The US Department of State estimates that there are approximately four million Filipino-Americans in the United States today. This means that there are also almost four million unique stories waiting to be told.
Two Filipina writers early this year stepped up to tell these stories.
Jenjen Dompor Furer wrote about what her family went through in order to achieve that elusive American dream. Reni Roxas made a clarion call online and asked overseas Filipinos to write about their own stories of struggles and triumphs away from the land we call home.
As publisher and editor-in-chief of Tahanan Books, a Manila-based publishing house celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Roxas is the woman behind the book Hanggang sa Muli: Homecoming Stories for the Filipino Soul.
“I had this idea to solicit a collection of writings from Filipinos using the interlocking themes of homecoming and home-leaving. I put out a call for writers. It was like casting a net on the online universe; I had no idea what I’d catch. When I had enough for an anthology, the greatest challenge was finishing it,” Roxas said.
Hanggang sa Muli: Homecoming Stories for the Filipino Soul
Her finished product was a rich collection of poignant stories, short memoirs, essays and poetry – some funny, some heart-warming and wistful. The writers’ collective reminiscences of life in the Philippines as they knew it was like a bowl of piping hot sinigang on a cold, wintry night.
“I believe Hanggang sa Muli strikes deep into the Filipino-American psyche. It’s nostalgic, it’s sentimental, sometimes haunting, and, in the end, memorable because it’s about our struggle to reconcile two worlds-and find our true place,” Chiqui Weir said as she introduced Reni at the book’s launch in Seattle. “I know how that is. I’ve lived much of my life in this country-and I still commute emotionally between Seattle and Manila, sometimes on a daily basis. Believe me, I’ve earned thousands of frequent flyer miles traveling that way.”
Reni says she didn’t set out to be a writer or publisher, although she studied broadcast communication at the University of the Philippines and graduated in 1982. She was immediately offered a job at GMA (Channel 7 News) but she told the executive producer at the time, Tony Seva, that she wanted to pursue her master’s degree first, and then she would return to PH to work.
Mr. Seva looked at her rather sadly and said, “No, you won’t. You’re not coming back.”
“He turned out to be right; I never came back to be a broadcaster. But the yearning to come home soon got the better of me,” Roxas shared.
After completing a master’s degree in telecommunications at Syracuse University, she won an internship to CBS News in New York.
“It was all very glamorous, exciting…and terribly cut-throat. At age 23, I discovered that broadcast news was not for me. I switched to the next best thing, which for me was children’s books. I spent the next seven years working for a number of publishing houses in New York. I learned what I could as fast as I could, because in the back of my mind I dreamed of starting a publishing company in my own country someday,” Roxas said.
Reni began to realize that dream when she decided to return to the Philippines after spending nine years in America to start up Tahanan Books. She has remained in Manila for 17 years, and raised a family there.
Having spent the last 17 years in the Philippines publishing books by Filipinos for Filipinos in the Philippines, Roxas emigrated to the US in 2008 and came came here thinking it would be a cakewalk to sell those same books in the US
But she eventually discovered that Fil-Ams have their own milieu and life view.
“They looked past my books and asked, instead, “What about us? What about our story?” That got me thinking. I began to want to publish books that would be meaningful for Filipinos living in the diaspora,” she said.
For now, the book is a small step towards achieving her other dreams.
“I recently met Reme Grefalda of the E-zine Our Own Voice. She encouraged me to publish talented, emerging Fil-Am writers. ‘Take a risk,’ she told me. ‘Writers cannot break new ground. Publishers can.'” Roxas said.
This is why Roxas wants to publish more books and more anthologies about Filipino life and culture. A cookbook is in the works, along with a picture book about a young balikbayan girl returning to the Philippines to visit her family.
She gets happy and excited when she receives notes about the book from her readers.
“A Pinay in Seattle sent me a postcard after she read Hanggang sa Muli. She wrote, ‘Each story I have read…is familiar, sad, true, funny, and makes me feel proud to know my sense of place.’ I keep that postcard on my wall. It reminds me of why I’m here,” Roxas remarked.
For Roxas, being a writer began as early as in fourth grade when she joined her school’s writers’ club.
“We were given this assignment to write about two birds perched on a telephone wire. Writing that story transported me to the whole creative experience,” she shared. “Incidentally, I come from a family of business people. Most of my relatives make a living from numbers. Guess you could say I bucked the trend. I’m so lucky I’ve managed to make a living from publishing words and pictures, and doing what I love.”
Out of Status
For Jenjen Furer, writing has always been her outlet. She has always kept a journal since she was a teenager and she loves writing poems and inspirational observations.
Furer was born in Manila and grew up in Paranaque, the third child among six siblings and the only girl. She went to school at Centro Escolar University and graduated salutatorian in 1976. Four years later, she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, Guidance & Counseling at St. Scholastica’s College in Manila.
Jenjen left the Philippines at age 20, right after her college graduation in 1984. She didn’t get to return until 2005, with all her four children tagging along.
Two decades after she first set foot on American soil, Jenjen and her family’s dreams came to a grinding halt.
After 20 years of hiring various immigration lawyers, on October 27, 2005, her parents and two younger brothers were arrested, detained and processed for deportation.
“It marked an end to my family’s quest for the American Dream,” she said.
While visiting her brother at Elizabeth Detention Center, she urged him to keep a journal to keep him busy, and she promised him that she would try to document their story to share with the public – to educate, inspire and make a difference.
“I wanted to share my family’s experience – to put a human face and a voice on why people migrate, learn to assimilate in a multi-cultural environment, and risk everything in order to survive,” Jenjen shared.
Her book Out of Status tells the story of her family and how they coped with the struggles and challenges of an undocumented immigrant family, including the subsequent deportation proceedings.
“Everyone has an opinion about what it’s like to be an immigrant – legal or illegal, or what it’s like to be deported or detained, but no one really knows what the reality is until they’ve experienced it,” she added.
Jenjen now lives in New Jersey with her husband and their four children.
She admits that she has a difficult time expressing herself verbally at times and would rather write a note or a letter to her family.
“My children joke that I am uniquely bilingual, speaking badly in two languages, and that language is my second language. When I get frustrated or when I feel like I need to express something, I write letters to my children and my husband,” Jenjen revealed.
In 2009, she and her husband Craig started taking their daily walks to Barnes and Noble, which is a 30 minute walk from their home. There’s a beautiful park that they pass by along the way that really captivated her.
“I loved taking pictures and capturing moments out of our life which led me to create my blog GottaLoveMom.com. My blog developed a following of over one thousand readers, which encouraged me to continue writing,” she said.
As an immigrant in the United States, Jenjen always thought about the things she missed most about her old home.
“I miss the people. No matter how tough life can be, people do not complain about their circumstances over there. There’s always time for fun, laughter, and food. Everyone seems happy. And of course, I miss the “monay” – freshly baked bread,” she remarked.
For now, Jenjen is in between marketing the book, reaching out to publishers to have it widely distributed, public speaking and raising a family. She is also exploring ideas for a second book, and also for a business concept around her website, GottaLoveMom.com.
She is also involved in various non-profit endeavors, including her plan with a cousin to put together a fund-raising campaign in the Philippines for QUAD (Quantum Unity Against Dengue).
Jenjen is also an honorary member of FALDEF (Filipino American Legal Defense and Education Fund). Through their advocacy FALDEF helps Fil-Ams who are in need of legal assistance. “FALDEF can use all our support to help those who find themselves in very difficult circumstances and have nowhere to turn,” she added.
Jenjen is hopeful that through her book, people get to learn more about the issue of immigration. And when people who have read her book compliment her for a job well done, the author gets ecstatic.
In one of her Facebook posts, Jenjen wrote: “I didn’t think checking my PO Box 552 would result in making me cry. I am so humbled and honored with overwhelming “thank you” cards from Out of Status readers. When someone buys your book, reads it, and then takes time to mail you a thank you card — I know I made a difference.”
Whether big or small, she doesn’t mind, as long as she made a difference.
That is why Jenjen is asking people to get a copy of her book.
“I urge everyone to read “Out of Status”. It’s a heartbreakingly beautiful story, but inspirational and uplifting at the same time. It will definitely forever change the way you look at life and family. And lastly, remember: Embrace your imperfections, dream BIG and keep smiling,” Jenjen said.
(Hanggang sa Muli retails in the US for $15.95. To order a copy, email [email protected] or call (425) 773-7465. Out of Status is available at Amazon.com for $14.99 (paperback edition) and $9.99 (Kindle edition).
(balikbayanmag.com)
(NYNJ June 29-July 5, 2012 LifeEASTyle pg.2)
