Indonesian Immigrants in South Philadelphia Folklore 321: Spring 2007 Community Service-Learning as Cultural Brokerage Bridging Cultures, Bridging Communities Between Two Countries Indonesia And here in the U.S.…. South Philadelphia Their new home… The Question; How do they make Philadelphia “Home”? Our Client • Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School (FACTS) in Chinatown FACT School’s Missions “To respect for “Folkteach arts serves everyone’s cultural heritage, for the knowledge of our elders, and for the power of community-based arts” Their Request “We want to know Philadelphia’s “Folk arts serves Indonesian immigrants’ needs and resources for their cultural and linguistic maintenance to better serve Indonesian children at our school” -- Deborah Wei, the Principal of the FACT school. Bridging Four Organizations •Center for Folklore and Ethnography, University of Pennsylvania •Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School (FACTS) •Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians •South Philadelphia High School ESOL Program Exploring the Community; Indonesian RAs’ at South Philadelphia High School as Cultural Brokers… Bridging Communities Identifying Windows to the Community Local Indonesian Stores in S. Philly Indonesian Foodways “Foods in Indonesia are really really delicious—even using the same recipe, it tastes different.” --Frederick, 11th grade RA student Traditional Arts Gamelan, Indonesian Traditional Orchestra at Swarthmore College Traditional Arts Wayang, Indonesian Traditional Puppet Shows Language: More Languages, More Opportunities “I’m glad to be able to understand two languages at such a young age. ” -- Pricilia, 10th grade RA student Old Javanese Script Community Health: Traditional Medicine and Massage “I get Indonesian massage often here, because I work harder than I did in Indonesia, and my body aches.” Jamu: Traditional Herb Medicine --Deddy, Indonesian informant Indonesian Pop Music: Dangdut “You think dangdut is stupid, but you listen to it anyway because you are homesick.” --A series of jokes, “You are Indonesian, when…” Dangdut in America performance in Blue Bell -March 2007 Celebration of Indonesian Independence Day “Oh, how good if all Indonesians were like our group here in Philadelphia!” 2004 Indonesian Independence Day --Father Astanto, Indonesian Catholic Priest, in his comments about the success of the event Cultural Encounters between Communities And Expressive Cultures Crossing Boundaries Dangdut In America “I want to see Americans learn dangdut, our traditional pop music.” --Rissa Asnan, director of Dangdut in America show One of the finalists for the Dangdut in America Show Staging Reciprocity One of our students, Yuki Yamaguchi performing for Dangdut in America Show in March, 2007. Speaking across Differences through Arts Free Style Wayang Shadow Puppet Show to convey evangelical messages -- Philadelphia Praise Center Learning Other Cultures “Doing ethnography is to see the world from others’ perspectives” –Rachel FiskeCipriani, a student of the course Learning about Selves “I started to feel myself proud to be Indonesian…” Learning about Selves “Because you want to learn about our culture…” Learning about Selves “I myself start to learn Indonesian culture again.” --Vincent, 12th grade RA. Music: Gamelan Semara Santi, Performance on April 15, 2007 at Swarthmore College. Photos: Mary T. Hufford Yoonhee Kang Alexandra Merrilyn Ully William Vincent Ivana Thomas Barcy Vidya Priscilia Pryscilla Frederick Exploring Memory and Tradition in Philacelphia Communities: Rachel Fiske-Cipriani Beth Gingold Aaron Shapiro Yuki Yamaguchi James Yoakum Laura Zieji