by Arianne Solis

The moment I set foot at the University of Manitoba, one of the things that I looked for is an organization for and managed by Filipino students. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that it was disassembled a couple of years ago.

My second year at the university quickly passed by and around this time I asked myself why isn’t there an existing organization for Filipino students. It’s a big puzzle for me because the student population at the university is just a microcosm of Canada’s multiculturalism, and there are a lot of Filipinos living here in the city. There are student groups for Chinese, Indians, Japanese and Koreans, but how come there’s no group to represent the Filipino students and to promote the Filipino culture in campus?

While I wasn’t able to get all the answers to my questions, I managed to do something about this situation when I finally reached my third year. Around this time, I was able to find fellow Filipino students who have the same sentiments as I do; they were also looking for a group which will give voice to the Filipino students studying at the University. Then UM-Sigaw was established.

We decided to call the organization “Sigaw” because we all know that “Sigaw”, our group, has to give voice to the Filipino students at the University of Manitoba. We also aim to bind Filipino students, whether they just moved here or were born here in Winnipeg, because we believe that having a Canadian upbringing or permanently living in this city is not a reason to ignore a certain part of our being: being a Filipino.

Of course, establishing an organization is not a walk in the park. As students, we are all busy juggling a lot of activities. Time and effort are the things that we need the most in order to sustain this group. But with the way things are going, activities and increasing number of members, among others, I believe that UM-Sigaw is on the right track.

A lot of immigrants who arrived in Winnipeg have kids in the family. If these young people will lose interest in maintaining the Filipino culture and tradition that they (or their family) grew up on, how are they going to share this knowledge to other people? Also, the university is a huge institution. How will our fellow Filipino students be able to receive peer support if we are scattered all over the place?

Despite of these disappointing situations, I am thinking that these things are merely obstacles, hence, should not be a letdown for me, and for the rest of the group. As long as there are young Filipinos (and non-Filipinos too) who are ready to go way beyond what they are expected to, as long as they are committed to keep the organization alive, to help the Filipino community here in Winnipeg, then it is just appropriate for the organization to exist and to continue making projects and other activities. With this, UM-Sigaw will remain and will continue to represent and to assert the voice of the Filipino students at the University of Manitoba.

Arianne Solis is an incoming senior university student at the University of Manitoba, taking up Psychology and Asian Studies. She is the current president of the U of M Filipino student group, UM-Sigaw. You can visit the org’s website at http://umsigaw.derpinsel.com.