Jennifer Chen, MLA Jelynn Dela Cruz, and Minister of Labour and Immigration Malaya Marcelino.
“One of the reasons why I wanted to invite MLA Jennifer Chen was because she started the Asian Heritage Month [Act], which is amazing,” Sarmiento says. “She is so active in the community and such an inspiration.”
This panel will be followed by a potluck where every school attendee can celebrate their own culture by bringing a dish that is indicative of their particular background.
Sarmiento’s pursuit to bring Asian awareness to her school began with her involvement in NHS’s Student Action Group. Teacher Tony Clark oversees this extracurricular class.
“Student Action Group is an initiative where, if you’re interested in something, you take it on yourself,” Sarmiento says. “No teachers are involved.”
For Sarmiento, taking the opportunity to teach people about her culture felt like an effective way to bridge the divide between herself and others of different descent.
When she first moved to Niverville a couple of years back, Sarmiento says there were few Asian students attending NHS and the cultural divide felt palpable. It wasn’t outright racism she experienced, she says, but simply comments made out of ignorance.
“When immigrants move from one country to another, they tend to shy away from their own culture because they’re ashamed or don’t want to deal with [questions about their differences].”
For these reasons, she believes that fun and interesting events like this one provide opportunities for awareness and help to restore pride and end racism.