My Family Culture

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

What would I take?

1. Photo album of my family
2. Family-made quilts
3. Holy Bible

How do these items represent my family culture?

1. The photo album would contain pictures of family gatherings and celebrations.  My family has had a huge influence on who I am and the pictures could help explain some of them.
2. I would take at least one of our family quilts that I have been passed through generations or one that I've created with my grandmother and mother.  They represent a common thread that connects me with my family.  It is a reminder of how hard we worked together to provide for each other.
3. The Holy Bible represents my family's religion.  If we had to move to a different country, it would be useful in explaining what we believe and why.

How would you feel if you could only keep one of three items upon arrival?

• I would be devasted!  I really don't which item that I would choose but I think I would choose the photo album because it captures more of my family and our culture.  It would be really difficult to leave the other things behind too.

My Insights

• Honestly, I hate this question.  As a teen, I remember people forcing us to answer this question especially within the church youth group.  I find it very difficult to narrow down your most valued possessions into three.  It's like the question - what would you grab at the last second during a fire? What's the most important to you?  I believe for that question I would answer it the same way also.  There are somethings that irreplaceable like photos and family heirlooms (quilts).  Of course, we have memories but they can fade with age (which is really sad!). Some people may have said they would kept the Bible above anything else because their religion has priority but in my opinion the Bible won't save me and I'm fully capable of praying without it so I would probably let it behind.