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6th-grader’s essay comparing 9/11 and COVID wins 1st place
By Grethel Bolandrina “Sadly, COVID-19 and 9/11 have also provoked discrimination within people of different races. 9/11 turned a few people against Muslims and the Coronavirus against the Chinese. If there’s one good thing that came out of these disastrous events, it would be that the world and people came together for each other. Citizens […]
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My COVID diary
By Boyet Loverita It was the afternoon of March 11, 2020. I was doing food shopping at our neighborhood grocery store after we attended an event at the Philippine Consulate in Midtown. My phone rang, and it’s my wife Lindy. She sounded frantic and told me to go back home ASAP. I left the grocery […]
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Tears for the 500,000
The FilAm Editorial The number is mind-numbing. 500,000. At least half a million American lives lost to the stealth killer coronavirus. Thousands of them of Filipino ethnicity. Almost 300 of them Filipino American doctors, nurses, and other health care frontliners, based on data from Kanlungan.net, a memorial dedicated to Filipinos in the healthcare system. How […]
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Senior citizen gets vaccinated…without leaving her car
By Ludy Astraquillo Ongkeko, Ph.D. Since the news about the pandemic’s beginnings in March 2020, most everyone had hoped the talked-about vaccines would be realized. Science responded positively. What was made emphatic was how there would be “priority” given to members of the seniors community. The news was indeed hailed. My son requested an appointment for me […]
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Remembering: Eating with my face shield on
Find the person who will ‘sit with you in the dark’ By Ness Bantog I remember the morning after my son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I woke up with eyes puffy from the night before and immediately started crying. I just could not imagine how we would figure this life out. I was […]
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Remembering: Lolo Eddie died in a casino
2 kidneys? I’ll take them! By Menchu De Luna Whew! What a journey! When my transplant did not push through in the Philippines in August of 2019, I thought that I was done! When the doctors told me that they cannot do my transplant anymore, I felt that the world fell on me, and I […]
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Creations from a crisis: Handbags with matching scarves, face masks
When Blue Dreams USA, a small farm boutique located in Frederick, Maryland was temporarily closed due to the pandemic, Imelda Roberts and Jeff Snively, co-owners, decided to find creative ways to sustain their business. To power up its online site, Blue Dreams USA is introducing a new product line called BSM-ART Wear by Imelda Roberts, […]
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Queens neighborhood gets free COVID tests
On a frigid January 30 morning, Rosalia Lapena walked two blocks to Monarch Clinic on Woodside and saw a line forming. The long-time Queens resident was among the 50 people who got tested – or swabbed — for free for possible Coronavirus infection by way of a PCR COVID-19 test. “This is a very much-needed […]
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Student nurses use art to heal through the pandemic
By Gretheline Bolandrina As the number of infections with the new COVID-19 variants continues to rise, frontline workers are being pushed beyond breaking point. Coping with the stress and anxiety is a struggle for many health care workers as it is for nursing students who are just getting their feet wet. In an online collaboration, student […]