I thought I would share the things we are trying to do to help keep Jay-R connected to his culture. I have a Filipino co-worker and there are other Filipino people in my community. Everyone is so busy (us included) that it is hard to get together, though. We have made connections with an exchange student as well. When Jay-R first came home, they conversed in Tagalog. The next time she came over, he understood the Tagalog but answered in English. He did sing with her in Tagalog. She, along with the Exchange student coordinator, will be visiting Jay-R's orphanage this July. We are sending along clothes, toys, and pictures of Jay-R. He also picked out a gift for his best friend along with some toys for the boys in his dormitory. We are hoping there will be an exchange student in our area this next school year and we hope to host a student in a few years.
We are excited for this weekend. We are attending a Filipino cultural day in Kokomo Indiana called Camp Mahubay. It is designed for families who have adopted children from the Philippines. There will be dress, food, dance, and other activities centered on the Philippines. We are also excited about meeting other families who have adopted from the Philippines as we don't know anyone locally. We are also looking forward to watching Jay-R interact with other children from the Philippines.
Since Jay-R is five, he will always have memories of the Philippines. As he gets older, they may be hazy but he will always have some memories of White Cross and the children there. At age five, we're not sure how he views himself. Kids are kids and we think he doesn't view himself any differently than anyone else. We want to create a sense of culture for him that blends with his sense of belonging here.
I will post pictures of our weekend and share our experiences. I'm going to take this week off from blogging. Ashleigh needs some Mommy time so she gets my undivided attention after Jay-R goes to bed. She needs some help on her 4-H projects....I warned her about taking 3 projects!
5 comments:
Hi! Thank you for leaving a comment on our blog and for giving me the link to yours. You have a darling family and I am going to read through many of your archived posts (if that is okay) when I get a chance. We are so excited to have received our referral and hope to travel sooner than later...just trying to be patient. :) Any words of advice when it comes time for us to travel will be greatly appreciated.
I would love to share whatever I can that may be of help to you for traveling. Feel free to read through our blog. I wrote daily while we were in the Philippines. I found my blog connections with others to be so helpful when we traveled...they answered so many questions.
Hello, I really enjoy reading through the blogs of other families who have adopted from the PI. We're hoping we'll hear about our referral soon, but in the meantime, we're just trying to keep ourselves as busy as possible. I'll definitely have to read through your blog to see what to expect while in the PI and once we're home :).
That sounds like a lot of fun, the Filipino cultural day at Camp Mahubay! What a great idea! It will be nice for Jay-R to connect and interact with other kids from the Philippines...and it will be fun for you guys too, to meet other families who've adopted from the Philippines. Enjoy, and take lots of pictures :0)
We were just in Indiana visiting in-laws and were hoping to time the visit with the Kokomo camp. Unfortunately, the scheduling didn't work out. It would have been great to meet you and your family in-person, though. Maybe next time. I'd love to hear how it all goes.
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