When thinking about services for refugees and displaced people, we often consider food, clothing, shelter, and medical aid. Rarely do we think about play. Yet, “Play is essential for children’s development,” says Rachel Sykes, director of Project Play. Even children caught in the throes of migration need the opportunity to play — something that Project Play provides.
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Growing up Wasian in Australia
After my first Chinese lesson as an adult, I called my Grandma to tell her what I had learned. I speak my mother’s language — the language of the country I was born in and the language of the country I live in now — but I have never been able to properly learn Chinese, despite being half Chinese myself. My inability to speak Chinese has made me feel like I’m bad at being Asian.
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Falling into Your Orbit
I’ve thought about The way the wind would whip my hair Away from my face just seconds before I find my end there On the rocks below Before your very presence brought A kind of happiness I wasn’t aware existed The kind I thought was mythical, you know?
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Being a Depressed Mom
It’s hard feeling depressed. And it's really hard to be a depressed mother. It takes a lot of effort to get up in the morning and much more effort to take care of others. Depression is thought to be one of the fiercest mental illnesses, one that nearly paralyzes its patients. Nothing is ever easy. Waking up, eating, going to work or school, even going out with friends is difficult.
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Encounter with a Hongkonger at a Hostel in Taiwan
On the rooftop terrace, we talked about traveling; things like finding stylish and affordable accommodation through online searches, riding bicycles around small towns usually missed by annoying crowds of tourists, and avoiding expensive metropolises with barren cultural lives.
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Ingredients for Love: The Unspoken Language of My Grandma’s Kitchen
As years go by, I spend more and more time making memories in my grandma’s kitchen. It took me a long time to realize that food is how she shows her love. I’ve come to understand that the food we make together isn’t just something to eat; it’s also my grandma’s way of connecting with me and sharing her life story.
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Whore Sonnets
A vision of seduction, a slim waist, Her fit physique an invitation, To explore the longings your heart craves, Her energy is your new fixation.
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Reminiscing on My First Day of Teaching
My first day of teaching still haunts me to this day. Not because it was a bad experience, although there were many things I would do differently if I could, but because it was the fact that I was teaching. Even though I majored in English as an undergraduate and master’s student, it was difficult for me to imagine myself in front of the classroom as a teacher. I was notorious for doubting myself. Heck, still today, even when it’s been five years since I started teaching.
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Your Body, Your Choice
Men questioning women today is the norm. Why? Because less freedom means less opportunities to make the ‘wrong choice,’ I guess. The freedom we have today presses their buttons because they are losing power. There is no question there. In light of the Roe vs Wade verdict (when the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the right to abortion, upheld for decades), there is an obvious and cowardly attempt to wrest this power back.
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Why You Shouldn’t Bury Your Past
One of the biggest lies we are told is that it is possible to live fully in the moment, but the truth is we never can.
