International Amerasian Day – March 4th (fwd)

[Chris Paredes]

FYI...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2011 18:58:06 -0800
From: Anselmo Villanueva <anselmo.v...@gmail.com>
Subject: [UWMOSAIC] International Amerasian Day – March 4th

Information at http://amerasianfoundation.org/

The Amerasian Foundation is dedicated to help develop an “Amerasian Voice” in the US and Asia. Since it was formed on December 5, 2003, in Seattle, Washington, USA, the Amerasian Foundation is still collaborating with other individuals, groups and organizations around the world in an effort to unite all Amerasians by:

  1. Creating a “Network” to Unite ALL Amerasians in the U.S. and Asia,
  2. Promoting and Preserving Amerasian Culture and Identity, and
  3. Informing the Public around the World on the Plight of ALL Amerasians.

The work has been difficult but the Amerasian Foundation has developed cooperative partnerships with three key organizations in an efforts to achieve it’s mission and purpose; The Amerasian Family Finder and Operation Reunite in the US and Adopted Vietnamese International in Australia. A collaborative effort between the Amerasian Family Finder, Amerasian Foundation, and Adopted Vietnamese International led to the reunion of two Vietnamese Amerasians with their Vietnamese mother after 32 years of no communication. With Our Global Network, we hope to continue our work in efforts to maintain an “Amerasian Voice” for all Amerasians.

Amerasian Foundation’s Mission and Purpose

Mission

Since they first started to appear as a significant group in U.S. occupied Japan and South Korea after World War II, Amerasians have
been denied their place in both American and Asian societies due to their stigma as the “Children of War.” Due to this stigma, Amerasians in both the U.S. and Asia have been unable to develop an “Amerasian Voice”. For the abandoned Amerasians of Asia, this lack of an Amerasian Voice has meant being ostracized from the land of their mothers while at the same time being denied legal status to enter the land of their fathers. In the U.S., a lack of an Amerasian Voice has kept Amerasians from fully developing their own culture and identity. The Amerasian Foundation’s mission is to help develop an “Amerasian Voice” for Amerasians in the U.S. and Asia. The Amerasian Foundation aims to achieve its mission by collaborating with other groups and organizations around the world that currently serve Amerasians in effort to unite ALL Amerasians by:

  1. Creating a “Network” to Unite ALL Amerasians in the U.S. and Asia,
  2. Promoting and Preserving Amerasian Culture and Identity, and
  3. Informing the Public around the World on the Plight of ALL Amerasians.

Purpose

  1. To identify and seek financial resources (donations, grants, endowments, etc.) through fundraising which will help to establish
and/or maintain agencies, organizations, and schools that assist and support Amerasians in the U.S. and Asia.
  2. To establish and maintain a network of communication among Amerasians in the U.S. and Asia.
  3. To develop and maintain the Amerasian Research Center which will help promote and preserve Amerasian identity and culture.
  4. To engage in any other lawful activity which may hereafter be authorized from time to time by the Board of Directors; provided,
however, that the purposes for which the corporation is formed shall at all times be consistent with Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as it now exists or as hereafter amended (the “Code”), including within such purposes the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under Section 501(c)(3) of the Code.

Amerasian Day

International Amerasian Day – March 4th

In 2001, Amerasians in Olongapo and Angeles City celebrated “Amerasian Day” for the first time. The local governments of these two cities have approved March 4th to be celebrated as Amerasian Day. Amerasians in the Philippines are advocating that March 4th be Amerasian Day for the entire country.

International Amerasian Day – U.S.
The Amerasian Foundation proposes that March 4th in the U.S. be a day of commemoration of all Amerasians around the World. In a couple of years, the Amerasian Foundation will start campaigning to have this day recognized as Amerasian Day.