My Mom's Story by: Isabel

In the Philippines Spanish colonization, governed by Spain and Mexico, lasted for over three centuries. Therefore, there is a significant amount of Spanish culture in Filipino culture (Wikipedia). My Mom has some Spanish culture because she is from the Philippines. The Philippine constitution guarantees freedom of worship, but about 95 percent of Filipinos is Christian. That is more than any other Asian country. My Mom is Christian also. That comes from Spanish colonization (World book 2007). There are also many Filipino holidays that have to do with the Spanish. For example, Bonaficio Day, the birthday of Andres Bonaficio, the leader of 1896 revolt against the Spanish (shagtown.com).

Filipinos only farm on about 35 percent of the nations land, but produce most of their food. Since it is very warm in the Philippines, Filipinos plant things like bananas and coconuts. Anchovies, mackerel, scads, tuna, sardines and other fish are caught in waters surrounding the Philippines (World book 2007).



The Philippine flag features blue for noble ideals, red for courage and white for peace. The sun represents independence and the three stars stand for the three main groups of islands. The flag was adopted at the beginning of the Spanish-American War (1898) , which was fought over the liberation of Spain from Cuba(world book and enotes.com). In 1901, the US set up a colonial government in the Philippines. During American rule, English spread rapidly around the islands and mixed up with the language Tagalog, and made the language Filipino. A tribe of black people called the Aeta, were probably the first people in the Philippines. Then more people came from Malaysia and the Malays of Indonesia. Most Filipinos descend from these groups. Other Filipinos descend from different parts of Asia, like my mom (world book 2007).
In 1988, my mom arrived in the US not knowing that she was going to stay. Life in the Philippines was good, but the US had a better economy and her dad wanted her to have a good life. Her dad sent her here to see if she could get a job here because she had just finished college in the Philippines. She was very excited when she arrived, but she also felt homesick and missed her family.

Bernadette did not decide to go, her dad wanted her to look for a job in the US. The US turned out to be nice, with less pollution and traffic than there was in the Philippines. This gave her reasons to stay, so she did. She could stay at a relatives house while looking for apartments and she found a job that she liked.
When Bernadette left, she felt homesick. The only person who came with her to the US was her mom.

She packed clothes and one toy. She missed her dogs also. They stayed back with her family in the Philippines.

When she first arrived, she was very excited. She visited fun places like Disney land and Hollywood. Bernadette came to DC and applied for many jobs. Then she got interviewed for 5 jobs and got one. She liked her job because she had gone to school for it in the Philippines. Bernadette had to stay in DC for five years to get her green card. During that time, she was very homesick because she couldn't leave.
Because Bernadette had a job, she stayed in DC. Also, while looking for an apartment to live in, she could stay at a relatives' house. Bernadette stayed here for a long time so that she could get a green card and become a citizen, and it was worth waiting for.

Living through the War By: Pamela

My mother, Cecilia, came from El Salvador for many reasons but also had to leave behind important things like the Salvadorian culture. One example of the culture is its food. Pupusas, the main dish , are awesome .They are filled with beans, cheese, or beef. In El Salvador, the tradition is to speak Spanish, which is my mom’s first language. Currently, however, kids or teens are learning English. In El Salvador, you hear music almost everywhere at parties (which they have a lot), when they are cleaning or just to entertain themselves. But most of all , Salvadorians like to dance to salsa and cumbia. In addition, the most popular religion in El Salvador is Catholicism (ELSALVADOR).

The economy in El Salvador is very poor. The opportunities are very few because there are no jobs or chances to earn money. For example, one forth of the population in El Salvador left to find better employment in the US. Most of the money that is in El Salvador now comes from family members working in the United States. Typically people who work in farming or factories in El Salvador get paid around 100 dollars a month or less. Before you could pay with a Colon which was worth around 17 cents, however, the Colon was replaced by the US dollar (npr.org).


The Civil War in El Salvador war took my mother out of her country. It started because campesinos (farm workers) had to sharecrop and thought the government wasn’t helping them get land (PBS.org). It began in 1980 when the government assassinated Archbishop Romero and the people decided to go against the government and start a war. Over 270,000 people protested day and night, even though 70,000 were even gunned down and killed (El Salvador, PBS.org). My mother was one of the war’s victims because she lived in a war zone.


One day my mother’s parents (my grandparents) gave her their support so she could come here, so she could have a better life. My mother was tired of being in the war and hearing people beg for food. Also she had to work since the age of 11 so she wanted a easier life. Therefore, she came to the USA but her plans didn’t come out like she wanted them to. First, because she could not bring all of the things she wanted because she had to cross lots of rivers (God knows what’s under there) and walk through the desert. She could only take what she could carry.

Once she got to the US, life was still difficult. She had to live with her aunt Angela and when Angela’s husband came home drunk, he would kick them out and made them sleep in a near by park. But she did not give up and she found a job where she would live. She stayed there for around 5-6 years until she found a better job with better pay where she could afford a better home.

Afterwards, my mother met my father and had my brother. She went back to El Salvador with the money that she earned to see her family. In the five years that she was there, she had me and three years later, she decided that she would have a better life here in the US and decided to come back. Lastly, once back in the United States she had my little brother (who is my nightmare). She is happy that she is here because she knows that her children will have a better life than in El Salvador.