Collection Timeline

2023 to 2024

2023
Jocelle talks to fellow storymaker Kathleen Zaragosa about her experience of homemaking as a second-generation immigrant. She reflects on her connection to the Filipino community within her immediate two-block radius and how her Filipino-identity expanded throughout her adolescence.
Claire talks to Storyteller Josh Rasalan about community work, cultural spaces, and how migration can impact familial relationships. They met through mutual friends in the Filipino-Canadian community and briefly worked together in settlement at Collingwood Neighbourhood House. Josh discusses the importance of community spaces for learning about Filipino culture, but also considers how their understanding of culture and identity started at home, learning about family history and sharing stories with their grandma.
Claire talks to Storyteller Alex Montinola about his relationship to Filipino identity and community growing up. They first met as teenagers at a youth poetry slam and stayed in touch as they moved on to different passions. Now a registered psychiatric nurse, Alex also reflects on his career path and what it was like to be a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jocelle interviews Sammie Jo Rumbaua about her immigration story and how that shaped her early experiences in community building in Vancouver in the 90s. Sammie shares her contributions to the community from mutual aid to Tagalog classes, as well as her motivations for her work.
Interview with Hannah Balba
Interview with Niña Labuguen
Kathleen talks to fellow Storymaker Jocelle Refol about experiences growing up with her large extended family in Greater Vancouver and her journey navigating Filipino identity as a “second-gen.” As friends who met through organizing in Sliced Mango Collective, they reflect on meanings of home as they both experience moving away from Vancouver for the first time and pursue graduate studies in Toronto.

2024
Claire talks to fellow Storymaker Jasper Mallonga about his experience moving from Metro Manila to Winnipeg to Vancouver. (how we met, double check with Jasper). He reflects on the experience of being a first generation immigrant, the feelings that come with migration, and finding community in Canada.
Claire talks to Storytellers Darla Tomeldan and Cecilia Tumolva about growing up in the Philippines, meeting at UP, and their eventual migration to Canada. They discuss the Foreign Domestic Workers Movement, the challenges of being a same-sex couple trying to immigrate together, and how their migration experiences inform their advocacy in the Filipino-Canadian community in Metro Vancouver.
Jasper chats with Stephen Andrada who moved to Canada in 2011 with his wife and two kids. He settled in Burnaby and has a background in human resources and teaching. Stephen is passionate about connecting with newcomers to Canada and providing them with integration support; and shares the challenges he faced in his career transition and adapting and upskilling to find employment aligned with his background.
Jasper and fellow Storymaker Claire Baguio have a conversation about Claire’s experiences and reflections on her cultural identity and sense of home. She discusses her upbringing in East Vancouver, her connections to her Filipino heritage and family in Cebu, and her efforts to find a sense of community and belonging in different places. Claire shares the importance of actively seeking out and creating spaces for oneself
Jasper interviews Maita Santiago and discusses Maita’s experiences in her journey of finding home and identity in Greater Vancouver and her decision to move back to the Philippines and then back to Canada. She shares about her involvement in community organizations and tracing it down to her childhood and parents’ own involvements. It also explores the challenges faced by the Filipino community in terms of representation and cultural recognition, Maita's role as a government official, and importance of the Filipino Cultural Center in providing a sense of belonging and community
Interview with Derick Gonzales
Kathleen talks to Storyteller Jotham Villanueva about his reflections on his mom’s immigration story, comparisons of their upbringings around Saint Patrick’s Parish, and his expanding feelings of home from East Vancouver and beyond. Their paths first crossed as kids at the church’s summer camp, then at a Filipino-run music studio; from music to now photography and videography, their connection endures through a shared love for the arts.
Kathleen talks to Storyteller Grace Escueta about her family’s immigration story to Canada as musicians, growing up Korean-Filipino, and her reflections on Filipino identity as she moved from Surrey to Vancouver after high school. As fellow musicians and music lovers, they met through their involvement in music clubs at UBC.
Interview with Jocelle Refol and Kathleen Zaragosa