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The Stichting Bayanihan-Diwa 2006 International Women’s Day Celebration -
Filipinas and Dutch discuss together the role of political participation in integration
By: Cecilia D. Nalagon
“Let us all shine; you in your corner, I in mine”
With these words, Bayanihan and Diwa’s 12th International Women’s Day celebration was opened last March 11 at COS in Utrecht. Just as in the previous years, this celebration was primarily in the form of a symposium on an issue of serious import and relevance to Filipina residents in this country. This year’s symposium, entitled “Pilipina sa Holland: ikaw ba ay geintegreerd o ingeburgerd na?”, focused on political participation and its role in the integration/inburgering of the Filipina migrant. This symposium marked Bayanihan and Diwa’s participation in both the national and local De Doe Mee – Vrouwenweek (from March 6 to 12), which gives special attention to women migrants (or as some would prefer, “women of the diasporas”). The overall theme of the Vrouwenweek is “de emancipatie, participatie en integrative van vrouwen uit ethnische minderheden”.
At the Bayanihan-Diwa celebration, men as well as Dutch native individuals were also present to support and “doen mee” with the 45 or so Filipinas in their discussions on the relation between political participation and integration. The main speaker for the day was Frauke van Iperen, a newly elected PvDA Utrecht council member. Myrla Danao, an active member not only of Diwa but of the Filipino community in general and one of the first Filipina nurses invited to work in the Netherlands, gave the welcome speech and introduction on the theme.
This year’s IWD celebration was held outside of the premises of IDEA. The generosity of COS-Utrecht made this possible. The event took place, as usual, with a salu-salo lunch at the beginning, where people had opportunities to chat with each other and to greet both familiar and new faces. The bigheartedness of the women of Diwa and Bayanihan ensured that the meals were enjoyable and that nobody went home with an empty stomach (at least as far as we know!) The mini-raffle draw - Diwa’s fundraising activity – and the community singing of Tagalog action songs provided respite from the serious discussions throughout the day. The final words were given by Bayanihan’s Lein Balaoing, in which she challenged everyone to put into action the words they spoke that day.
The inputs
Frauke van Iperen talked about the Dutch political and electoral systems, the different political parties and their migrant and emancipation agenda. Her input triggered an animated exchange of questions, comments, and insights on integration and political participation, on the concepts of “social ethnic minority” and “allochtonen” and their implications for policies and relevance for Filipinos as an ethnic group and as organizations.
Myrla Danao, welcomed everyone and her short but certainly robust introduction on integration and political participation raised valuable points. Myrla likens becoming integrated to “shining in one’s own corner” in society. This image stresses the importance of individual contributions – no matter how small – to the welfare of the entire society. It also introduced the idea that in the processes of social integration and political participation, the will, initiative, and capacity of the individual are central. The individual has to know her rights and obligations - towards society at large and other individuals), as well as exercise those rights and perform those duties. Going through the process of integration, Myrla points out, actually gives the individual the opportunities to develop herself in this society because it necessitates exploring one’s creativity, developing one’s skills to become a productive member, and building good relations with and being of service to others. In this manner, the process of social integration is not only tied up with one’s emancipation, but also with one’s pursuit of happiness.
To meet the challenge “to shine in one’s corner”, the participants deliberated on the issues and ideas raised during the open forum and by the two speakers. To sharpen and focus the deliberations and further discussions, workshop groups were formed where the following questions were presented:
- What does integration and participation mean for us?
- What is the relation between integration and inburgering? Can you be integrated but not ingeburgerd? Or vice-versa? Which is more important?
- Do you consider yourself integrated and/or ingeburgerd? What are the obstacles that you have encountered (or are encountering) in your integration/inburgering? What are the positive experiences that you have encountered (or are encountering)?
- What is the role of political participation in your integration/inburgering? What are the different ways in which one can participate in the political life of Dutch society?
- Is it important for us to participate in the Dutch political decision-making process? In what way(s) is it important or not important?
Results of the workshops
After only an hour and a half, the 4 workshops came up with a common thread and shared views on integration and participation, particularly on the questions posed. This consistency was remarkable given the differences in age, educational and economic background, personal experiences, length of stay in this country, degree of integration in this society, and not to mention the difference in cultural and social backgrounds, nationality and even gender with regard the other participants. The following are the results of the deliberations:
Integration as a “two-sided” process
Understanding the role of political participation in the integration of Filipinas necessitated first a clarification of how Filipinas understand “integration”. There was agreement during the discussions that integration literally means “to make oneself part of something”, in this case, a society. The participants also agreed that integration is a “two-way” or “two-sided” process: it involves the Dutch society that provides the means and opportunities for integration, and the migrants (the one who is going to integrate). In this process, the Dutch society opens its doors (opportunities) to the migrants, while, the latter “walks” into society through those doors.
However, these “doors” are not always or necessarily wide open. Hence, the migrant is expected not to just wait around passively for those doors to open wide enough for her to walk through. On the contrary, she is expected to push the slightly-ajar doors wide enough for her to go in. In other words, the individual herself has to take initiatives to integrate, despite the limited or not-easily-accessible opportunities to do so. So for instance, several of the “old comers” recounted of how they by their own accord went out and inquired at Dutch institutions about what they can do to follow a course, to do a training, to get a job, or to learn the Dutch language. Some paid for their own professional schooling, others for their own Dutch language lessons; while there are those who just persisted on their searches till they tumbled upon opportunities which they readily took advantage of.
The participants were ready to point out that although integration entails adopting the ways of the host society, this is not assimilation. It might be the case that this is how integration seems to be put in practice, or at least this is how the actions and pronouncements of the present government can be interpreted. However, the women were keen to point out that the process of integration involves the acceptance by both the society and the migrant of their respective cultural, and social values, and history. Neither aims at (forcefully) replacing one with the other. For the migrant, integrating into a society means adopting the ways and values of the host society. This includes primarily learning the receiving society’s language (both verbal and non-verbal) and being proficient in it; learning and understanding the typical values and practices adhered to by the general population, the way things work in society in general, the different major institutions, the facilities available, and the rights and duties one has and is expected to take on.
The Filipinas insisted that adopting the ways and values of Dutch society does not mean replacing or forgetting their own cultural and social identity, their Filipina-ness. On the contrary, integration is the process of enriching one’s identity with the best of both worlds: one discards what upon reflection is not good or is harmful, and takes on what is good, right and true from both worlds. Looking at integration this way, some of the women even expressed the preference to be called a “Filipina-Dutch” rather than “allochtoon” or even “migrant”. This way of understanding integration implies that an integrated individual is an individual who is in the society and thus is a part of it. She is not separate or an outsider; she accepts her society, and is accepted by it. She feels she belongs to and with the society; she thus feels safe and accepted. Here again, is the reciprocity that characterizes the process of integration.
Because this is how the Filipinas understand what integration is all about, they had an overall positive attitude towards the need to integrate and towards their own integration experiences in this society. This is regardless of the difficulties they encountered (or are encountering) along the way. Learning and mastering the Dutch language (up to a certain level) was one of the major difficulties named. It is a major one because it limited their ability to communicate and find their way in the society. It also affected their ability to get information and the kind of information they could get. Some of the Filipinas experienced discrimination and prejudicial attitudes from the people around them, which made them almost lose heart; others were not used to the weather or the food, which made them feel homesick. For some getting used to rules, and rules being strictly enforced was a difficulty, for others, it was the bureaucracy and the need to produce various sorts of documentation.
It is important to mention that certainly most, if not all, of the Filipinas present considered themselves integrated in Dutch society, or that they are at present still in the process of integrating. Of course, they also acknowledged that they are all in various degrees of integration: some are more integrated than others due to the differences in their length of residence in this country or some other reasons like presence of personal support, physical and financial capacities, and the like.
Integration is not the same as inburgeren
The participants in general also agreed that inburgeren and integreren are not the same thing. Inburgering is about the necessary (legal) tools for integration that the government formally offers. These concern social-cultural orientation and professional or vocational orientation; social coaching for further acquaintance with the community, neighborhood and various social facilities; referral for further study or work; and learning the language so one can do all these aforementioned things. With these tools, the newcomer can begin to find her way in society.
However, even having all these tools – being ingeburgerd - does not mean that one is now integrated. Satisfying the requirements of inburgering does not guarantee one’s integration. There are migrants who have passed the inburgeringscursus, who can speak Dutch, have jobs, have good knowledge of the social and cultural aspects of Dutch society but who are not integrated. Apart from having a job, they do not feel accepted nor do they accept this society as their own, and they do not feel connected to it; they are isolated. The participants were unanimous in pointing out that integration requires more: it requires participation, especially political participation, in society.
Political participation is important for integration
Political participation, according to the discussants, is necessary to be integrated; it promotes integration. An integrated person necessarily participates in social decision-making processes. However, political participation is important because not only is it a tool for integration or that it is an indicator of how well-integrated one is, it is also valuable in and of itself simply because of what it is.
Political participation means taking part in the various activities and processes in the society, activities and processes that concern and affect the wider society and the general welfare. Instances of political participation are: taking part in the cultural and social activities of one’s village, volunteering in various institutions and organizations (especially those that do work in the bigger community), in the school of one’s children, giving support to or membership in political parties and organizations, being economically productive, joining mass rallies and demonstrations on socio-political issues, writing to the newspapers on community matters, or consciously and actively keeping in touch with the current social and political issues and involving oneself in public discussions on these matters. These actions count as political participation as much as voting in elections and referenda, lobbying the government, or occupying a political office.
In performing and pursuing these activities, the participants realized that not only do they learn more about the society, but that the very act of doing these things is a demonstration or a proof that they are at that very moment integrating, that they are taking part in the life of society. Moreover, in doing these acts the rest of society also recognize what the migrants are doing, and thus accepts them as co-members or partners in society.
There was also unanimity with regard the claim that political participation or being active in the wider community is valuable in and of itself. As the participants reported, taking part in the decision-making processes in Dutch society (whether just in your street, or your neighborhood, or village or city or at the national level) is for them a source of self-satisfaction, of a sense of belonging, and thus of a sense that their presence in this society matters. For others, acts of political participation give them a sense of pride that they are making a difference in the lives of others, in one way or another, and that they are fulfilling their nature as a social being. Political participation is having control over the direction of our lives; by participating in socio-political processes, we are not mere passive creatures waiting for things to happen to us. Instead, we try to make things happen; we act. Even if the changes we want do not happen, at least by our very actions, change becomes possible; we are thereby expressing our value as a human being.
Just as with integration in general, self-initiative and assertiveness is very important for political participation. As examples, some Filipinas went out of their way to initiate uninvited visits to their neighborhood associations and inquired what they can do to help. One Filipina conversed – in her “broken” Dutch – with visiting members of a political party of which she is now a long-time member. Another decided on her own to volunteer at a bejaardenhuis and in this way she improves her Dutch language skills and learns about the platforms of the different political parties, especially on many social issues. Some women first joined multicultural activities where they met other people and became engaged in further social and political activities where they met more people.
Political participation also admits of degrees: some individuals are more politically active than others, depending on what one does. Certainly one has to start somewhere, and here it is agreed that it starts with the individual. That opportunities in society are not free or that they are expensive or are difficult to access, is not an excuse for failing to take part in the political life of society. Several of the “old comers” to this country insisted that they did not have it easy too; but through their persistence and will, they are now proud to say that they are active participants in the Dutch society, or at least, that they are working hard at becoming one.
One of the important suggestions on how to begin and deepen one’s political participation is to develop one’s proficiency in the Dutch language. Learning Dutch was one of the major difficulties cited in the process of integration, and it is also a very important tool for active political participation. Our command of the language determines our ability to go out and socialize with the rest of society; it also determines the sort and amount of information we are able to gather and process. Hence, the women suggested the following as ways of improving one’s language proficiency: reading Dutch newspapers, books and magazines, insisting on speaking Dutch to Dutch speakers, watching Dutch news and TV programs, joining cultural and/or church activities, engaging your neighbors and partner in conversations. Taking part in activities outside of the home is also the beginning of political participation: like joining calls for rallies, joining organizations especially those that do lobby and advocacy work, attending neighborhood meetings, public debates and discussions. Accumulating information and knowledge on social and political issues is also necessary: for example by reading the newspapers and information campaigns, visiting the local buurthuis and joining in their activities. All of these mean taking initiative, being assertive and realizing that being isolated is simply not good either for oneself, for one’s family, or for the wider society.
By engaging in such activities, one becomes aware of what the social and political climate is, what the important issues are, and moreover, one also develops – no matter how slowly – the confidence and self-assurance of an integrated, politically active member of Dutch society.
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At the end of this challenging day, one thing we can all be sure and proud about is that, not only have we learned about our (shared) views on political participation and integration, but that we have just engaged in a political activity. By being present, we ourselves have made our own political participation possible.
Of course, added bonuses for some were the beautiful prizes they won during the raffle draws. Congratulations to you all! Thanks to all the participants – both men and women – for making the discussions interesting and animated. To our friends and volunteers who donated the raffle prizes, dishes, their day, their efforts, energy and ideas – our heartfelt gratitude. To all of us, more power and wisdom to translate our words into actions.
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