Below the Radar Transcript
Episode 77: Intergenerational Storytelling with Chinatown Seniors 鈥� with Yulanda Lui and Rachel Lau
Speakers: Melissa Roach, Rachel Wong, Rachel Lau, Yulanda Lui
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Melissa Roach 0:04
Hi, I'm Melissa Roach with Below the Radar, a knowledge democracy podcast. Below the Radar is created by 丁香园AV's Vancity Office of Community Engagement and is recorded on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. On this episode of Below the Radar, we discussed Speak My Language, a radio documentary series by Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice, which highlights the experiences of Chinese Canadian elders facing barriers to accessing health care in BC. Our guests today are Yulanda Lui and Rachel Lau in conversation with guest host Rachel Wong. Yulanda Lui, is co-founder of Yarrow, who has recently left for law school. She's still connected with Yarrow as an advisor on strategic planning and campaign projects. Rachel Lau is a multidisciplinary artist, writer and radio producer. They were the project coordinator and lead artists for the speak my language project. I hope you enjoy their conversation.
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Rachel Wong 1:09
Welcome to Below the Radar. My name is Rachel and I am the Communications Coordinator for 丁香园AV's Vancity Office of Community Engagement, and I am joined by Yulanda Lui, as well as Rachel Lau. Both of these folks are all around amazing. Welcome to Below the Radar.
Rachel Lau 1:27
Thanks for having us.
Rachel Wong 1:28
Awesome. So maybe to start I was wondering if both of you could introduce yourselves. Maybe Yulanda, we'll start with you.
Yulanda Lui 1:38
My name is Yulanda, I'm one of the coordinators at Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice. Yeah, my role kind of looks like supporting our team and running our numerous programs as well as coordinating our volunteers.
Rachel Wong 1:53
And Rachel I'll have you introduce yourself as well.
Rachel Lau 1:56
I'm Rachel Lau, I'm a writer, artist, and radio producer. And I was brought on by Yarrow to be the Project Coordinator for Speak My Language. And so my role was primarily to train the youth producers in producing the radio docs as well as providing mentorship and guidance throughout the process.
Rachel Wong 2:22
So Yulanda was wondering if you could share with our listeners what Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice is? How did it come to be? And what is its mission right now?
Yulanda Lui 2:33
Yeah, Yarrow, Intergenerational Society for Justice officially became a nonprofit in 2018 but we've been doing work in the community under the name of Youth for Chinese Seniors since 2015. And it was really created from a need that we saw in the Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside where there were lots of low income Chinese seniors who needed support, primarily, at first with medical accompaniment and support in accessing health care. And since then, we've really grown our services to support people, or low income Chinese seniors in accessing health, housing, income and safety. And we also have a big intergenerational focus through our social programs. So we have a group of Youth, caustic us collective who organize intergenerational events. It's really all about this access to culture, to history, and elders are getting that essential support in meeting their basic needs, but also support in building social community. Yeah.
Rachel Wong 3:26
Along with that, recently, Yarrow has embarked on this project and a wider campaign that I know that we'll get into. But I was wondering if Yulanda, you could give us an overview about what the Speak My Language Project is?
Yulanda Lui 3:41
The Speak My Language Project is a storytelling media arts project. We worked with a group of youth and a group of seniors to tell their stories about their experiences with accessing healthcare, with just their healthcare journeys and what that's been like for them. And the intention behind this project is really to highlight the difficulties and the obstacles of low income Chinese seniors who don't speak English who are living or frequent in the Chinatown Downtown Eastside neighborhood in accessing health care. And yeah, so we had this opportunity to bring together nine youth and five seniors to create these five radio documentaries. And it became not just about sharing those challenges of accessing healthcare, but also about their resilience and the importance of community and yeah, what their day to day life really looks like.
Rachel Wong 4:27
And of course, like, Rachel, you mentioned, just in your intro, though, that you came on to this project to provide mentorship and to help train and guide these youth producers. I was wondering if you could share what your experience was like to work with these youth and ultimately see them bring these stories together?
Rachel Lau 4:45
Yeah, that's a great question. When I was at the launch event, I made a speech, a brief speech in the beginning, and I shared an anecdote about how when I was still living in Hong Kong, you Yulanda and Chanelle had sent me a Facebook message to ask if I would like to be brought on as the lead artist or the Project Coordinator for Speak My Language and I remember when I got that message, I was a little bit in awe that something so perfect in terms of the things that I'm interested in and the skill set that I have kind of landed in my lap. Because at that point, I had been doing radio for about four years with CITR, which is UBC's campus and community radio station. And I grew up in Vancouver's Chinatown. And I had been volunteering with Yarrow when it was used for Chinese seniors. So it's been a while since I've kind of built those relationships and have been doing this kind of creative work. So I was really excited to be the coordinator for this project. And admittedly, also, I think this is the first time in which this was a project where I really needed to step up in a leadership role, because I had coordinated another radio doc series was CITR before, but I think that because it's already a radio station, the infrastructure was already a bit more established, whereas with Yarrow, it was very much about, okay, Rachel, we're bringing you on, and you kind of need to just design most of it. So that was exciting and a little bit nerve wracking to be fair. And I think that I'm sure Yulanda would probably agree, is that there are a lot of growing pains for this project, a lot of sort of figuring it out as we go, because it's such a new project, especially from the community based and multilingual aspects of the project that was really unique. So I think that was one of the main challenges was sort of figuring out okay, how do we create a multilingual podcast that respects the stories that are being shared by these seniors? Yeah, and is able to communicate what we want to communicate to who we want to communicate it to. So in my experience with the youth, I think that we were really blessed to have a group of youth who were incredibly dedicated to the project, to the Chinatown community and were incredibly patient. And it was a six month commitment. And I think that a lot of them ran with it, as the project went on. And they really showed up for every single part of it. With the seniors, it was actually Chanelle who had a relationship with all these seniors and had a sense of their experiences, and who might be interested in sharing these stories. So I wasn't as in touch with the seniors as maybe Chanelle was, or even producers themselves, because they were working with the seniors on a one on one capacity. So in that way, I really had my hands in the project. And at the same time, a little bit on the periphery of just sort of providing guidance and mentorship, but not really necessarily participating in the production process, in the way that the producers or the seniors might have.
Rachel Wong 7:44
And I love what you mentioned there too about ultimately, because these are very intimate stories. Because these are stories that, you know, seniors are living in their day to day lives, like I'm sure that there are many seniors who have these experiences of maybe going to a doctor's appointment, or they realize that they have some kind of illness and whatnot. And because of their own, like language skills, for example, and that language barrier, it can be very frightening, anxiety inducing, very challenging. So, Rachel, I love what you talked about when it came to just how do you tell the story of this community and tell it back in a way that is respectful, especially given the fact that it is a multilingual community? So that's very exciting. You mentioned that it's a six month commitment for the youth producers. And I was wondering if you could walk us through that timeline? Like how did it go down? You know, from the very beginnings as you're building up that infrastructure to the launch events? That was actually, at the time of this recording earlier in March.
Rachel Lau 8:47
As you're asking this question, Rachel, I was chuckling to myself a little bit, because I was actually talking to another friend on the phone about the project yesterday, and he asked me, yeah, would you do it again? And I told him, you know, yeah, like I would, and there were a lot of things that I would do differently. But to walk you through the timeline. And the reason why I say that is because I think that the timeline, as much as we had a sense of how it would go, I think there were a lot of things that really changed as we went with personnel from Yarrow staff side to sort of like the seniors who were participating, and also like the level of commitment that the volunteers could offer at a given point in time, given everything else that's going on in their lives, because all of them are, you know, really involved with other things within their communities, with their studies, with their work. And so there was a lot of juggling everything. But to answer your question about the timeline and the six month commitment, so it really started in September, when we had the training sessions. So we had a weekend was a training session where we had invited both the seniors and youth to the sessions, hoping that you know if the seniors wanted to learn anything about radio production that they could pick up as much as they'd like. But I think it was really challenging because so much of the content was in English. And yes, we had interpreters at every session. But I think it's just a lot to digest not just for the seniors, but also for the youth. So I think that was something that really became apparent after the training session had ended. That being said, once the training weekend was over, pretty much the youth and seniors hit the ground running like we paired them up based on one language capabilities, and two the kind of subject matter that the youth were interested in. So we picked teams based on those factors and paired the seniors with the youth in that way. So each youth producer team had at least one person who was fluent in the language that the senior spoke, and then from there, we gave them the seniors contact information, and then they were off to produce. At that point, in the fall, we had two sessions where we would listen to the rough cuts, because the thing about community based storytelling projects, or any kind of media project is that it's a collaborative process, as well as an iterative one. So it's not about taking the story and then leaving, it's about working with the community that you're telling the story with, and making sure that they're represented in a way that they want to be. With other products, usually, if folks have internet access, and they're tech savvy, in my experience, you send the file via email, and then they give you any feedback that they might have. And you kind of readjust accordingly and calibrate accordingly. But with the seniors, that's not really possible. And so the way that we put in an accountability measure in the timeline was that we would have multiple listening parties, where we would invite the seniors along with the interpreters and the youth. And we would listen to the radio docs together, and then ask the seniors if they had any feedback that they wanted to share. So we had two of those sessions. And one of them, we also had the opportunity to bring in other fellow radio producers that I'm connected with, in order for them to listen to the docs. And because neither of them were Cantonese, or Mandarin speaking, it gave us a really good sense of how the English and Chinese docs were doing in terms of being able to guide the listener along, especially if they only speak English, but also be able to convey some sense of disruption in terms of thinking about language barriers or non understanding. So that was the fall. And then when it moved forward into February and March, we were really just like wrapping up the radio docs. And one of the really huge challenges for the producers was after they produced the English and Chinese mixed language docs that were geared towards English speakers, they also needed to translate their radio docs, because part of the translation plan that we had was we would have two versions of each doc. So in reality, there's actually 10 radio documentaries. And so each of them would be translated fully into the language that the senior speaks. The intention behind that was that every step of the way, the seniors needed to have an interpreter there in order for them to fully experience what was going on. And we just wanted to have something where the seniors can listen to the radio doc all the way through without anyone there needing to interpret for them. And they could experience their own story in full. So the producers embarked on this journey to translate their narration, and then create an entirely new doc that was either in Mandarin or Cantonese. So that was the January, February process. And then after that, they needed to prepare for the launch event itself. And that included multiple prep sessions with the seniors and youth in terms of what they wanted to share at the actual launch event and during the panel as well as preparing the snippets or the radio doc clips for both promoting the radio doc series and to play at the event. And now they're finished. So that's a huge relief for them, I think. But, you know, throughout that process, they've essentially created two radio docs per team, as well as full English transcripts, as well as the Chinese one if they decided to do that, or had the skill set to do that. So it was a lot of dedication and hard work in terms of the youth producers. And it was just a huge commitment for them.
Rachel Wong 14:09
I can't even begin to imagine I mean, creating one radio doc in itself is already a huge undertaking, but then to kind of go back and be able to turn that into a radio doc in a different language and going through that process of translation, ensuring that all the way through that the translated meaning holds up and still tells the story that it's meant to. Such a challenge, but I'm sure also very rewarding. So I can totally understand how many of you must be breathing a sigh of relief that you have made it and you've succeeded in that.
Rachel Wong 14:41
We've talked about and pointed to the launch events that happened earlier this month. From our perspective, we're really excited and just very pleased to be able to partner with you folks and just helping to bring this to life. You all did the heavy lifting you all produce the docs and it was just great to have the opportunity to connect with you in that way. And I was wondering if we could hear from both of you just on how that event went for you. And maybe what a highlight was for each of you, Yulanda, we'll start with you.
Yulanda Lui 15:11
Yeah, the launch was such an amazing experience, I'm really glad we were able to have that and that we had the support of the 丁香园AV Vancity Office of Community Engagement to be able to hold a launch event in such a beautiful space in the cinema, like Goldcorp Center for The Arts. As someone who was kind of involved with the project, in like coming up with the idea and like coming up with the grant proposal, and supporting a Canadian backed grant, and then kind of stepped away from the project during the production side. And my colleague, Chanelle was the Yarrow support staff on that part of the project. And then coming back near the end of January to support the finishing of these documentaries, and also planned the launch event, it was amazing to really get to see those connections built between our youth producers and the seniors. And you got to hear from the youth just about their incredible experience of what it was like to learn from the seniors. I felt so lucky to be able to see that panel discussion we had towards the end of the event, where we had the youth and one of the seniors come on stage and really share about that story about their learnings and for me, it just highlighted the work Yarrow was trying to do. I think a big part of how we think about our work is about like the power of intergenerational community and what comes out of those conversations and what kind of support networks are built and what is learned through intergenerational relationships and how it is like a transformative and also an alternative way of living and supporting one another. And I really saw that in the Speak My Language project and in the team members and how Yeah, we are able to have these transformative experiences and really hoping that we're able to convey that to the audience.
Rachel Wong 16:47
And Rachel, what about you?
Rachel Lau 16:49
It felt like a long time coming from when we started in September. And it was not even something that we had the time and space to start thinking about until later in the process in terms of the project timeline. So I think for me, it was also really exciting to be able to see the celebration take place in such a wonderful space that is also in the community, like in the neighborhood, and not, you know, off somewhere else where it's inconvenient for the seniors to go. I think one of my favorite parts of the event was actually the fact that the seniors were kind of like front and center, they needed to enter from the stage side, I thought it was a little bit of like a red carpet moment. And I really loved seeing them, you know, come through the side door from the stage. And they're just like making their way down to their seats. And I think it was just really lovely to be able to have that. And for them to feel like you know, the VIP guests of the event because I think that's definitely what we wanted to convey and the space that we wanted to cultivate. So we really wanted them to feel good about being there and being the stars of this radio doc series. As well as the youth too, I think it was just really great to be able to have a moment in which they could celebrate all their hard work and have that be recognized. I think it was really lovely just to be able to hear these anecdotes in the speeches from the youth producers. Because I think for folks who weren't necessarily following us along with the whole production process, there were a lot of things that took place that they weren't able to see. So I think that having the youth producers share their experiences and have some anecdotes was an opportunity to bring the audience along in terms of what that process was like for them, for them to have a bit of an inside scoop. Whereas I feel like I was seeing that take place all along. So I kind of already knew what some of the experiences were. But obviously the audience didn't. So I'm glad they had that opportunity to share. And I think that the five minute clip format was a really nice way to share the docs without necessarily having people sit there for like five hours. And I think that it was really great to be able to hear every single one of the docs and everyone could experience a little snippet of the story. But I agree with Yulanda that I think it was really special to have the panel discussion and for all, you know, 13 of us to be on stage and just like, fill up the whole stage, and be able to talk about our experiences. I think that was a really beautiful and celebratory moment as well. Yeah, I think the only thing that was a little bit unfortunate is that a handful of the seniors who were involved with the project, couldn't make it because they were navigating their own issues. And I think that there's a I don't know if irony is the right word that I want to use. But it's telling that that is kind of the reason why they couldn't show up. And I think that it highlights the importance of the Speak My Language project as well as the larger campaign that Yarrow is embarking on in terms of advocating for language justice and accessibility in healthcare.
Rachel Wong 19:50
Right. And I'm glad that you ended on that note, Rachel, just because that's exactly what I wanted to touch on, which is the overarching goal of Yarrow as an organization but also in particular, the Speak My Language campaign. Yulanda, I was wondering if you could share a little bit about what the vision is for this campaign and what is to come?
Yulanda Lui 20:16
So the Speak My Language project idea was generated because we have had a goal of launching a health care campaign to advocate for language access in BC Healthcare, to really explore this issue and really start having those conversations with our community and also share those conversations outside of our community about what the challenges are in accessing health care when you are a low income Chinese senior but also if you just don't speak English, and as I mentioned before, Yarrow was first created because there were low income Chinese seniors in the neighborhood and still are, who require support in accessing health care. And a big part of that is the challenge of language. And still today, that is our most requested service where we are supporting seniors and going to doctor's appointments, or hospital appointments and providing interpretation in those medical offices and procedures, as well as just supporting them in navigating the healthcare system. This is a band aid solution. And non English speakers aren't able to access health care at the same level that English speakers are, we are going to release this on different radio stations to hopefully get that message out there. And moving forward we are building relationships with healthcare organizations with other communities who also experienced similar challenges. And we want to push for policy in BC to make it mandatory for health care providers to provide paid professional interpretation because that really is the best way for non English speakers to access health care.
Rachel Wong 21:47
Yeah, absolutely. And I feel like maybe just to close, I was wondering what for both of you, in going through this project, what is a lesson that you will take away from this as you move forward in your work?
Rachel Lau 22:01
I know exactly what I want to share. And actually something that I shared at the launch event as well in the panel that was moderated by Yulanda is, in the end, she asked, does anybody have any last thoughts to share or one thing that you might want the audience to walk away with today, if there's only one thing. What I'd said was that one of the things I really learned and saw is that when you open yourself up to the discomfort of the unknown or things that you aren't necessarily familiar with, that's when the magic happens. And so I think I really saw this with the youth producers, they leaned into the discomfort of stories that they didn't necessarily know, or even things having to do with language barriers, from their end of things in terms of their own language capabilities. They really embraced that discomfort and lean into those stories, specifically, the stories of the seniors. And I think, in that process of struggle, and that embrace of discomfort was when something really magnificent came to be. And I think that is what the Speak My Language project represents. So if there's one lesson that I'm walking away with is to lean into the discomfort of the unknown, and be open to stories that you are not familiar with, because in that process of embracing the discomfort, you come to learn so much, and you come to do so much together.
Rachel Wong 23:38
I totally agree. Just because as we go through our lives, sometimes we get so caught up in our own bubble. And we can only see maybe the stories that are within ourselves within our own communities. And there's a whole world out there. There's a whole wealth of knowledge out there that we might not otherwise encounter if we don't step out into that discomfort. So thank you, Rachel, I really appreciate that. Yulanda What about you?
Yulanda Lui 24:04
I guess one thing I'm really thinking about is resilience. And when we came up with the idea for the project, of course, we know that our community is resilient and creative and doing amazing things to survive in a system that marginalizes them. And that is something that really, I think came across in the stories. And it just makes me think that as we move forward and thinking about our campaign to advocate for language access in health care, how can we highlight the resilience of our community and highlight the strategies that they've already come up with right to access health care, and how can we support that? And also, how can we make it clear that people are resilient but that doesn't mean that we're all good. We still need language access in health care. Yeah, I'm just thinking about making sure that we are highlighting what's already there, and supporting that as we move forward.
Rachel Wong 25:00
Well, thank you both so much for joining us on Below the Radar. It really was a pleasure. And we'll certainly share the links to the final audio docs in the episode description. So please stay tuned for that. Thank you so much Yulanda and Rachel, really appreciate it.
Rachel Lau 25:18
Thank you for having us.
Yulanda Lui 25:19
Yeah, thanks for having us, Rachel.
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Melissa Roach 25:26
Thank you for listening to our conversation with Rachel Lau, Yulanda Louis and our guest host Rachel Wong about the Speak My Language radio series. We've linked to the radio show in our episode description, so you can head there to give it a listen. So much changes so fast and since the time of this recording Yulanda has left her position at Yarrow to pursue law school, and Rachel Wong has moved on to working with the 丁香园AV CERI team. We wish them both well in their future endeavors. And if you want to keep up with Below the Radar you can follow us on Facebook at Below the Radar pod and on Twitter at BTR underscore pod. Thanks for tuning into this episode and we'll see you next time on Below the Radar.
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