Post by dk on Nov 19, 2006 19:40:59 GMT -5
Interview with Winnie Chow
Bio:
-Teacher K-12 for the last 8 years 3 years in Mount Currie Xit'olacw Community School
-2 years at Queen Margaret's School
-3 years at Glenlyon Norfolk School
-Presently owner and operator of Women Unlimited- Outdoor Adventure Retreats. My company teaches young girls and women how to survive in the outdoors. Also provide a rediscovery program for women to connect with their cultural roots on Vancouver Island.
What have been your experiences with racialization, and more importantly, how have they inspired you to resist and work towards positive change?
Having grown up in Edmonton Alberta in the 70's and 80's being different or racialized was a given as my sister and I were the only 2 Chinese students at our elementary school. When I started working with students as a teacher, I realized how much suffering and injustice they faced as I had faced as a child.
My first teaching position was in Mount Currie at reserve run school and my students and the community taught me so much about their culture and in return I shared my Chinese hertiage with them.
I remember the clear division between the Pemberton School and Mount Currie school and the stereotypes that where thrown around. Then something marvelous happened. I teamed up with the village doctor Hugh Fisher (2 time Olympic kayaker) and started a dragon boat team that would be a joint Pemberton and Mount Currie crew. The first practice was divided but as they toughed out our grueling practices, they all became closer with each practice. They practiced in the freezing winter snow, paddled up river and living in a remote mountain village we had limited resources. So of course there was lots of fundraising.
When it came close to competition, we had to name our team. Hugh and I decided this team is about the kids and what they have gone through as a team, so we gave them the responsiblity to name us! They wanted a name that represented who they were the coming together of two distinct schools and people. One kid from Mount Currie spoke and said "Half Breeds" That is who we are! Hugh and I nearly choked but the kids all shook their heads in agreement. "We are going to take back that name and make it a positive one, we are half white and half Indian and we are proud to paddle together".
When he said that, I realized how empowered they were as a group and that this name really signified the coming together of two groups who at first did not know each other well but have shifted that relationship into a friendship. They used a socially accepted negative term and turn it into a positive inclusive one. This truly was a paradigm shift for me and how I view the word Half Breed. Amazing as the student representives explained the team name to the chief and school adminstrators from Pemberton and Mount Currie, they were in support of our name.
Then the big day came to go down to Vancouver to compete with serious High School teams who have done this for years. Our crew had never paddled in a dragon boat during practices, but in 2 voyager canoes racing each other. We got a lot of publicity for our name but what was more news worthy was the fact that this team from a potato farming community with no ocean or dragon boat to practice in, came first and all their divisions and won the regatta! The Half Breeds inspired me to look at the world and labels differently and strive to shift them from the negative to the positive by reclaiming the words and making it mine.
How has your involvement with this particular project evolved over time?
I worked on the conference as a workshop leader "Identity in the Outdoors". Then I worked on the committee for putting together the proposals for funding and writing up the constitution for our society.
What have you learned about racialized girls in Victoria, and is there a need (yea!) for Victoria to have an organization like Anti-dote? Why?
Leaving in a predominatley white community, there is a dire need for Anti-dote for girls to have a space to vent and have support. As a racialized girl and woman, you always feel different, there is not a space in the community unless it is at home, that one can feel like they fit in. Anti-dote provides that space and arena to talk.
What are some challenges/barriers you have experienced and overcome along the Anti-dote road?
I think the biggest challenge is finding the funding for Anti-dote and letting girls know we are here so come on out!
Is there a one-size-fits-all in relation to how girls and women experience racialization, and if so/not, what are the reasons and how do you see approaching this strategically?
There is no one size fits all in dealing with racialization when working with such a diverse age range. We all have different issues at various ages and to clump them together would be an injustice. There are many strategies we have discussed such as having age specific discussion nights so girls and women and talk about their issues with their peers. There will also be a youth counsel who will discuss issues they want to bring to Antidote the organization. They will be responsible for taking on projects, discussions, trips, organizing workshops, etc. Also we want to organize a Auntie program which will pair up an Auntie with a youth so they could be mentored, go for a coffee, talk on the phone when they need to and just connect. I think this will be our most powerful stratetgy to link our youth to the women and share experiences so we don't feel so alone and then organize to make positive change around those issues.
What are your hopes for the future work of Anti-dote, and how do you envision the community gaining an important sense of belonging throughout this journey?
My hopes for Anti-dote is for us to have a voice in the community. I envision a center or space for the girls and women to come and hang out such as our Auntie Dottie cafe. A center to bring together all ages, races and create a environment of sharing, discovery and reclaiming our identities.
Bio:
-Teacher K-12 for the last 8 years 3 years in Mount Currie Xit'olacw Community School
-2 years at Queen Margaret's School
-3 years at Glenlyon Norfolk School
-Presently owner and operator of Women Unlimited- Outdoor Adventure Retreats. My company teaches young girls and women how to survive in the outdoors. Also provide a rediscovery program for women to connect with their cultural roots on Vancouver Island.
What have been your experiences with racialization, and more importantly, how have they inspired you to resist and work towards positive change?
Having grown up in Edmonton Alberta in the 70's and 80's being different or racialized was a given as my sister and I were the only 2 Chinese students at our elementary school. When I started working with students as a teacher, I realized how much suffering and injustice they faced as I had faced as a child.
My first teaching position was in Mount Currie at reserve run school and my students and the community taught me so much about their culture and in return I shared my Chinese hertiage with them.
I remember the clear division between the Pemberton School and Mount Currie school and the stereotypes that where thrown around. Then something marvelous happened. I teamed up with the village doctor Hugh Fisher (2 time Olympic kayaker) and started a dragon boat team that would be a joint Pemberton and Mount Currie crew. The first practice was divided but as they toughed out our grueling practices, they all became closer with each practice. They practiced in the freezing winter snow, paddled up river and living in a remote mountain village we had limited resources. So of course there was lots of fundraising.
When it came close to competition, we had to name our team. Hugh and I decided this team is about the kids and what they have gone through as a team, so we gave them the responsiblity to name us! They wanted a name that represented who they were the coming together of two distinct schools and people. One kid from Mount Currie spoke and said "Half Breeds" That is who we are! Hugh and I nearly choked but the kids all shook their heads in agreement. "We are going to take back that name and make it a positive one, we are half white and half Indian and we are proud to paddle together".
When he said that, I realized how empowered they were as a group and that this name really signified the coming together of two groups who at first did not know each other well but have shifted that relationship into a friendship. They used a socially accepted negative term and turn it into a positive inclusive one. This truly was a paradigm shift for me and how I view the word Half Breed. Amazing as the student representives explained the team name to the chief and school adminstrators from Pemberton and Mount Currie, they were in support of our name.
Then the big day came to go down to Vancouver to compete with serious High School teams who have done this for years. Our crew had never paddled in a dragon boat during practices, but in 2 voyager canoes racing each other. We got a lot of publicity for our name but what was more news worthy was the fact that this team from a potato farming community with no ocean or dragon boat to practice in, came first and all their divisions and won the regatta! The Half Breeds inspired me to look at the world and labels differently and strive to shift them from the negative to the positive by reclaiming the words and making it mine.
How has your involvement with this particular project evolved over time?
I worked on the conference as a workshop leader "Identity in the Outdoors". Then I worked on the committee for putting together the proposals for funding and writing up the constitution for our society.
What have you learned about racialized girls in Victoria, and is there a need (yea!) for Victoria to have an organization like Anti-dote? Why?
Leaving in a predominatley white community, there is a dire need for Anti-dote for girls to have a space to vent and have support. As a racialized girl and woman, you always feel different, there is not a space in the community unless it is at home, that one can feel like they fit in. Anti-dote provides that space and arena to talk.
What are some challenges/barriers you have experienced and overcome along the Anti-dote road?
I think the biggest challenge is finding the funding for Anti-dote and letting girls know we are here so come on out!
Is there a one-size-fits-all in relation to how girls and women experience racialization, and if so/not, what are the reasons and how do you see approaching this strategically?
There is no one size fits all in dealing with racialization when working with such a diverse age range. We all have different issues at various ages and to clump them together would be an injustice. There are many strategies we have discussed such as having age specific discussion nights so girls and women and talk about their issues with their peers. There will also be a youth counsel who will discuss issues they want to bring to Antidote the organization. They will be responsible for taking on projects, discussions, trips, organizing workshops, etc. Also we want to organize a Auntie program which will pair up an Auntie with a youth so they could be mentored, go for a coffee, talk on the phone when they need to and just connect. I think this will be our most powerful stratetgy to link our youth to the women and share experiences so we don't feel so alone and then organize to make positive change around those issues.
What are your hopes for the future work of Anti-dote, and how do you envision the community gaining an important sense of belonging throughout this journey?
My hopes for Anti-dote is for us to have a voice in the community. I envision a center or space for the girls and women to come and hang out such as our Auntie Dottie cafe. A center to bring together all ages, races and create a environment of sharing, discovery and reclaiming our identities.