- I had a struggle for a long time
to find out who I was, I'm not just Mexican
or Filipino or White, I am a Latina
and I am proud, I'm Pita and that's all that really matters.
(excited beat)
- Hello and welcome to Mi Quinceanera Come True.
The show in which the BetterLike team helps
soon to be quinceaneras achieve their dream quinces.
I'm so excited to introduce you to Pita
an amazing girl from San Diego,
who comes from a multicultural family
that prioritizes giving back.
Hey, you wanna meet my friend Pita?
She's my best friend, you gotta best friend?
You don't 'cause you're a doll.
Lets meet her.
- Hi, I'm Pita Birkbeck and I'm having
a Quinceanera, I do theater, I've done theater
since I was four years old.
- When she was a little girl and she was always,
you know, wanting to perform and stuff like that
and so, very early on, we got her involved
in the San Diego Junior Theater.
- I also take Chinese, I've been taking since first grade
and I can speak some Spanish, I raise awareness for
things like the The Caravan, I always raise my voice
for stuff.
- I think she's just really confident
and independent and I can see the strength.
I think our family is know for having
really strong women and, you know,
what we say its like--
(speaking in foreign)
so I see the quince in her and very growing into her own.
- Just a sweet girl who loves life and loves people
and is passionate about things.
And I'm really lucky to be her mum.
- My mum is a doctor and she heard about
this opportunity to go down to
the other side of the border and provide medical
care for The Caravan.
- I am actually a pediatrician, there are
a lot of doctors volunteering
but there wasn't very many pediatricians
volunteering and I decided to go
and I saw the need of these kids
and when I came home and I talked to them about it,
Pita, right away, was like, what can I do to help?
Can I go down?
- So the next weekend, she took me
and we went down and I took their vitals,
I did their blood pressure, their heart rate
and I, like, heard some of their stories,
some of them walked all the way,
some teenagers left their families.
- It just was important, I think,
for those kids to see that not only
adults cared, but another kid cared, too.
- We just met up with Pita's family
and they're so nice and loving
and instead of us making a financial contribution
to her quince, they want us to donate
our time and go help the migrant families at the border.
So, I guess we're taking the entire BetterLike
team and going to TJ, lets go.
Hello everyone, good morning, we are here,
in San Diego, we are on our way to a location
to meet up with the refugee help alliance.
So, we're actually volunteering with, today
and gonna go to TJ, we have a bunch
of supplies in the back that were graciously
donated by everyone at Buzzfeed and friends
and family and everything, so,
we're gonna go volunteer, I'm excited to
see Pita, we're gonna get a glimpse of her life
and exactly what she does.
Hi Pita.
- Hi, so, we're gonna start by walking
to our headquarters, then we split up,
get our Ubers, head to the clinic
and then, we set up shop, we set up the tables,
we set up chairs for a waiting area,
lay out the medicines and we start getting to work.
My mum will be working with some of the doctors,
there's my mum and then I, kind of,
will be working with the children
and I have bubbles, a lot of bubbles
and we're gonna color and its just
fun to see their faces when they,
when I come because they're all happy
and they're all running around
and its just a really good experience.
(trumpets blaring)
- So, we just arrived, where are we at?
- We're at the blood clinic.
- Over the Summer, the pastor of this shelter
actually reached out to be because he had
heard about the work that I'd previously done
over at the other camps and shelters.
And he actually reached out to me on Facebook,
asking me if we could actually come to provide
medical care at his shelter, and so,
since about November, we've been coming here
every single week to provide treatment
for about 30 to 70 people.
- It has grown a lot because not that
they're coming every weekend we've seen the flow of things,
Melinda's team have done a fabulous job
listening to the doctors that come
and getting from us, our input and actually
that into work and so we are actually able to see
more patients, more efficiently
and get them the medications that they need, now.
- Right now, we have about 40 volunteers
with us on site, spread across three
different shelters across the city.
- A lot of the BetterLike team played
with the kids, which was really fun,
Claudia became the hair stylist
and temporary tattoo artist for these people.
I just had a lot of fun today,
getting to like, actually do what I love
with my inspirations from BetterLike,
there's no words to describe how happy I am, right now.
Being able to combine two of my worlds.
Just spread the word about these people
and what you've seen in the video
and just, you see these humans too,
so just finding something to stick up for is,
its a lot of work but, in the end,
it really does help.
(sad piano)
(upbeat music)
- Oh my Gosh, we've made it to Pita's quinceanera.
This is my first quinceanera, I never had one,
I feel like, tonight, I'm gonna be living
vicariously through her, I saw her in her
dress and she looks beautiful
and I heard that there's gonna be,
like, a paella station, a coffee cart,
dances, she's gonna have, like,
this grand entrance and I'm so excited to experience this.
And I'm ready to eat and dance honestly.
So, lets go.
(church organ)
- Quite honestly, when we found out
we were pregnant with a girl,
I freaked out because I have all brothers
and mostly uncles and I was the only girl
and then, the first time I held
her in my arms, I was like, wow, I can do this.
And started dreaming about her quinceanera,
I think she wasn't even one years old
and I was already talking about her quinceanera.
- I'm pretty sure she was planning the quinceanera
before our wedding.
- She's been planning this since, like,
her 15th birthday, I thought it would be
a great experience to bond with my mother.
I mean, we're really close, my family is really close
and I've learned a lot about my culture,
I think that's one of the most valuable things.
- Pita, oh my gosh, you did it, you're a woman, now.
How do you feel?
Like, going through the church ceremony.
- The church ceremony, my Spanish is not so good,
so, I was, kind of, guessing what he said.
And when he asked me questions, I was like.
(laughing)
- Relatable.
- Yeah.
- Do you feel, like, different in any way?
- A little, I call myself mature and responsible.
- Yes.
- So, I like, try to help out around the house.
I'm gonna take more initiative at my house.
To, like, really surprise my parents
by cleaning when they don't ask me to.
- Oh my God.
I probably should have had a party like that,
so maybe I would have been a little more helpful,
around the house, listen, you're about to do
your grand entrance. - Yes.
- What does that mean?
- We all enter in, in some grand fashion
and make a big loop and hello.
And then, basically, the party starts,
I'm not sure the schedule for this,
there's gonna be paella over there.
I'm so excited for the food and the party.
- I'm so excited to see the show.
Feel like you're just gonna be performing
and, like, glowing and, like, I'm Pita.
And I'm gonna be like, I know her, hi.
- A lot of times, Pita feels like she caught
between two worlds, being mixed.
So, I wanted to have something
that was our culture and our tradition.
Preserved in the family, it just is another
way for me to share with her our family,
have this be a memory that she has for her life.
- Its traditional in the sense
that it is a quinceanera and it has,
you know, like, the latino culture to it.
- The theme of my quinceanera is Hollywood.
I just wanna see, like, the energy of a quinceanera.
The smiles, the dancing on the dance floor.
Its the family that I haven't seen
in forever, the friends I haven't seen in forever.
- [Anne Marie] Now, she's not having
(speaking in foreign)
she's having, like, a dance accord.
- [Pita] I just wanted to have my six closest friends
and we're just all gonna, like, dance
and have fun.
(waltzing music)
- [Anne Marie] She's gonna have a first dance with her dad
but its not gonna be a traditional waltz,
he's not a big doll person but I did wanna
do some tradition with it, so,
we're gonna move her from a pair of flats
into her first set of heels.
- I think one of the things that we
had incorporated, just recently,
was to try to actually add some Filipino traditions too.
- Anne it does have some Filipino culture
and heritage from her mum.
- For the 18th birthday, in the Filipino culture,
they actually have this ceremony
where everybody brings up a rose, 18 roses.
So, we're gonna do something very similar,
where we're gonna have 15 people
come up, give her a rose.
- Thank you, Pita, for being such
a loving and caring sister and always being there for me.
- [Maya] Its really cool to see that diversity
within the family and everybody embracing that diversity.
- My friends, my family, they can all just
forget their worries and just have some fun
and dance it out and, you know,
just have a place to relax and, just,
not have to worry about the world.
So, I'd like to thank a few people.
Thank my parents for raising,
thank my Godparents for their help
and shout out to the photographers
and Buzzfeed here, I just feel like
this is a really big deal, turning 15,
'cause its another year closer to me,
being able to, like, make an impact in the world.
Which is, like, my true goal
and, so, Buzzfeed is helping me out with that.
Because they're filming me do community service
in TJ, to help The Caravan, try to change
the world, while you can, if you can give me
one thing for my birthday, that's it, just change the world.
- Well Pita, you danced, you changed your shoes,
you danced again, how do you feel?
- Mixed emotions, I'm really happy about
the party and I'm happy, like, crying a lot,
and I don't really cry.
- [Maya] How did you feel when, like,
all those people came up to you
and said those amazing things about you
and held those roses and gave them to you?
- I've struggled with depression
and anxiety for a lot of my life
and so, just knowing that these 15 people
or so are there to help me, it just, like,
really made me feel good and knowing that
I can turn to those people, that I've known forever
and that I've never really thought of turning to,
that just, kind of, made me happy.
- You're so wise beyond your years, like,
just to have that acknowledgment that you
have those people in your life is, like,
amazing, you combined all of your cultures together,
all of your family and your friends.
Like, how does that feel, to see them all here?
Do you feel, like, fulfilled in a way?
- [Pita] Bringing them all together, like the more American
side of my family, and the Mexican, Filipino side
and they're all dancing, seeing everyone together.
- Everyone is dancing to, like, the gumbias tonight,
which is amazing.
Thank you so much, Pita, for letting me experience
my first quinceanera, I'm so glad
that it was celebrating you, who is such an
amazing, thoughtful, just extraordinary young woman.
I can not wait to see what you will be doing.
I had an amazing time at Pita's quinceanera.
It was first quinceanera ever,
I had somewhat of an idea what to expect
but this was so beautiful because her family
is Filipino and Mexican and we got
our dance on a little bit.
During the quinceanera, I was, kind of,
just observing everything 'cause I wanted
to see Pita in her element and I think that
was my favorite part 'cause I got to see
her interacting with her family
and accepting these beautiful things that they were
saying about her but also be goofy with her family
and her friends, me and Pita are, like,
kindred spirit because she can be serious,
goofy but also very powerful
and she knows the kind of power and influence
that she has in this world and she is gonna
use it for good and to see that
in a 15 year old is uncommon, honestly.
And the fact that she does all of this volunteer
work for a better cause, that is more than
I've ever done in my life.
She is just such an unbelievable girl
and I can not wait to see what
she will do in these next coming years.
And I just hope that she keep that fire within her
and continues to uplift the community
and involve all of her friends,
who don't know about these things
that are going on in the world,
so that we can, together, help the world
be a better place and that was just so inspiring to me,
just to be around her, and she's 15,
have I said that already?
You know what I was doing at 15?
Crying was Joe Johnasten loved me.
We need more Pita's in this world.
Stay tuned for the next episode of Mi Quinceanera Come True.
(sparkling)
(latino music)