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FilAms usher in the New Year with a…brrr… polar plunge
By Cristina DC Pastor When it was time, Chrissi Fabro stripped down to her Betty Paige bikini and jumped into the freezing waters of the Coney Island Beach with about 2,000 others. She got out after 30 seconds when her feet began to feel numb and heavy, and went back in the water for another […]
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Has ‘crab mentality’ crept into the ranks of second generation FilAms? (Part 3)
By Kristina Rodulfo During a meeting at NYU, I met with Ronald Rapatalo, the 1995-1996 president of the NYU’s International Filipino Association, where I was president. IFA started in 1985 originally as an intramural campus basketball team and evolved into a full-fledged organization with educational, cultural and social programming. Rapatalo told me of his involvement […]
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Leadership burnout: Why youth lose interest in community organizing after graduation (Part 2)
By Kristina Rodulfo That last point on collaboration hangs in limbo most, according to former FIND leaders. One time National Director Steven Raga recalled proposing to expand FIND to Southern California in 2007. His idea was rejected because of restrictions supposedly related to FIND’s 501c3 nonprofit status. No such status existed; FIND only recently achieved […]
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INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING PROJECT: Campus organizations no longer breeding ground for future leaders: The story of FIND, Inc. (Part 1)
By Kristina Rodulfo The sounds of cheers, chants and chaos you hear at any opening ceremony of a FIND Inc. conference draw striking resemblance to a sports game. The bi-annual gatherings for Filipino American college students on the East Coast feel like pep rallies, with each of FIND’s seven districts excitedly reciting prepared, coordinated anthems. […]
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A Balikbayan Manifesto
Last year, about a dozen fellows from Kaya Collaborative spent some time in the Philippines to learn about the country of their parents and a culture that seemed vague to some and complex to others. For several months, they lived with host families and relatives, got to shake hands with government officials, had conversations with […]
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City officials, FilAm community hail team of nurses who assisted in the care of Ebola doctor
Dr. Craig Spencer, the patient treated for Ebola Virus Disease, is free of the virus and was discharged November 11 from Bellevue Hospital. After a rigorous course of treatment, safety procedures and testing, the Bellevue team determined Spencer is healthy and poses no public health risk. “I am pleased to announce that we were able […]
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Kabataang Makabayan as the proverbial Boomer at 50: Are its ideals still relevant?
By Cristina DC Pastor On November 30, 1964, a geeky-looking student leader from UP founded the Kabataang Makabayan (KM), visioning it as a network of youth with socialist ideals who would be part of a campaign for a “Philippine revolution against foreign and feudal domination.” That revolution sought to establish a country led not by […]
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FIND’s Fall Dialogue throws challenge to students: ‘Ikaw Na: Your Move’
The Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue (FIND, Inc.) is pleased to announce this year’s Fall Dialogue, themed “Ikaw Na: Your Move.” The conference will be held on November 15, 2014 at Steven’s Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. Dialogue joins the national conference series initiated by Pilipino American Unity For Progress (UniPro), Fil-Am Young Leaders […]
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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 […]