Each year, the Kapisanan Centre offers the Clutch program to young Filipina women between the ages of 17-24. Clutch is an annual six-month arts based program for young Filipinas, providing them with mentorship from professional artists within the community and giving them access to professional tools to hone their creativity, define their identity, explore their cultural heritage, and tell their stories on their own terms.
In addition to weekly artistic mentorship in various studios throughout Toronto, Clutch incorporates weekly history and language lessons and encourages program attendees to blog regularly on the Kapisanan website.
As a writer with a special focus on culture and background, the Clutch program was extremely alluring to me. I applied for the program in August of 2010. After frequent follow up phone calls, I was ecstatic to hear that I’d made it into the Clutch roster for 2010-2011.
Time spent with Clutch was certainly eye opening. It gave me a new insight into Filipino culture, history, and current events. The program largely focused on thinking outside of thinking critically of Philippine circumstances and becoming an active agent in Philippine matters. The program stressed social awareness and volunteerism.
Furthermore, being part of the Clutch program made me re-evaluate who I was as a Philippine-Canadian. I’m not going to lie, sometimes I experienced moments in Philippine history class where I’d feel uncomfortably detached from the issues discussed. The matters we talked about felt so far away that I wondered if I was even a legitimate Filipino. The questions the Clutch program rose for me – about what it means to be a Canadian, Filipino or even cultural being – were and still are extremely important. They are questions that I still have not fully resolved, and that I am sure I will be thinking of long after my involvement with Clutch.
Even better than the program were the people I met through it. Whether an artist, activist or entrepreneur, each person I met was passionate and inspiring in his or her own way. The other Clutch girls were especially inspiring – visual artists Michaela Cruz and Lyndel Aguilar.
With all that being said, it may seem surprising when I now admit that I withdrew from the Clutch program. My decision was a result of many factors, many of which were practical or economical. Though the program itself was free, the time and effort it took to commute down to the centre in Kensington Market at least three times a week during rush hour was extremely difficult. It was guaranteed that the trip would be at least two hours one way most of the time. Furthermore, due to time constraints imposed by prior writing and work commitments, adding another commitment was not wise of me. It is with regret that I withdrew from the program. It certainly offered a lot.
In this little corner of the internet, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the Kapisanan Centre for the opportunity offered to me. I strongly encourage everyone to keep up to date with Clutch happenings this year. With Michaela and Lyndel on board, this year’s Clutch will certainly lead to great things.