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For Haiyan families, a bowl of soup can make a difference
By Melody Garcia-Muniz An all-volunteer Mobile Soup Kitchen for Kids (MSKK) was organized to feed children and families in dire need of assistance following the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm ever to hit the Philippines Formed immediately in the aftermath of the super typhoon in November 2013, MSKK went to Tacloban with […]
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Where there’s hurricane or bombing, there’s a warden eager to help
By Jen Furer In 2012, my sheltered view of America was shattered when I received this message on Facebook: “I am Lisa and I live in one of the Arab countries. I am searching for a Filipino community that can help me because I am very worried for my mother who is working with an […]
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A lost phone and then a storybook for kids: A family pays it forward
By Joseph Jerome Francia Almost a year ago today, I lost my iPhone at a car wash. I drove home a clean, shiny car, while ruefully estimating the cost of a replacement phone. Despondent, I thought: This has got to be my most expensive car wash. Minnie, my ever supportive wife, tried to console me. […]
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2 years after superstorm Sandy, how is RN hero Menchu de Luna Sanchez doing?
By Cristina DC Pastor She is still working at the NYU Langone Medical Center but in another department. She still lives in her Secaucus, New Jersey home with her husband Judith (yes, the girl’s name) and children Jude and Michelle, their home for the last 22 years. She still looks back with overflowing pride at […]
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Bohol Earthquake, a year on: a presentation on Oct. 21
On October 15, 2013 at 8:12 a.m., a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit the island of Bohol, Philippines. About 350,000 people were displaced and several of the Philippines’ historic coral stone churches, dating from the 18th through the 20th centuries, were damaged or destroyed. This sudden and devastating event is a reminder that the country lies […]
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FilAms urged to join Sept. 21st People’s Climate March
On September 21, 2014, people in and near New York City will have a historic opportunity to make an impact on climate change by joining the People’s Climate March. In September, the United Nations is convening the world’s top leaders for a summit on the climate crisis. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging governments to […]
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Remembering the heroism at 9/11 on the tragedy’s 13th anniversary
By Ludy Astraquillo Ongkeko, Ph.D. When the ninth month of each year makes its appearance, it is incredulous to numbers who live on these shores that those terrorist attacks, tragedies of indescribable enormity, happened a decade and three years ago: September 11, 2001. Yet, memories linger. Indeed, it is inevitable to absorb what did happen […]
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The bamboo and a B.O.N.G.G.A. campaign for climate awareness in the Philippines
After powerful typhoon Haiyan slammed the Philippines in November, Iowa student Vanessa Fixmer-Oraiz thought she would like to raise awareness about the changing climate in the birthplace of her mother. At the center of her campaign is the bamboo, this eco-friendly tree common in Asia and known for its value to biodiversity. The bamboo is […]
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Ninotchka Rosca to report on how women, children are re-building their lives after Haiyan
“Typhoon Haiyan, “ said writer and women’s advocate Ninotchka Rosca, “is a vivid illustration of what’s coming with climate change. It is incumbent for all of us to take full measure of its toll on human life. This is not just for those of Philippine ancestry. No race, no ethnicity can escape these changes, and […]