My Family Culture

 My Family Culture

    I work for the United States Navy overseas in Italy. Earlier this month the base I am located at received over 5,000 refugees from Afghanistan. I saw thousands of people come here with only things they could carry. I am thankful that I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for these people to leave their country. Most people had a small suitcase or nothing in their hands but their children. If I could only grab three items that I hold dear to my culture I would grab my United States passport, my quilt that my grandmother made for me,  and my family recipe book.



    In the event, that I would need to stay permanently in the host country I would still want to remain a United States citizen. By keeping my passport, I would be able to prove that I am U.S. citizen. I would explain to others that my citizenship is a part of my culture. The quilt my grandmother made for me would bring me comfort. My grandmother showed me how to make quilts several months before she deceased. My grandmother made a quilt for every member of the family. The quilt is a part of my heritage, and I hold it very dear to my heart. I would explain to others that my grandmothers quilt will always remind me of her. In addition, that making quilts is something that reminds me of the home I have left behind. The family recipe book has instructions on how to many meals that are apart of traditional meals in my family. Some of the recipes are cornbread stuffing, peach cobbler, and chicken dumplings. These are comfort foods that have been passed down through generations. I would explain to others that the recipes are traditional food that I do not want to forget about and that I want to cook and share with others.






    If upon arrival, I was told I could keep one personal item and had to give up two other items I brought with me I would give up the quilt and family recipe book. When the Afghanistan people arrived at my base the most important document, they had was their visa. The visa they carried allowed them to be there. I now know the importance of having government documents. My grandmothers quilt I could recreate. My grandmother provided me the skills I need to make quilts. The family recipe book has a few recipes I can recall from memory. However, the ones that I couldn’t recall I would hope someone else could help me with.

    As a result of this exercise and the experience I had with the Afghanistan people, I am more aware of how items can be replaced or recreated. However, there are certain items that are important to have during an evacuation. Some may believe that a little booklet with some pages in it is not of importance. However, I know the value of a passport. A passport identifies who I am and the culture I represent. In addition, this exercise has shown me that my mind and my memories are what will keep my family culture relevant. As long as I share my culture and traditions, I am keeping them relevant. It is vital that I share with others my traditions to not let them be forgotten.

 

Comments

  1. Myrna ShakirSeptember 19, 2021 at 6:01 AM

    Thank you for sharing. Also, thank you for all you do for military families, their children, and the refugees. This assignment has been very eye opening. Reading your blog took a hypothetical scenario to a real life event that some families are currently dealing with. The refugee families are literally coming into this country with whatever personal items they have on them. Seeing this from your perspective I understand how having governmental identification is of most importance.

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  2. Channette's Early Childhood Studies BlogSeptember 19, 2021 at 2:37 PM

    Myrna,

    I cannot stress enough how important your passport or id card or drivers license is. Some of the first arriving people where those that had the documentation on them to identify themselves as United States government employees or in some sort of way they had documentation connecting to U.S. military personnel. It became life or death for them prove their connection. The only thing of their culture that I could see was the cloths on their back.

    ReplyDelete
  3. D.MarksSeptember 19, 2021 at 4:15 PM

    This was very insightful and I love that you've shared this with us. I've personally never been in a place where I would have thought about taking a piece of identification. After reading this, I would certainly take out one of my options to replace it with my drivers license (since I don't have a passport). It always terrifies me to think about how we treat refugees because having this assignment certainly made me have to think about what would happen if I were in their place. Makes you really rethink how the country handles things. But thank you for sharing with us.

    ReplyDelete

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