By Delya Apsari
Julito ‘Jules’ Calonia was a volunteer learning support assistant at a school in Portsmouth in 2014 when he observed that not many people in his adopted home knew about the Philippines.
“When they say ‘Asia’, they don’t tend to give examples pointing to the Philippines,” he said. While the 39-year-old invigilator adores Portsmouth which he described as “lovely and feels like home,” Jules was reminded of his first love: Cateel (pronounced as ka-tee-eel), his hometown.
Cateel is a beautiful rural town located in the southern province of Davao Oriental in the island of Mindanao, the second biggest island in the Philippines. It is home to the famous Philippine eagle, described as one of the largest forest raptors in the world but now endangered. It also boasts of Aliwagwag Falls, the Philippines’ highest waterfall, with 84 steps reaching the height of 1,100 feet.
As an ode to his hometown and his fun-filled childhood, Jules created a colouring book called It’s More Fun Coloring The Philippines. Illustrated by Charlie Magne Galvez, also from Mindanao, the book presents the rich history and culture of the Philippines using vivid colours accompanied by bitesize information. The 68-page book is divided thematically in three sections: Simple and Meaningful Rural Life, Festivals, and Places To Visit.
Re-introducing the Philippines to Britain
Jules arrived in the UK 10 years ago and settled in Portsmouth where he built friendships among Filipinos in the area. Despite its thriving community, he noted that the Philippines is less known as a travel destination compared to its neighbouring countries such as Thailand and China.
“I want to re-introduce my country, starting here in the UK and then the rest of the world. After all, our fellow citizens from the Philippines have such a strong presence in the UK and are well-represented in the NHS,” he said.
Jules seems to be achieving what he set out to do. He said that British customers who bought the colouring book had told him that they had learned a lot about the Philippines through the book. “They didn’t know that our country was named after King Philip II of Spain, or that we have colourful festivals.”
He added that “One customer actually spent their honeymoon in the Philippines recently after buying and colouring the book.”
“My British friend appreciates the page where kids play with lorries made from scrap materials…Most kids nowadays are not content with new and branded toys.”
Reminiscing childhood memories
Apart from re-introducing the Philippines to non-Filipino readers, Jules explained that “This book is like a ‘mini diary’ of my whole childhood in Cateel. I wanted to share to the audience my reminiscences of my rural life. When we had no umbrella, we used banana leaves to shield us from the rain. I used to climb trees, eat jackfruit and wash my clothes by the river,” recounted Jules.
“One of the customers [who bought a copy] reached out to me. She was very emotional. She was moved because she, too, was also often reminiscing about her beautiful memories from the past.” He said that now, she can reminisce as well as “colour her memories.”
When asked which is his favourite section of the book, Jules replied, “The travel destination pages because I want people to have a glimpse of how beautiful those tourist spots are and entice them to visit those places in the future.”
Giving back to the community
Aside from deepening and widening people’s awareness about the Philippines, Jules hopes to help his townmates back in Cateel.
“I want to hire more Filipino illustrators. I also want to have an organisation someday that empowers people in rural areas, especially young women.” He added that he would also like to build an animal sanctuary in his hometown. Coming to the UK, Jules has learned to appreciate animals and he would like to impart this to fellow Filipinos back home.
Jules’ book is available on amazon.com/Its-More-Fun-Coloring-Philippines. His second book, It’s More Fun Coloring Beauty Pageant, focuses on beauty pageants and Filipiniana attire while his latest book, It’s More Fun Coloring Halloween, looks at how Filipinos celebrate All Souls Day and All Saints Day – the country’s equivalent of Halloween – and mythical creatures as monster models.
About the author
Delya Apsari is an Indonesian journalist currently pursuing a master’s degree in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She has covered the Surabaya bombings while working for Surya Daily, one of Indonesia’s major newspapers. She has also written for Indonesian online outlets. At Bournemouth, she has led a team to explore stories about racism and inequality in the UK for The Breaker, the news website run by master’s students of the Department of Communication and Journalism.
