Berkeley-based Pinoy cooperative named finalist for US award

A Berkeley-based Filipino community group has been chosen as among the finalists for the 3rd Annual Torchlight Prize, which recognizes self-organized groups in the US for their efforts to strengthen their communities.

Sama Sama Cooperative, a Filipino language, arts and ecology summer camp for children aged 5 to 10 years old, will be competing with nine other groups for a $10,000 grand prize.

The cooperative began with a group of five Filipina mothers interested in creating a children’s Filipino arts and ecology summer camp.

Seeing limited opportunities for their children to explore Filipino and Filipino-American language, culture, and history “with a lens that challenges dominant hegemony, colonialism and imperialism,” Sama Sama parents were inspired to create an alternative educational space.

“Sama Sama filled gaps of history and culture that I experienced being born and raised in the United States,” said Sama Sama member Frolayne Carlos in a statement.

“My daughter’s journey of cultural identity will begin at a very young age thanks to Sama Sama Cooperative. It offers a safe and nurturing space with unique learning opportunities that she might otherwise not have access to,” she added.

Mia Birdsong, vice president of Family Independence Initiative, which created the Torchlight Prize in 2012, said they came up with the award to spotlight regular people who “come together to innovate and implement their ideas and solutions to create a better future for their communities.”

She said the Torchlight Prize also seeks to “encourage direct investment in resident-led solutions that are already working to improve some of our country’s least-resourced communities.”

Winners for this year's prize will be announced in September. —KBK, GMA News

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Photo from Sama Sama Cooperative's Facebook account