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By Sophia A.
"The youth is the hope of our future." - Jose Rizal
At the FCT, new horizons are being reached as the team works to assemble more comprehensive programs targeted at youth. With the easing up of pandemic restrictions, the Centre has been seeing an influx of Filipino Canadian youth interested in serving their cultural community. This youth team, newly named Kabataan Koneksyon, aims to attract more youth to the Centre, and develop programs allowing these youth to better serve the community.
The first initiative our small youth team focused on was simply making the FCT known to youth. On August 5th, the team hosted a Youth Meetup. People ages 15-30 were invited to come and discuss topics ranging from Filipino heritage, to how they wanted to utilize the Centre for youth initiatives.
Delegates from Filipino youth groups in the community, such as Anakbayan Scarborough (@anakbayanscarbs on Instagram) and Kamalayan Konsciousness (@kamalayankonsciousness on Instagram) were invited, and given a space to advertise the work of their organizations. Talks of collaboration with these groups and the FCT also began. All of this was done in a welcoming environment, complete with refreshments, and of course, entertainment. Attendees were treated to a light merienda, got to know each other through ice breakers, and entertained with a wonderful performance from Folklorico Filipino Canada.
There was a clear sense of hope among attendees of this event -- hope for a community catering to the needs of Filipino Canadian youth, and hope for positive change in the FCT. This is just the beginning for Kabataan Koneksyon. As a member of this youth team, I implore you to reach out to any Filipino youth you may know that may be interested in joining our team. All are invited to follow our social medias for more updates, or even reach out directly. All it takes is a bit of initiative -- something I think youth have in leaps and bounds.
Social Media Handles:
Intagram: @filipinocentretoronto
Facebook: @FilipinoCentreTO