Immigration to other countries makes staying in tune with one's culture and values and even language as well as family members very difficult. Families lose a sense of their identiy when this happens. For example in the early 1900's many Chinese were immigrating to Panama to flee from oppression and governmental chaos in hopes of more opportunity. But many Chinese struggled because of Chinese exclusion acts in Panama. This made accomendation to Panamanian culture a must. Many Chinese immigrants had their names changed to names in Spanish. The exclusion acts made it difficult for the Chinese people to stay in contact with their families in China. This has cut off some citizens of Panama from their families in China and even their culture. In my article written by Wang Jun a Panamanian woman named Sol De Leon recently went to China and met her extended family on her father" side. Her grandfather left China 1918 when he was 24 years old to escape oppression and a chaotic govenment. She was able to find the village her grandfather was from off a document her father had that had her grandfather's registration and origin written in Spanish. After her visit she was welcome so much by her extended father and felt that she had made a strong connection with them that she wants to go back and her children will go along with her. Today about 150,000 Chinese people live in Panama and they speak Chinese and know the culture but there is an even larger group in Panama that have Chinese ancestry. Family is a way to preserve culture and it is important for more people in Panama to become in touch with their roots. Culture is often lost through prejudice and oppression in countries.
http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20120826-367603.html
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