Pongapalooza: Ping-pong players rally in support of children’s literacy

First Book Canada’s ninth annual ping-pong fundraiser returns in all its pong-tacular glory to promote higher education and literacy access for children

By:  Anna-Giselle Funes-Eng

Teams Pongflict and Double Double (left to right) face off at Pongapalooza in Toronto, on Nov. 8, 2022. (Anna-Giselle Funes-Eng/Canculture)

Neon-orange ping-pong balls whirl around the room at lightning speed as triumphant cheers break out. In an epic table-top battle, teams duke it out at Pongapalooza, First Book Canada’s ninth annual charity event, competing in high-stakes games to fight for equal access to educational resources for children.

Taking place at SPiN Toronto on Nov. 8, this was the first tournament held in-person since 2019. It had open tables for rounds of ping pong, donate-to-play side games, a silent auction and even a ping pong-themed craft table lined with tubes of glitter glue. The room was buzzing with energy as ping-pong players went all-in, diving with paddles outstretched to return the rally.

"The best thing about this event is that it's all for fun," said Tom Best, former executive director of First Book Canada who helped originate the event back in 2012.

Over 10 teams competed this year, with some dressing in group costumes to win more prizes, including signed books from featured authors. Teachers from Lord Dufferin Public School competed in full Toronto Raptor’s gear, with one woman donning an inflatable T-Rex costume. For their excellence in costuming, they ended their night with arms full of gift baskets and the title of best dressed.

It was RBC Capital Markets, though, who walked away as the reigning Pongapalooza 2022 champs. The bank bros of the boardroom conquered until the end, and kept their trophy they first won in 2019. 

The two-time reigning champions, RBC Capital Markets, maintain their ping-pong master status at Pongapalooza in Toronto on Nov. 8, 2022. (Anna-Giselle Funes-Eng/Canculture)

The event has been a major component in First Book Canada’s fundraising, having raised $280,000 since 2012, according to their website. The funds go towards providing under-served children with books, school supplies, winter coats and more.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, pre-existing educational disparities have worsened, according to Heather Farquharson, the current executive director at First Book Canada. She said there is an increased need for educational resources to ensure all children have equal access when more than one-third of kids in Canadian public schools come from low-income households.

“Our work is even more important with the learning loss than it ever has been,” said Farquharson.

According to First Book Canada, almost 25 per cent of Canadian households don’t have a single book. Their work aims to reduce that number, and they say they have already provided over seven million books and other resources to those who need them. Through partnering with smaller educational organizations across the country, they are able to reach hundreds of thousands of children.

One of those organizations is Books With Wings, an entirely volunteer-run organization that provides children on remote Indigenous reserves with books, connecting with them through letters. Thanks in part to their partnership with First Book Canada, they have been able to send new books to at least 1,200 children since they began 10 years ago, according to founder Anna Rosner.

“Books offer a world to children that they might not otherwise have access to,” Rosner said. “With an education, there’s a much better chance the child will be able to eventually see the world and experience it the way he or she wants to.”

Creating educational equity makes room for children to dream, Rosner said.

Instilling a life-long love for reading begins at a young age, as both Books with Wings and First Book Canada believe. While ping-pong may have been all about the serves, the money raised will continue to serve children and close educational gaps across the country to ensure that all children have the chance to learn and thrive.

Healing as an act of resistance: Reclaiming ourselves through art

Living Hyphen launches its third magazine issue, ‘Healing Across Generations’

By: Anna-Giselle Funes-Eng

Jocelyn Yu speaks about her experience watching Living Hyphen grow at Page One Café in Toronto, on Oct. 28, 2022. (Anna-Giselle Funes-Eng/Canculture)

Content Warning: This piece discusses generational trauma.

There is an ever-present longing for what has been taken away and left behind that Canadian immigrants and people who have experienced displacement know well. It runs deep through generations, and many of them turn to art as a healer and outlet. The voices of those Black, Indigenous and peoples of colour (BIPOC), whose “home” is somewhere in between cultures, often go unheard and grossly underrepresented.

Living Hyphen is a community that serves as a safe space for those voices and seeks to nurture and amplify them through its writing workshops and literary magazine. Their third printed publication, “Healing Across Generations” was released on Oct. 28. It features 60 pieces of prose, poetry, short stories and photography.

The launch was marked with a party at Page One Café near the Toronto Metropolitan University campus, where I got the chance to speak to founder Justine Abigail Yu, who launched Living Hyphen with its first magazine issue in 2018.

Yu said she created Living Hyphen to bridge the gap between the lack of mainstream representation of everyday immigrant and BIPOC stories and the many people looking to share their experiences. For this edition alone, they received around 800 submissions, according to Yu.

“There are people out there who need that extra push, that nurturing, because our society has not nurtured Indigenous, Black and racialized writers and storytellers ... honestly, that’s been the drive for me,” Yu expressed.

Justine’s mother, Jocelyn Yu, known affectionately in the community as Mama Yu, is Living Hyphen’s publisher, investor and self-proclaimed “Money Mama.”

Mama Yu said that through growing Living Hyphen along with her daughter, she has learned and unlearned so much. It has brought her peace in her journey of healing.

“I’ve always believed that healing is not possible unless you know the past,” Mama Yu said.

There is an ever-present longing for what has been taken away and left behind that Canadian immigrants and people who have experienced displacement know well

Many of the featured artists focused not only on the hurt of having to leave home, but the disconnect from the culture that comes with it.

May Lui, a contributor for Living Hyphen, explored searching for healing in connection in her piece. She wrote about her two grandmothers and reconciling with the Chinese grandmother she never knew.

For Lui, writing about her experience with loss and hearing of others' similar journeys through platforms like Living Hyphen, has been a source of healing.

“You heal through time, you heal through talking about it, you absolutely heal through writing,” Lui said.

Jen Phuong Tran, a Toronto based artist and ceramist, reads her piece “Roots” at Page One Cafe in Toronto, on Oct. 28, 2022. (Anna-Giselle Funes-Eng/Canculture) 

As someone who identifies as BIPOC and biracial, I’ve always identified with both sides of myself culturally, but have never felt fully connected or seen.

I don’t often see myself reflected in the people around me or in the stories I’ve read. I don’t speak Cantonese or Spanish and it’s always been hard for me to communicate and connect with my family. I’ve always felt split down the middle. I grew up feeling as though I existed somewhere liminal: in the indeterminable in-between of my cultures. It is rare to see myself represented.

As I stood surrounded by people sharing their stories of healing out loud, I finally felt heard. I used to think I was alone in those experiences.

Representation in art serves as a powerful reminder that no one is alone.

The trauma of generational hurt can be reclaimed as something that fosters community as we set out to heal. Searching for parts of ourselves that have been lost to upheaval and oppression; reclaiming that power is a resistance to every and any force that would set out to keep us silent. 

Community in vulnerability: Celebrating intergenerational stories in Generation Women Canada launch

Women from across generations share insightful stories about their ever-changing relationship with their bodies

By: Natalie Vilkoff

Speakers and organizers of Generation Women Canada on stage at The Lounge at Live Nation in Toronto. (Courtesy of @generation_women_ca via Instagram)

This article contains mentions of sexual assault.

Six women of six different generations shared their stories about their relationships with their bodies in an honest and touching night of performances — the first night of many to come.

‘Flesh and Bone: Stories About the Female Body,’ was the theme of the Oct. 18 launch of Generation Women Canada, a storytelling event that began in New York City, to create a space for women to feel “validated, respected, and seen,” according to the Generation Women Canada website.

“I really wanted to highlight intergenerational storytelling, especially women's voices,” said Jennifer Baxendale, the host and producer of the launch.

Baxendale and her producing partner Kirstin Turnbull saw a Generation Women show in 2020. They were so inspired by it that they signed up to bring it to Canada. She added that she wanted it to be a space where women can connect and learn from one another, despite differences in age and background.

Karen Cleveland, a Toronto-based marketing strategist and writer, was the speaker representing team 40s.

“When you get a group of women together, something special always happens,” said Cleveland. “And that was the appeal for me: being alongside such an interesting group of women that I probably would never otherwise be in the same room with.”

Cleveland added the most valuable thing for her was being able to hear from a collective of diverse women — from their identity to their race to their age, each woman had a story to share that was shaped by their lived experiences.

“That's the real magic of the event: bringing together different voices across different generations and celebrating their experience,” she added.

Mental health advocate and public speaker Ghanwa Shahnawaz, who represented the 20s, said that she felt so nervous she wanted to bolt from the stage — but once she started talking, she was glad to have the space to share her story.

On stage, Shahnawaz shared her experience of sexual assault as a young girl, and how it took her years to figure out what her body meant to her.

“What I hope people will take away from it is not just my relationship with my body, but also to know that you're not in it alone, that there are other survivors out there,” she said.

Shahnawaz added that it was different from sharing stories on her Instagram where she only goes as far as she’s comfortable. “This really required me to be out of my comfort zone. It’s very different when you have everyone sitting in front of you,” she explained.

While preparing her speech, Shahnawaz said that she was thinking of her younger self. She added that she had a picture of herself in elementary school next to her as she was writing.

“I think if Grade 3 Ghanwa was sitting in the audience hearing that, I would have felt a huge burden lifted off my shoulders, and I wouldn’t have blamed myself for years,” she said. “My whole story would be different.” 

Despite the uncertainty she felt about sharing a subject as personal as her body, Shahnawaz said that sharing her story in front of a supportive audience brought her a sense of calm.

“I felt empowered, I felt relieved, and I felt a bit more healed,” she said.

The next Generation Women theme is ‘Promises Made, Promises Broken’ and will take place on Jan. 24. After such a successful launch, Baxendale said she plans to keep the show running in Toronto and hopes to take it to other major Canadian cities.