Growing up in Santa Clarita, Ellie Magsaysay was one of only a few Asian American kids in her neighborhood, and one of only a few Filipino Americans, and she says some people were confused by her background and assumed she wasn’t Asian enough.
It affected her sense of identity and at times hurt her self-esteem, and she wondered why boys weren’t interested in her because she was Filipina or had dark skin.
“I remember having a vivid experience of not being what I was meant to be as an Asian person, or as a white person, or as anything else,” Magsaysay said. “I felt like I didn’t really fit in.”
That’s one of the questions Magsaysay, a freshman, will explore during a peer-to-peer program that raises mental health awareness among Filipino-American youth.
A SIPA facilitator works with Mary Claire de los Reyes, 14, and Tara Ancheta, 15, helping them fill out their “Walang Hiya” (Shameless) workbook.
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Over the course of a few weeks over the summer, a dozen or so people met periodically in Historic Filipinotown in a bright multipurpose room at Search To Involve Pilipino Americans, which developed the program.
Several university student mentors, trained by a community organization, are teaching eight teenage students about the signs of depression and anxiety and how to deal with them through journaling and breathing exercises.
Ethan Mansayac (left), a student at the University of California, Davis, volunteered as a facilitator, working with teen participants like Mary Claire de los Reyes.
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But just as Asian Americans are incredibly diverse, so are the mental health needs of different ethnicities. Facilitators encourage discussion of issues familiar to Filipino immigrants, like discrimination based on skin color and cultural expectations. One exercise asks teens to think up counterarguments to harmful statements like, “The only way you’re going to be successful is to become a nurse.”
The proposed rebuttal? “You can become an actress to be successful.”
“It’s not Filipino enough.”
The show is called “Walang Hiya,” which translates to “Shameless” or “Shameless.”
“What’s interesting is that in Tagalog, the proverb actually has a derogatory connotation,” said Kevin Sandoval Casasola, youth development coordinator for the initiative, which seeks to engage Filipino Americans.
The organization, which offers services such as youth leadership training and after-school programs, created Walang Hiya to help teens who struggle with the stresses of being intercultural. After three years of running and refining the program, the organization hopes to share the curriculum with Filipino American communities outside of Historic Filipinotown.
“We really want to bring back the concept of not being embarrassed about mental health from our experience as Filipinos and Filipino-Americans,” Casasola said.
Ms. Casasola says much of that shame is rooted in the colonial past: Teens are told about Spain’s rule over the Philippines for more than 300 years, followed by nearly 50 years of American occupation, which imposed Western customs and beauty standards and prized speaking English.
Stones engraved with positive words created by participants of the Walang Hiya program.
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When Filipinos immigrated to the United States, many did not teach their children Tagalog, which was Casasola’s experience.
“But if you don’t speak the language, you’re looked down upon a little bit,” Casasola said. “Through this program, as the students spoke to each other, I realized there was something they shared: a feeling of not being Filipino enough.”
Share your space
Casasola said it’s a sentiment he sees often in Los Angeles County. More than 300,000 Filipino AmericansFamilies may be dispersed, and some young people may grow up feeling disconnected from their Filipino traditions.
“Having a space to be with so many other Filipino Americans is something I haven’t had much experience with before,” said Tara Ancheta, one of the teens in attendance.
Ancheta said it was easy to talk about mental health issues with teens from the same background.
“I want to know what people are going through or might be going through and how I can help,” Ancheta said.
Her father, Mark Ancheta, said he and his wife look forward to driving their daughter from their Manhattan Beach home to Los Angeles several times a week for the program, which teaches teenagers about mental health from a cultural perspective.
He wants his daughter to be able to express her feelings clearly and not feel pressured to care about her appearance, as she did growing up in his family.
“They always brag about their successes, but of course they never talk about the struggles,” Mark Ancheta said.
Graduation Day
By the end of their two weeks together, the teenagers, who started out as strangers, now had a shared vocabulary for mental health.
On the final day, after receiving their certificates, each student writes a pledge to read to their family. Ancheta walks up to the front of the classroom and reads the pledge aloud.
At the end of the Walang Hiya program, parents are invited to come back to learn what their children have learned during the two-week course, which aims to increase self-awareness from a social justice perspective.
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LAist
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“I’m amazing,” she said, raising her hands to herself as she received applause.
Ellie Magsaysay made the statement in big, bold pink letters underlined for emphasis. She said she has a deeper understanding of how Philippine history has shaped cultural norms, but it doesn’t define her.
“I wrote that I was smart, strong and beautiful,” said Magsaysay, words she plans to carry with her after she leaves home.
Have a question about the Asian American community in Southern California?
Josie Huang reports on the intersection of Asian and American and the impact of this growing community in Southern California.
