Why does Winnipeg need ANAK?

At present, there are over 30,000 Filipinos currently residing in Winnipeg. Filipinos comprise the second largest ethnic group in the city and the largest Filipino per capita community in the country. ¹ Since the 1960s, Winnipeg has become home to many aspiring Filipinos. From politics to the arts to labour, health and education, Filipinos are now flourishing members of Canada’s multicultural mosaic.²  As this young group continues to grow, so too does its need to preserve and maintain its cultural heritage in order to build and maintain positive relationships within and outside the global Filipino community. It is important for all members of this city to recognize the role Filipinos play as Canadians; and for Canadians to be aware of Canada’s deepening link with the Philippines.

According to the National Statistics Office of the Government of the Philippines, over 76 million people currently reside in the country.³ Fragmented geographically, regionalized, and diversified linguistically and spiritually, each Filipino is distinct. As many Filipinos migrate and begin new lives outside of the country, these cultural characteristics and differences remain. In turn, the heterogeneity of Filipino Youth outside of the Philippines deepens as attitudes for and against maintaining a “minority identity” varies.⁴

In Winnipeg, the Filipino community comprises of various regional groups.  Throughout the decades, the community has grown to include a new generation of Filipino-Canadians struggling to re-connect with their distant cultural identity. It is a “transnational struggle” where Filipino youth navigate their way “home” ideologically, culturally, emotionally, and symbolically as both Filipino and Canadian.⁵ This troubled sense of heritage perpetuates generational and cultural gaps. Furthermore, it instills a harmful culture of confusion that further divides families, the community, and multicultural understanding.

ANAK believes that education is the key to easing these familial, generational, and social tensions. At this moment, access to Philippine educational resources and research tools is limited. ANAK seeks to establish and to provide the necessary educational tools to the public (both to Filipinos and non-Filipinos) in order to enhance cultural understanding and harmony.