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Camarines woman finds bridge to her heart in N.J. foundation
What do you do when you’re desperate and nearing the end of your rope? Diane Beltran, 28, who is suffering from a rheumatic heart valve disease had nowhere else to go. The daughter of a street food vendor in Camarines Sur was steadily losing weight and whatever was ailing her, she knew her family could […]
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Dream come true
By Elton Lugay Aaron Enrick Gernarde, 18, had mixed feelings when he heard the news that President Obama is putting an end to the deportation of undocumented students. “Sana green card na agad,” he was exuberant at first and skeptical next. “Is that a sure thing. And then what?” Aaron and his family came to […]
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Embassy names outstanding youth leaders; 2 from N.Y.
Two community organizers from New York made the 10 Filipino American Youth Leadership Program awardees. Steven Raga, founder of the Pilipino American Unity for Progress (UniPro); and Michael Vea, co-founder of the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) Infinity Charter School, will be joining the Ambassadors, Consuls General, and Tourism Directors Tour from July 11 to […]
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The resilient, resurgent race
By Cristina DC Pastor Ray Sison arrived in America when he was 6. He is brown, he was shy, he is small, and many made fun of his accent. His guidance counselor in Jersey City told him not to bother applying to schools in New York because he wouldn’t make it. But Ray ignored the […]
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Salsa for Rafael
By Cristina DC Pastor A death in the family would, in a strange kind of way, put the swing back into Mary Jane San Gabriel’s life. Also the cha cha, the merengue and the salsa. Her U.S.-based sister passed away in 2005. From Singapore, this chemical engineer rushed to New Jersey to take on the […]
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‘Aids no longer scares me’
By Elton Lugay “Aids is no longer a death sentence,” proclaimed Willie Espera of the Brooklyn public library as we walked with his partner and 45,000 others around Central Park for the May 20 Annual Aids Walk New York. Joining the walk was important for Willie, who is HIV- positive. “I’m doing this because I […]
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Looking for a bone marrow donor at a Santacruzan
This Sunday, May 27, as we revel in our Maytime Santacruzan and get lost in the maze of our festive street fair, let’s stop by the Be a Match table to ask how we can help Kristen “Krystle” Felten. Krystle is a 27-year-old Filipina-Mexican from California who was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in December. […]
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Juilliard artists to share talents with students in Samar
Six artists from The Juilliard School will visit the Philippines June 4 to July 1 as part of an outreach program to perform, teach and “create meaningful exchange” with Filipino artists and students. The visiting artists are led by Filipinos Leonides Arpon and Kendra Samson, the first Filipina recipient of a full scholarship to the […]
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Learning to paint with (s)oil
Artist Ma. Rosalie Zerrudo connects young students to the Talaandig people of Bukidnon and other tribes in Mindanao through the Talaandig Soil Painting Lesson & Workshop on April 28 in Jersey City. The Talaandig soil painting is known to use the color of the soil in paintings, resulting in images enriched by the earthy tones […]