Fil-am youth and student organizing
My name is Aidan, and I am a Portland born-and-raised Filipino-American. I am a current senior at Portland State University and this is a portfolio to help display my work in the Winter 2023 Effective Agent Capstone. Shortly, I will introduce the Fil-Am youth and student organizations to which I commit the majority of my time, but when I am not engaged there I enjoy training Muay Thai (Thai Kickboxing), playing guitar, cooking, and spending time in the our beautiful PNW temperate rainforest.
Who do I work with?
I am mainly engaged with two organizations – PSU Kaibigan (where I serve as president) and the Northwest Filipino American Student Alliance (NWFASA) (where I serve as the Secretary of Finance and Fundraising). Both are organizations of Filipino and Filipino-American youth and students advocating for the rights and welfare of our people.
While each organizations takes its own approach to these tasks, each engages in cultural, social, educational, and political activities to unite our community and mobilize them to take action in building our community here and back home. As Filipinos are a highly diasporic people, we recognize the high need to organize our community around issues that (because of our physical dispersion) may seem different, but are actually similar whether you are a Filipino student at PSU, working as a caregiver in Kuwait, or live in the homeland.
I am mainly engaged with two organizations – PSU Kaibigan (where I serve as president) and the Northwest Filipino American Student Alliance (NWFASA) (where I serve as the Secretary of Finance and Fundraising). Both are organizations of Filipino and Filipino-American youth and students advocating for the rights and welfare of our people.
While each organizations takes its own approach to these tasks, each engages in cultural, social, educational, and political activities to unite our community and mobilize them to take action in building our community here and back home. As Filipinos are a highly diasporic people, we recognize the high need to organize our community around issues that (because of our physical dispersion) may seem different, but are actually similar whether you are a Filipino student at PSU, working as a caregiver in Kuwait, or live in the homeland.
Plan of Action
Both organizations take up the view that we must broadly unite our community to achieve victories in our community here and back home. We welcome the initiative and investment of all Filipino youth, whether working, migrant, half-Filipino, recently out of school, still in highschool, etc. Our community is broad.
One particular action we are able to take up is campaigns. Currently, through Kabataan Alliance (the national Filipino youth and student alliance), NWFASA and PSU Kaibigan take up Kapit Bisig Typhoon Relief. This is a fundraising campaign to support our community back home as they face typhoons of increasing intensity every year. The government of the Philippines widely fails to effectively respond to disasters, so it is up to the Filipino community to support ourselves through fundraising and awareness of our needs on the ground. Such a campaign is extremely effective because it is worked on by Filipino youth and student organizations across the nation. Once again, our community is broad.
Unlike other organizations, fundraising does not first pay salaries, upkeep costs, or any such item of any organization, local or national. Rather, every dollar goes straight to the peoples' projects in areas effected by typhoons.
Both organizations take up the view that we must broadly unite our community to achieve victories in our community here and back home. We welcome the initiative and investment of all Filipino youth, whether working, migrant, half-Filipino, recently out of school, still in highschool, etc. Our community is broad.
One particular action we are able to take up is campaigns. Currently, through Kabataan Alliance (the national Filipino youth and student alliance), NWFASA and PSU Kaibigan take up Kapit Bisig Typhoon Relief. This is a fundraising campaign to support our community back home as they face typhoons of increasing intensity every year. The government of the Philippines widely fails to effectively respond to disasters, so it is up to the Filipino community to support ourselves through fundraising and awareness of our needs on the ground. Such a campaign is extremely effective because it is worked on by Filipino youth and student organizations across the nation. Once again, our community is broad.
Unlike other organizations, fundraising does not first pay salaries, upkeep costs, or any such item of any organization, local or national. Rather, every dollar goes straight to the peoples' projects in areas effected by typhoons.
Effect of this Work
Engaging with my community through these organizations have been extremely beneficial to my welfare and sense of self. The central aspect of this is a sense of belonging. By actively engaging in the issues, culture, heritage, and solutions of my community, I better act as a true part. This is a primary issue we want to address in our community, especially that of Filipino Americans – we need first a sense of belonging before we are able to take any sort of meaningful action. Central to the missions of both organizations is simply creating space to belong. I have found this an immensely powerful foundation in my own journey and have seen it act the same to others.
Engaging with my community through these organizations have been extremely beneficial to my welfare and sense of self. The central aspect of this is a sense of belonging. By actively engaging in the issues, culture, heritage, and solutions of my community, I better act as a true part. This is a primary issue we want to address in our community, especially that of Filipino Americans – we need first a sense of belonging before we are able to take any sort of meaningful action. Central to the missions of both organizations is simply creating space to belong. I have found this an immensely powerful foundation in my own journey and have seen it act the same to others.