Festival HAMI’s first outdoor summer event

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This article was published 14/08/2023 (992 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The cultures of Latin American were on full display at Rideau Park on Saturday.

The First Hispanic Association of Manitoba Inc. (HAMI) Hispanic Festival was the initial instalment of a cultural exchange that the Hispanic Association of Manitoba Inc. is hoping will become an annual fixture in Brandon.

Set up around the pavilion at the north end of the park, more than 100 people gathered to play badminton, eat food and watch performances of singing and dancing from many Spanish-speaking countries from the afternoon into the early evening.

Though Colombia exited the FIFA Women’s World Cup on Saturday after losing 2-1 to England, that didn’t stop a throng of fans from wearing their gear in support of the team at the event.

HAMI president Eliana Osorio said that the event was aimed at bringing the organization back into the public eye after it went into dormancy for a couple of reasons.

Educated in her home country of Colombia as a bacteriologist, Osorio said she had to step away for a couple of years to focus on getting her credentials to work in Canada. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to organize events for several years.

While the association has held events in the past, Osorio said it’s the first time they’ve held an outdoor summer event like this.

Beyond helping create a community of people with similar cultural and linguistic backgrounds in Brandon and introducing locals to those cultures, volunteers were hard at work signing people up as new association members and advertising new programming launching this fall.

Those programs are aimed at helping Spanish-speaking newcomers learn English, get familiarized with computer systems and educating them about finance.

“Our main purpose is to increase the wellbeing of all Hispanics in Manitoba through partnerships and programs that facilitate intercultural integration, cultural preservation, educational and training opportunities and community engagement,” Osorio said. “That’s important and this event is to give back to the community.”

As an example, she said children of immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries might speak the language at home with their family, but they don’t necessarily get taught how to read or write it. By recruiting volunteers to help teach those subjects, they help those families preserve their culture and traditions.

One of those volunteers is Karina Diaz, who taught English in Chile before moving to Canada. She will teach native Spanish speakers how to speak English and native English speakers how to speak Spanish.

Then, the plan is to have students from both groups meet up so they can converse in both languages and have an opportunity to both act as teachers and students.

“It’s helped me build community because I’m not a naturally social person,” Diaz said about volunteering with HAMI. “It’s given me a chance to meet a lot of people and learn about resources that the community has but that you’re maybe afraid to find for yourself.”

She said she was very close with her cousins and sisters before moving to Canada and she missed those connections. Working with HAMI and Eliana have helped her establish a new family in this country.

By continuing to volunteer with the organization and build the local Hispanic community, Diaz said she’s hopeful other newcomers to Canada won’t feel alone and overwhelmed upon arrival.

Of all the activities at the festival, she said she was most excited for the dancing.

Two of those dancers were Daniela Sanchez and Melvin Hernandez, who were part of a group performing traditional Honduran folk dances. They told the Sun that it was important to honour where they came from and demonstrate an aspect of their culture.

Master of ceremonies Sandra Fernandez told the audience that they come from a group of mixed Indigenous Honduran and African descent.

After Sanchez and Hernandez opened the Honduran dancing display, they were followed by a group of four girls putting on another number.

The crowd uttered their dismay when a volunteer accidentally unplugged the sound system in the middle of the dance, but started clapping to the same beat as the music to help the girls get through the rest of the performance.

A man named Alberto, originally from Peru, said he attended with his family in part because he thinks it’s important for kids to learn about their parents’ cultures. He also said he hoped the festival becomes an annual occurrence.

“I think it’s important to share culture, language and get together at these kinds of festival,” he said. “They can get people together from Latin American, they can interact with each other and new people.”

» Story and photos by Colin Slark/The Brandon Sun

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» X: @ColinSlark