This is a picture of my great grandmother's children minus one. It was taken in the early 1940s in the backyard of their plantation home in Kauai, Hawaii. It represents my family’s cultural background greatly as this is where all the stories began. My great grandparents on my mom’s side came from Cebu, Philippines. My great grandma (Apo Mama) was 14 and my great grandpa (Apo Papa) was 17 and married when they traveled together to the sugarcane plantations in Kauai, Hawaii. They left the Philippines to strive for a better life, even if that meant leaving their friends and families. My great grandparents worked hard on the sugarcane fields and they always sent money back to their parents. They had plans to move back to their country, but they soon realized that there was nothing left for them back home. So they started a family that grew to eight children who quickly learned about many cultures such as Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans.

This story is similar to other families’ stories in a sense that people left their country for a better life. That has always been the American Dream. So one can say my grandparents left to pursue the American Dream even if they weren’t necessarily on the mainland.

– NH

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more