discovery
this week commemorates Magellan's landing on Guam. i was reminded of it when i took drive this past weekend to umatac and noticed that there was a little bit more activity that usual. sadly, it seemed rather lackluster. it prompted me to unarchive what little bit of guam history knowledge i was able to retain from the one class i had in high school and went completely blank...other than that magellan landed on these shores, only to be looted by locals and chased away to his fateful death in the Philippines...land of my ancestry.
i've been in a historian type of mood all week...cracking open dusty photo albums and swooning over middle school yearbooks....mostly to gain an understanding of how the hell i got here. there is an exhibit that has been quite the buzz lately and it was a good read in the latest issue of GU magazine - A Journey Home - Camp Roxas and Filiipino American History on Guam. i was intrigued about the story of the mass migration of my predecessors and further discovered that my grandfather was amongst the company of the first filipinos on island. he was not one of those dispersed from the camps but was actually a laborer at what is now andersen air force base. anyway, there is a series of photos which i found quite moving and have now added the preservation of this found history to my list of things to do. here are a few below.
circa 1949
the original is actually as blurry as shown but what was even better was the note he wrote on the back addressed to my grandmother and her children in tagalog....and it translates to "this is the reality of my labor. all i ask is that you study hard".
as you can see, my papa aged quite a bit while working here and he didn't leave until the rest of his family landed the opportunities he strived for. it weren't for post-war america, i would not be here at all. that's a very poignant reflection. the clearest memories i have of my papa are of him debilitated by stroke and confined to a wheelchair. i was about 9 when he died, almost two decades ago.
i have yet to see the exhibit, which ends soon. the website link above leads you to a 10-minute film that gives you a glimpse of the provocative material being exhibited at the guam humanities council.
Comments
Papa - he was my first father figure and the love of my life. I still remember the smell of his tobacco. i imagine our lives would have been very different if Papa never made it to Guam.
Posted by: joie | March 5, 2008 3:13 PM
Hi Mimi,
Wonderful to hear of your memories of Magsaysay Village. Many former Camp Roxas residents informed me there were other camps set up in the island. thank you for shedding light on your personal connections with the laborers who initially came to Guam. Their contribution are just as important including their stories as well. At the moment, the film is work in progress and we are working very hard to complete production.
Pls. stay in touch,
Bernie Provido Schumann
Under The American Sun
Camp Roxas Film
Independent Producer
Posted by: bernie provido schumann | March 5, 2008 8:41 PM
Hi there, would you like to add your family's photos in the Camp Roxas website of course with your permission to post your archival family photos. We can create a separate page where they can be displayed also with your direct email address you can be contacted. We would love to connect you to the CR project as we now understand other Camps were established and also part of the Filipino immigration history of Guam.
Thank you,
Bernie Provido Schumann
Film Producer
Posted by: Bernie Provido Schumann | March 6, 2008 3:32 AM
mimi! i love your writing.. i happened to stumble upon your blog through other ppl we have in common.. i love keeping in touch with the daily going ons on guam since i'm so faraway..
Posted by: min | March 7, 2008 5:12 AM
joie:
i don't remember papa the way you do so these photos are quite amazing.
Bernie:
Great that you have stumbled on my entry. I have an entire collection - some also indicating that my grandfather was around Marbo. I meant to bring my photos to the exhibit for some insight, so we can definitely get in touch before then. Thank you for visiting.
Min:
Glad to have you. I was once like you....far away! Now I'm here but still having my "only on guam" moments. <3
Posted by: mimi | March 7, 2008 3:46 PM
Hi Mimi,
Thank you for sharing your discovery and insight to our family history. I'm sure Papa would be happy to know how much you appreciate the hard work he did to improve the lives of future generations. He and Mama sacrificed their lives together so that your mom and uncles could have a better life. He would have been tickled to know he was featured in a newspaper article. I can't wait to see it.
Love, Auntie Christie
Posted by: Christie Espiritu | March 25, 2008 2:45 AM
Mimi,
I wrote you an email but I also wanted to thank you publicly for sharing the information you discovered about Papa. I have similar memories of him that you do, and I appreciate getting to know where he came from and who he was before he got sick. Thank you for researching this and for sharing the information with us and all who are interested.
Keep in touch!
Love,
Jenny
Posted by: Jenny Ajsenberg | March 26, 2008 11:31 PM
Christie/Jenny:
It's been a very rewarding discovery. We have Bernie Provido Schumman to thank, who commented above and allowed me to share this.
Posted by: mimi | March 27, 2008 10:01 AM
Madeleine Bordallo Accepts Post As Camp Roxas Film Project Chairwoman APRIL 8, 2008 TAMUNING, GUAM - Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo has graciously accepted to serve as Honorary Chairwoman for the Camp Roxas Film Project. The 60-minute documentary film will trace the history of Filipino immigrants to Guam who resided in Camp Roxas in Agat after World War II as part of the military reconstruction effort. With the recent notification by the Guam Humanities Council that funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities for the film is no longer available, the Camp Roxas team continues to pursue alternate grant funding for an independently produced 60-minute documentary film, titled "Under the American Sun." Most recently completed was a 10-minute Sizzle Reel film, which details the project's goal to document historical migration from a personal point of view. The short film was shown April 5 at the film's first fundraiser, "An Afternoon At the Theatre" which raised over $2,500. The short film (Sizzle Reel) was part of the photo exhibit, "A Journey Home: Camp Roxas and Filipino American History in Guam," which ended March 21 at the Isla Center for the Arts at the University of Guam. The short film and photo exhibit were funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities through the Guam Humanities Council. The Camp Roxas team continues to receive enormous local, national and international community and media support for this groundbreaking film project, which documents the little-known history of Filipino-American migration to Guam. We are humbled by the community's warm encouragement and generous donations. Please visit our website at www.camproxas.com for future developments. For further information, contact Bernie Provido Schumann, independent film producer, at camproxasguam@gmail.com. # # # -- "Under the American Sun" (Camp Roxas, Agat, Guam: 1946 -1972) Website: www.camproxas.com Email: camproxasguam@gmail.com Bernie Provido Schumann, producer Alex Munoz, director
Posted by: bernie provido-schumman | May 2, 2008 9:51 PM