｜Founding Idea｜起源｜

Founding idea｜起源｜

Chinese Heritage + Cultural Identities & Belongings

Little Lantern was founded with an idea to support Hua-Chinese youth to build bridges with peers and communities. Our initiatives create spaces for youth identified with diverse Hua-Chinese heritage (newcomer, Canadian-born and mixed-race heritage) to explore their cultural identities and share their heritage with the larger community.

Little Lantern Magazine and StoryEvent provide opportunities for Hua-Chinese newcomer youth (immigrants, refugees and international students) to feel engaged and build a sense of belonging. Both projects support youth to develop creative expression, public speaking experiences and leadership skills. Working alongside with peers and mentors, Little Lantern youth write, draw & design the bilingual magazine; and they share stories & create performances in English and other Chinese languages. Little Lantern youth leaders are proud to share their knowledge and skills with all community members (children, families, adults, seniors) who are interested to learn about Chinese culture and languages.

To support Little Lantern youth to explore identities and issues within, around and outside of the Chinese communities, we are dedicated to create a multi-lingual space for discussions, dialogues and learning. We acknowledge and include the diversity of different Chinese heritage background (i.e. dialects, traditions, customs…), as well as being mindful and respectful of the differences in point of views and opinions.