[simplywaiting]

The baby I am hoping to adopt is Peruvian/Chinese/Puerto Rican, and the BMom wants to know how I will educate the baby, besides her, about his different cultural backgrounds. Does anyone have any ideas? My SW says we need to befriend people of these ethnic backgrounds for the child to look up to. I was thinking maybe support groups, cultural activities in our area that might be associated with those ethnicities and because we are planning an open adoption her and her family could be a big part of helping me with that.

Any suggestions?

[brookeinpa]

Vicky,

Our DD is Filipino and Samoan. We are exploring ways to teach her about her background. She's only 3 months old, so we have a little while to get some great ideas. So far, I have purchased cookbooks and the cutest Samoan paper dolls for her to play with when she gets older. I look forward to hearing suggestions from everyone.

Brooke

[Bassette]

Kiran is Mayan/Spanish. We are members local latin groups that hold activities, take him to a spanish church once per month, and most supportive is a playgroup for transracially internionally adopted children. There are many Guatemalan born child in the group, just like himself. There are several other things that we do like purhcasing storybooks that are about children from his culture, LA restaurants that we frequent, and we have LA friends that we hang out with or have as guests in our home often. I find alot of culture activities listed in our local arts publication. Check out the classifieds in your local paper. Oh the possibitilies are endless once you start looking into it.

[icunurse]

Depending on where you live, you may have the option of visiting different churches, going for dinners/excursions to areas with a higher population of the ethnic group you child is in, joining local adoption groups (which may have children of a similar background), looking into local museums and cultural centers. Maybe consider schooling with a higher ethnic make-up. Books, videos, artwork in your home....

[LisaCA]

I'd start by learning how people develop healthy identities. here's a link with some info:

http://www.pactadopt.org/press/articles/identity.html

then you'll know if what you're doing is the right thing or not, and can decide if certain churches/organizations/communities are the right way to go.

[AdrienneG]

I thought of this cuz I LOVE to eat! Food is a great cultural education! Get some cookbooks and learn how to cook different meals that are a part of Chinese culture, are a part of Puerto Rican culture, are a part of Peruvian culture. Also when your child is old enough, plan on visiting China, Puerto Rico and Peru as a family, is another wonderful idea!