Bridging Ethnic Divides through Stories -- and Recipes
By Patrick T. Reardon
Published: August 23, 2010
It's hard to create a sense of community when people don't know each other. And especially difficult in a place like San Diego’s Colina Park neighborhood, where residents speak more than three dozen languages.
But as part of the Neighborhoods First Initiative, students from Crawford High School took to the streets last year and began interviewing activists, counselors, group founders, teachers and other community leaders.
The goal, according to Beryl Forman of the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association, who oversaw the project, was "to bridge the ethnic divides, develop neighborhood pride and foster community."
The result: Short profiles of 19 activists and leaders covering a broad spectrum of the neighborhood's many cultures and people.
These were posted at a student-created website and published in a 24-page booklet: "Stories of Colina Park." Four hundred were printed, and Forman said they were so popular that "there aren't a lot left."
Forman said, "It was great to offer the students the opportunity to interview people outside of the school. I didn't have that, growing up – the chance to work on a project relating to the community and bridging the divides between people."
A companion project gathered recipes from neighborhood residents and posted them at http://www.storiesofcolinapark.org/taste/
As the excerpts below illustrate, the stories are both idiosyncratic and universal. Most neighborhood people have come from somewhere else – some from nations on other continents, some from cities elsewhere in the U.S. For all their differences, they have that in common.
That, and a love of food.
This year, another set of students has collected recipes from parents and local restaurants, and the result is a cookbook of ethnic meals, "Taste of Colina Park," available online and in a 43-page booklet that can be purchased for $7.50.
While last year's efforts gave the students a new appreciation of neighborhood leadership, "the kids are finding a new interest in their parents this year," said Forman.
Some excerpts from "Stories of Colina Park":
Frank Vuong, a leader in the Vietnamese American Youth Alliance: "He spent the majority of his time [as a teen] playing video games. In 2002, Vuong took a Vietnamese language class to gain more knowledge about his culture but discovered that the class was going to be cut. To save and fight for the class, he formed a group of people to serve the community called VSA, the Vietnamese Student Association."
Virginia Angeles, founder of Projecto de Casas Saludables, a housing advocacy and education group: "She first became involved with her son's school. She noticed that the young were being influenced by gangs and forgetting about the native culture....Being involved and helping out those who were in serious need helped her overcome her state of depression."
James Quistorff, a volunteer with the Talmadge Patrol, a Neighborhood Watch organization: "While growing up, James Quistorff lived with an enormous family that consisted of six sisters and three brothers. In 1981, the family moved to San Diego. Quistorff believes his diverse neighborhood widened his horizons and taught him a lot."
Mina Nguyen, a student at San Diego State University who was assisted by the Step Up Program, aimed at helping low-income children do better in school: "Her mother is a refugee from Vietnam...'When I was little, it was hard because a lot of the pressure was on me because I had to learn English, and I had to learn it quickly,' she stated, 'because when we went to apply for stuff, I was the one who had to fill out all the paperwork for my mother."
Mahsla Farah of the Tariq Khamisa Foundation, a group aimed at quelling youth violence: "Mahsla Farah is a young adult who was born in Somalia and came to the United States eight years ago as an immigrant...He knows how kids think and react because he's been through some of the same things."
Debra Brown, a counselor at the college prep School of Law & Business: "As a Chicago native, she comes from a city with many malls and museums, but still suffers from deep racial divides. After she moved to San Diego, Brown was really surprised to find that everyone in San Diego got along really well."
Diego Gutierrez, principal of the Multimedia and Visual Arts School: "As an immigrant from Colombia, Diego Gutierrez and his wife traveled to San Diego 27 years ago hoping to find bigger and better opportunities. But all they received was a difficult life style...Diego Gutierrez attended school and...accomplished his goal by obtaining his degree as an educator."
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