East York workshop on Undas and Baybayin script helped Filipino Canadians connect with heritage and culture

By TRISHA SALES

A number of Filipino Canadian residents gathered in East York earlier this month to take part in a cultural workshop.

Led by Kat Daaca, Rhythm and Baybayin was an Undas-themed workshop offering participants an opportunity to learn about Baybayin, the pre-colonial Filipino script, and to explore ancestral remembrance through art and storytelling.

The workshop took place at the Cambio & Co. showroom in East York on Nov. 6.

The workshop was framed around Undas, which is a Filipino tradition of remembrance and honouring ancestors.

In addition to the guided Baybayin session by Daaca, the event featured a live DJ, light Filipino refreshments, and a private shopping experience hosted by Cambio & Co., a Filipino jewelry brand. The evening also showcased some products from Bunso Club.

For Daaca, who is known as the Baybayin Baby, the script and language has become a way to connect to her heritage.

“Undas is about honouring our ancestors and our lineage,” she said. “Anything that brings me closer to myself and my identity also brings me closer to my ancestors.”

Undas is traditionally practiced by visiting loved ones’ resting place with gifts and offerings such as candles, flowers, food, and prayer.

Daaca said she sees the Baybayin script as a tool for remembrance as it was forgotten by most Filipinos during post-colonialism.

“There isn’t just one way to connect to your ancestors, Baybayin can be that entry point,” she said.

Daaca’s relationship with Baybayin began in Winnipeg in 2020, just before the city entered lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her inspiration came from her personal experience of joining a Baybayin workshop as well. She felt the instant connection and slowly turned into a daily practice, though she did not expect at the time that she would eventually be teaching Baybayin.

Many participants at the Nov. 6 workshop shared stories about their origin and upbringing, as well as their personal relationship to the Baybayin script. The connection that everyone had in common was the desire to be part of the community and experience cultural reconnection.

All participants were members of the Filipino diaspora, and for many it was their first Baybayin workshop.

Kayko Jarvis said she attended with the hope of connecting with other Filipinos and her culture.

“I was really looking for community and trying to go back to my roots, as well as find a piece of home again, and I think I found that here. I found myself coming to tears just because I said, ‘Wow! this is the right place and right time,’” she said.

Jarvis said she hopes to visit back home to the Philippines in the near future as she has spent the majority of her life in Canada.

In cities across the tour, Daaca said she has encountered similar experiences among Filipino participants, including a deep longing to feel more connected with their culture.

Daaca also observed that many Filipinos in Canada, struggle with a feeling of “not Canadian enough and not Filipino enough,” often at the same time. This feeling, she said, comes from being separated from the land and its traditions.

Her workshops aim to challenge this internalized pressure by offering a welcoming and judgement free space.

“You are Filipino enough to participate,” said Daaca to those attending the workshop. “Even if you can’t speak the language, don’t know the foods, or feel disconnected. This is a place where you are Filipino enough.”

For more information and to learn more about Daaca and Baybayin, please visit https://www.instagram.com/baybayinbaby/?hl=en