Growing up in California in a culturally diverse home environment — her mother is from Bolivia and her father is from Chile — Bend resident Ely Blackwood spoke only Spanish until she entered kindergarten. English was not used at home, a method implemented by her parents as part of a conscious effort to keep their South American heritage alive for all three of their children.

“I thank my mom and dad on a regular basis for maintaining that cultural piece for us,” said Blackwood. “The language, the traditions, the food, the importance of family — I would not have as broad of a perspective on the world in general without that understanding of my own heritage.”

Passing along the gift of cultural appreciation to the next generation can be challenging for parents in the best of situations, and can be an even a bigger challenge for those living in Central Oregon, far from their country of origin.

Language is one key element that parents such as Laura and Alex Garcia rely on to keep their culture alive for their children. The Garcias are both from the state of Jalisco in Mexico, although they met and married in Oregon and now live in Redmond. They have two daughters, Nicole, 16 and Annette, 11. At home Garcia and her husband speak Spanish, although sometimes she has to ask her daughters to not respond in English.

“I will say, ‘Spanish, please,’” said Laura Garcia. “Because I want them to be able to communicate with their grandparents, great-grandparents and our family. It is important to be able to communicate with the people we visit, it is important to our family.”

Family is also an important thread in the life of Milena Burnquist Ziober, who came to the United States from Brazil to attend college in California. Her intention was always to return home after graduating. However, a year after arriving, Luis — now her husband — came from Brazil to join her, and the two made the decision to stay in the United States.

The Bend couple take great care to keep their culture alive for themselves and their two daughters, Brisa, 13 and Makaya, 10. Strong family connections play a large role in this, and the entire Ziober family maintains very close ties with their relatives in Brazil and elsewhere in the United States.

“I try to communicate as much as possible with my family,” said Milena Burnquist Ziober. “We talk or Skype daily.”

The Ziobers speak Portuguese to each other at home, although sometimes their daughters are reluctant to respond.

“Especially my oldest daughter,” said Ziober. “She understands everything, she just makes the choice not to respond. I think it is a phase.”

Blackwood can relate to this, as she can recall feeling slightly embarrassed when her parents would speak to her in Spanish in front of her friends.

“I didn’t think it was cool at all, I thought it was weird,” said Blackwood. “Now as an adult I find it funny that I want exactly the same thing for my kids that my parents wanted for me.”

Blackwood’s husband, Scott, has always been interested in learning more about her South American roots, including making the much-appreciated effort to speak Spanish with her family. Before becoming a parent, Blackwood had a vision of speaking only Spanish with her children. Her husband was fully supportive, and with her first child Blackwood was able to stay home and do exactly that. As her family grew, Blackwood re-entered the workforce and discovered that she faced real challenges.

“Their world was completely in English,” said Blackwood. “It was way harder than I had imagined. It is so easy to just turn off the Spanish.”

Facing this same challenge, the Ziobers try to visit Brazil every one or two years, although that can be financially challenging for a family of four. When they do make the trip, the Ziobers stay for several months, allowing the family to experience the language and culture in depth as well as strengthen their family connections.

Visits might not be enough for some family members, as was the case with Blackwood’s parents. John and Julia Elena Fleet, both 67, moved across the country from the East Coast to Central Oregon to be closer to their grandchildren: Serena, Ever and Aiden, ages 12, 10 and 5. Living closely with extended family is also one of their family traditions; Julia Elena’s parents used to spend a lot of time with their grandchildren as they were growing up.

Feeling disconnected from their family and thinking ahead to the environment they would like their own future family to live in prompted Christy Walker, 36 and her husband Alan, 48 to relocate to Central Oregon. They moved to Bend from the Virgin Islands to be nearer to her parents, the Fleets, and her sister’s family, the Blackwoods. Her brother and his family also live on the West coast, allowing for maintaining closer family connections.

“We felt like we were missing out on our nieces and nephews growing up,” said Christy Walker. “Now that we are here we get to be a part of everyone’s lives.”

Walker remembers how influential her extended family was in her life as a child, with her grandparents playing an important role and an uncle pitching in to help with her sports team, coordinating rides and snacks and taking on the role of “team uncle” for all of the players.

Walker’s tight family connections have also influenced her husband, who as an adult has sought out closer connections with his own family of Japanese American descent. When the couple has children of their own they plan on both of their heritages being celebrated within their family.

“We are very blessed and lucky that all of our children’s spouses like our family all together,” said Julia Elena Fleet. “We are very close. When they come to our house we only speak Spanish, my husband plays music on the guitar and they like it — it is their heritage.”

Music can be an excellent bridge to other cultures, creating a connection and understanding that doesn’t solely depend on language. Luis Ziober plays Brazilian music on his guitar for his children, a pastime he enjoys and that helps keep his family connected to their roots.

While raising their three children in California, the Fleet’s home was often filled with music as they taught their children traditional folk dances, which was a big part of their life.

“At every family event without a doubt the guitar will come out,” said Walker. “Growing up we used to be involved in all sorts of cultural events and my sister and I and our cousins would perform folkloric Latino dances while my brother, father—“pap”—and grandpa—“abuelito”—would play the music on guitar and mandolin.”

Food is another common way that families maintain their cultural traditions. The Garcia family loves to eat traditional Mexican food — although Garcia admits to ordering an occasional pizza — while the Fleets, Blackwoods and Walkers feast on recipes handed down from Julia Elena’s Bolivian mother and her husband’s cooking from Chile. And when Ziober bakes Pão de Queijo, a traditional Brazilian cheese bread, she knows that she can count on her daughters to be enthusiastic.

“They love to bake it and they love to eat it too,” said Ziober. “They will bring the bread to school and tell their friends that their mom made it, and they come back and tell me that their friends loved it.”

As important as family and maintaining cultural traditions are, it is also important to adapt well to the culture you are living in, advises Fleet. As a former teacher, an interpreter for teachers at NeighborImpact, and as an active La Roca Cristiana Church and Latino Community Association member, Fleet has had many opportunities to help guide families who have moved to the area from other countries.

“My motivation for helping others came from hearing that Hispanic children were falling behind in school,” said Fleet. “I think the main reason for that is all of the cultural barriers that prevent parents from getting involved, having a voice and helping their kids.”

Encouraging parents to get more involved in their child’s education and activities, she advises them to try very hard to learn English and not isolate themselves. She also suggests that parents consider letting go of certain things from their culture that might be holding their children back in the school environment. One area that she sees as a common issue for Latino families is that their culture is more protective of young children.

“In our culture moms do everything for their child as a way of nurturing and caring. But here in the United States we promote independence at an early age,” said Fleet. “When we do everything for our children it leads to them being more dependent and it seems like they will always be waiting for someone to do something for them. They need to be given opportunities to develop and try to do things for themselves at an early age.”

It can be challenging for parents to find a way to both preserve family cultural heritage and simultaneously embrace and adapt to American culture.

“I say all the time to just embrace the fact that you are multicultural and look at it as a huge benefit,” said Blackwood, who works as a bilingual advocate at Saving Grace.

Blackwood said that many of the women she speaks to in this situation are concerned that if their child is seen as “different” from others due to their language or culture that they will not fit in at school. As a result they do not encourage their children to maintain their language and traditions.

“I try to let them know that it is important to keep their cultural piece alive and part of their children’s upbringing,” said Blackwood. “It is possible for kids to have both worlds. Sometimes it does seem like two completely different worlds but they do come together.”

A multicultural upbringing can be seen as providing a distinct advantage in life.

“It is not just about our culture,” said Ziober. “They have dual passports, and they have this language, which can be a key to anywhere. Both of us emphasize to our children that these can be helpful in getting jobs, traveling the world, and opening doors in the future.”

Walker can attest to that, both from her own personal experience growing up in a bilingual household and as the Latino College Preparation Coordinator for Central Oregon Community College. In this role she teaches Latino high school students to prepare them for entering college.

“As an adult I can say that being bilingual definitely opened doors for me as far as employment,” said Walker. “I try to instill cultural pride in the students and let them know that being Latino should not be seen as a hindrance but that it provides opportunities.”

Embracing one’s cultural heritage is something that can lead to more than just personal empowerment.

“The more we know about ourselves and the world around us the more we can enjoy and appreciate it,” said Blackwood. “If our community as a whole would become more culturally inclusive we would find that there are amazing things to be learned from all people. This is a big passion of mine, and I attribute that to where I come from and my parent’s passion to maintain their culture. I guess it is in our blood, and I am hoping that it is in my children’s blood too.”