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Creating art while battling cancer, how Leani Auxilio heals
By Cristina DC Pastor On Leani Auxilio’s bed at Mt. Sinai St. Luke’s hospital are drawing papers and pencils of different colors. On days when she is not exhausted after a will-sapping chemotherapy treatment, she likes to draw to keep busy. At times, she turns to the Procreate app on her iPad where she sketches, […]
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The day PAFCOM served up Filipino food at a soup kitchen
On February 18, which was Presidents Day, sisters Krismarie and Marykirsten Taino woke up early to help out at the Let’s Celebrate Soup Kitchen on Fairview Avenue in Jersey City. The teens, together with their mother Maricar Taino, were among the dozen volunteers from the Philippine American Friendship Community, Inc. (PAFCOM) who served breakfast and […]
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A Valentine medical mission in Marawi to heal body and spirit
By Feddie A. Espiritu Love was in the air in the ravaged city of Marawi as Muslim family refugees and Christian medical mission volunteers set aside religious differences harmonized by charity and human needs. On Valentine’s Day weekend, children and adults greeted volunteers of a medical mission and swarmed over boxes of medicines and vitamins, […]
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Lilwyn Dyer: Educating nurses on how to prepare for retirement
By Cristina DC Pastor When Lilwyn Lucas Dyer of Ridgefield, Connecticut came to the U.S. in 1992 and was looking to carve a career for herself, she studied to become a nurse at first. “I started (with Nursing) because I thought it didn’t involve complicated Math subjects,” she said. Ironically, she ended up with a […]
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Loida Nicolas Lewis is new board chair of Children’s Orchestra Society
The Children’s Orchestra Society (COS) has announced it has elected Loida Nicolas Lewis, a pianist and advocate for culture and the arts, as its new chairperson of the board. The COS, founded in the 1960s by the late Dr. Hiao Tsiun Ma — father of renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Dr. Yeou-Cheng Ma – made […]
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Elaine Ficarra discovers the land of her mother
By Cristina DC Pastor In July this year, Pennsylvania-born Elaine Ficarra joined three other youngsters on a trip to the Philippines. She traveled with Bronx teen Feih Hidalgo, IT student Calvin Santiago from New Hampshire, and Alexandra Brown, a Filipina who lives in Australia. There is a common thread tying Elaine, a 17-year-old singer and […]
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Bima Baje: Stem cells help the body heal itself
By Cristina DC Pastor “How’s your snake oil, honey? Is it really working?” Accountant Bima Baje can afford a joke now as she looks back at a time she was very new in the cell therapy industry. Today, she is one of few Filipino Americans who know their stuff about stem cell therapy. She and […]
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Joshua Ang Price: An Asian in Arkansas
Joshua’s mother Teresita Acervo Ang grew up in Roxas City, Capiz and attended Philippine Women’s University in Manila, where she studied nursing. The Philippines was then under President Marcos’ martial law. While working at Makati Medical Center, Teresita saw tanks and soldiers patrolling the streets. A 9 p.m. curfew was strictly enforced, and there were […]
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Manila teens invited to train at prestigious NYC ballet school
By April Deocariza Two Filipino students who performed on stage with Stella Abrera and her fellow American Ballet Theatre colleagues are now in New York City receiving the training experience of a lifetime. Steps Dance Studio scholars Elwince Magbitang and Raye Vince Pelegrin, both 16 years old, received invitations to study for one year at […]