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Dear Readers, As our Kerrisdale Community Centre Society’s AGM is fast approaching (Wednesday February 15th, 7:30pm), I reflect on the vales of community. What is community? –  That is a complex question.  What motivates us to seek ‘community’ as a means of achieving what we want for ourselves and our family? And what shapes our choices about which communities we belong to? Locality? Familiarity? Convenience? Ancestry? or anything else? — What makes a life ‘liveable’? As part of my non-profit work at Vancouver Arts Colloquium Society, I’ve been involved working with various “communities” to organize numerous community gatherings and create processes that are engaging, inspiring and inclusive. More and more, however, the creation of “community” has become an end in itself, as we come to learn from our experiences that the community is a vital aspect of a person’s ever-evolving sense of self and a source of creativity.  We continue to engage in community-participately practices and public discussions of how our identity is formed and its relation to perceived community on a deep level.  There are a few noteworthy new initiatives in Kerrisdale that create the conditions for effective community development by helping the smaller groups to form and to connect their goals with the broader, overarching alliance. One is KCCS’s Community Engagement new initiative, English-Mandarian Language Exchange Meetup. The other is Vancouver Arts Colloquium Society’s Come To My Yard, a permaculture garden project in the heart of Kerrisdale funded by the City of Vancouver. Be curious, come together, help others, and be a part of a strong community!  Keiko Honda Editor-in-Chief Chair, Community Engagement...

By Tatiana Zamorano-Henriquez* Photos by Syed Mustafa* My background is Chilean-Canadian and having a Chilean family the values and morals that many Chileans have are profoundly rooted in family, social interactions and relationships. In the older generations of Chilean culture the collective and community was what bonded people together and was always cherished over individualist aspects of life and over the work life. An example of this in Chile that still occurs is the entire city shuts down for dinnertime. The workplaces close and people are given an hour to two hours to go home and sit down with family friends and coworkers and are encouraged to socialize over a meal. This system in Chile is a structure that promotes and inspires social interactions and forging social ties to fortify the sense of community, and although Chile’s structure has evolved and has been influenced by consumerist and individualist ideals from North America it still holds true to this system where social interactions and community is of central importance and as a result, sense of belonging and community has not dissipated in Chile and these principles can be found across the country. Thus, these ideals that made these interactions and community priority were always a part of my life. When I was young my days were filled with love, laughter, stories and endless conversations, these days were the happiest days of my life. Growing up I was encompassed by my family, we lived in East Vancouver on Venables Street in a vintage white house bordered with a light blue trim. I remember it as if it was only yesterday, walking up the blue steps of the house I opened the giant wooden door to my grandparents house, I remember my heart was always filled with happiness...

By Liam McLean* Photos by Syed Mustafa* Arriving in Vancouver from Hong Kong in 1980, Kevin Wong understands the difficulty of learning a new language in a foreign place. As we sit in the Kerrisdale Community Centre, his hand holding a book that will foreshadow the content of our conversation, he tells me about his first encounters with the English language in Hong Kong and in Vancouver. “When we were in Hong Kong we had English classes, but they are just basically grammar,” said Kevin, “Because every day we just spoke the Chinese [Cantonese]. We seldom used English in writing, speaking. So, basically when we came over here […] it was quite difficult to communicate.” After arriving in Canada, Kevin first attended Langara where his struggles with English continued, failing his first two attempts at a required first-year English course offered by the English as a Second Language (E.S.L) program. For Kevin, those early days of learning a new language were made more difficult since “everyday you have to encounter people [who speak English] and some people they talk really fast and don’t have the patience to say it again. Then you just have to guess what they’re talking about and half of the time you guess wrong.” With his sights set on attending Simon Fraser University, it was vital for him to understand English well enough to acquire the necessary transfer credits from Langara and to communicate in daily Vancouver life.          Kevin’s struggles diminished during his third attempt at the English program when he received the proper aid to accommodate his learning style. “The turning point was the teacher,” Kevin said, looking back at that third class, “She actually taught me the basics of grammar and she had the...

By Jamie Zabel* Walking into the Musical Voice Lab for the first time is an intimidating experience. As a newcomer to the program, this is certainly what I felt at first. However, the actual experience, while it may press your boundaries, is nothing but uplifting. Sitting around the circle of participants and hearing the chatter of people around you, you can tell that friends have been made and that trust has been built. This is inevitably the result of the Musical Voice Lab’s fantastically warm and bubbly facilitator, Jane Perrett. Her open and inviting presence, as well as her willingness to help with even the simplest questions about voice, breaks down any walls that people might have coming into the program.  The Musical Voice Lab is a Skill Share project run by the Vancouver Arts Colloquium Society (VACS) that aims to help people discover and develop their voices. As of now, participants meet once a month to learn songs from a variety of genres as well as vocal techniques. Jane is a Dramatic Coloratura Soprano, meaning that she can hit the high notes with ease while also having a rich darkness to her tone. Performing has been a passion of Jane’s for most of her life, starting as early as high school where she would treat her classmates to performances of ABBA’s “I Dreamed a Dream,” and other popular songs. She would always be the first to volunteer whenever there was an opportunity to sing. While her first love is singing for people, Jane “always knew in the back of [her] mind that [she] wanted to teach.” When Keiko Honda, the president of VACS, approached her about running the Musical Voice Lab, she was hesitant but allowed the courage gained from her passion for...

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Dear Readers, Thanksgiving is upon the U.S.  As being an American living abroad for a while now, I still consider this day as my most favourite holiday. I fondly remember how we all suddenly tuned out from our crazy busy hustle-bustle for a moment and came together to listen and reflect what we were truly thankful for. In this last issue of 2016, I am reminded of how we all came from somewhere else, some earlier and some later, and strive to live in a world that shares our values – that’s Art, I think. In this issue, you will learn the best of the human spirits and practices of all different cultures including German, Japanese, Chinese, Canadian, and Kadazandusun, an ethnic group indigenous to Kota Kinabalu in the Malaysian state of Sabah! The power of art is that it asks us to reflect on other people’s creative choices. So, enjoy reading. Lastly, I am delighted to share some wonderful new collaborative spirit for Musqueam youth – Beyond Music Initiative, as some of you may know. On behalf of the entire team, I thank you for being a part of our journey and welcome everyone to join. For those who missed the Opening Ceremony at Musqueam Cultural Centre by any chance, here is the complete recap.  Enjoy!  Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays! Cheers, Keiko Honda Editor-in-Chief Community Engagement...

  By Susan Tsang Photo courtesy of Judith Lam  I caught a glimpse of being a woman nearly sixty years old as merely the beginning; the beginning of making her dreams come true. Judith Lam and Yoko Ogawa, who both looked much younger than their actual age, were noticeably two different styles of personality. Judith was an assertive speaker while Yoko had a gentle persona. However, both were smiling cordially, open to have a discourse about their upcoming collaboration focusing on transforming Japanese kimonos into modern fashion, while letting me to have a glimpse into their friendship and who they are. I was immediately intrigued when Judith and Yoko said they were excited to dive into the project without concerning whether or not their creations will be completed like they had envisioned. Judith explained, “It’s more that when we get older, the more we catch every moment,” so the two inventive women had no time to be tied down by clients or deadlines, worries or uncertainties; they simply act and live the most fulfilling way at the moment. Judith and Yoko are two long-time friends who met in the seventies in Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo. After graduation, they had begun different expeditions in the fashion industry, all the while, harboured the same passion. Judith established her design company in Hong Kong by catering to the Japanese market. Yoko worked in a team that specialized formal attires at an extensive Japanese company. The pair had sprouted from the same seed of dream and grown into separate branches, but their love for creating fashion was of the same root—both Judith and Yoko had loved drawings and sewings since young. Judith said, “I still vividly remember when I was young, like Grade three or four, I...

By Chloë Lai Photo courtesy of  Chloë Lai As I followed Keiko and the volunteers into the Beyond Music meeting space at the Musqueam Cultural Centre, I was greeted by the sound of lively chatter and haphazard violin-string plucking. Then one of the students spotted me and said, “Who’s that?” Good question.  It was something I’d spent the past two months (or the past 15 years, if I’m being completely honest) trying to find the answer to. I was fresh from a research trip to Borneo, where I had reached out to my paternal grandmother’s side of the family. She is Kadazandusun, an ethnic group indigenous to Kota Kinabalu in the Malaysian state of Sabah. My father and I drove all over her hometown of Penampang interviewing as many elders as we could find. We learned about cultural taboos, rituals surrounding birth, marriage and death, and hilarious flirtation techniques that involved licking fruit sap from someone’s neck.  Several of the elders we spoke with were related to us by blood or marriage, others were introduced to us by friends. More than half of them had never seen or heard of us. Regardless of whether they knew us or not, our shared ancestral connection meant that we were welcomed with open hearts at every turn.  As someone who’s spent over a decade in a city known for being aloof, I was overwhelmed at this reception. I was determined to find ways to keep that spirit of connection alive once I came back to Vancouver.  The Beyond Music students told me that their favourite thing about the program so far was learning to play the violin. One of the students even held her violin case in her arms throughout the entire session. Since music is one...

By Lara-Sophie Boleslawsky Photo courtesy of Dundarave Olive Company Our dining room table has become a ‘lay-away’ zone. One of those places where you temporarily “lay-away” something that you will probably use later, but you don’t exactly know when. Amidst school notices, calendars, pens strewn here and there, and advertisements, declaring in bold yellows and reds the “Super Saver” markdowns in our local retailers. Pushing aside the impending avalanche of stuff, my mother and I settle down for what I would term the most nerve-wracking interview in my life. I relish getting to spend time with my mother, we rarely sit and talk anymore; most days are spent in a flurry of school lunches, book-keeping, business management on her end and endless papers, midterms, and extracurriculars on mine. Yes, we live in the same house, but some days it certainly doesn’t feel like it.  Interviewing has always been for me an intimate affair, a brief encounter through which I must pull from the subject an array of emotions and inspirations that are often lodged deep inside. But time and time again the result is profoundly rewarding, this interview with my mother incredibly so.  Growing up, I had the amazing opportunity to be immersed in the everyday practices of the food industry. My parents were self-employed bakers and my earliest memories included devouring excess cookie dough, icing and freshly baked buns. As joint owners of Dundarave Bakery in West Vancouver,  every morning, my father would wake up at 3am to begin mixing, rolling and kneading the dough, with my mother often joining at 5 or 6am to begin with the daily pastry prep. I would often join them, walking around, putting my grubby hands in places I definitely was not supposed to, if only to get a...

Involvement, engagement, collaboration, and leadership, these are the terms that describe Barb, a director of the Kerrisdale Community Centre Society.  She is a retired educator and during her 32 year career in Vancouver, she taught primary and intermediate students and coached youth in volleyball, badminton, softball, track and field, also Odyssey of the Mind teams (provincial winner). Barb currently serves as a Director on the Board of the BC Retired Teachers Association, chair of the BCRTA Heritage Committee, member of the Finance Committee and has served on the Membership committee and Health and Housing committees. She is a BCRTA delegate to BC Teachers Federation AGM, and represents them on the Board of BC FORUM (Federation of Retired Union Members). She is past president of the Vancouver branch of the BC Retired Teachers Association. Through COSCO (Council of Senior Citizens Organization of BC) Barb serves as General Vice-President and Housing Committee Chair and Strategic Planning committee member.  Barb is a facilitator for the COSCO Wellness Institute and regularly presents workshops on health issues to seniors groups in the Lower Mainland. She contributes articles to: Postscript, COSCO News, NPF newsletter and Vancouver Tabloid. Barb served on the planning committee for the recent COSCO 2016 conference, held in September, 2016. At the NPF (National Pensioners Federation) AGM in September, 2016 she presented an ‘Action Plan for Housing’ as chair of the Housing committee.  This followed the national ‘Housing Policy’ paper which she prepared, and was adopted at the NPF convention last year in Ottawa. Barb also served on the action committee for Canada ‘Healthcare Declaration’ which is endorsed by groups across Canada. Locally she is on the Board of the Metro Vancouver Cross Cultural Senior Network and has served as their secretary. This group won the SFU...

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Dear Readers, The idea of combining two or more disciplines, approaches, groups of people, or skills is not new. And yet, few of us have gone so far as to ask: “What happens when such skills and people from different disciplines are brought together in a synthesis?” I am excited to share the news about the Opening Reception of Beyond Music on Tuesday Oct 11th, 2016 at Musqueam Cultural Centre. This is a new community collaboration initiative for Musqueam Youth where music, poetry, and community engagement merge into a larger themes. It’s about celebrating abundance; it’s not about providing extracurricular activities; it’s about creating a life of possibility. Go check it out here! Speaking of sharing abundance, our beloved board member, Dr. Alex Cherkezoff, will be giving his talk, “How to live and survive well into your octogenarian years and beyond” on October 26.  What not possible?! Free and Open to the Public. Come join us! Thanksgiving is upon us! Happy Thanksgiving to All! Blessings, Keiko Honda Community Engagement Chair Kerrisdale Community Centre...