On Mother's Day: Nikki Here At Last

By Marivir R. Montebon
New York City
Leani Alnica Auxilio was born to us on July 27, 1992 when I was 26 years old; motherhood changed my life. Indian spiritual leader Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh said, “The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.”

Before a mother experiences the immense joy of seeing her child’s smile and tiny fingers and feet and hearing those sweet gurgling sounds in the morning, she goes through hell with pain and physical and chemical changes in her body.

I studied Lamaze with my editor Lilette Santos to help me manage my breathing, so that I do not have to scream in pain at childbirth. It helped me go through the 28 hours of excruciating labor. My doctor was getting ready to get me into Caesarian Section because of the long labor hours, which weakened me because of lack of sleep and food.

The pangs of childbirth were the most terrible pain I had experienced. In the early morning of July 27, it felt like my back was splitting in half as the contractions progressed. At nine centimeter dilation, my bag of water broke and I was told to walk to the labor room.

When the doctor told me to push and never to stop until she is able to pull the baby out of me and I did as she said, I felt like I was pushing a 40-foot container truck all by myself. How I wish I could quantify the pain of child bearing to approximate how horribly excruciating the word push means!

I asked to have the doctor and the medical staff prop up my back on the delivery bed because I could not breathe if laid down. The doctor instructed me to push and never to stop till the count of 20, I stopped at count 15 and said I cannot make it anymore. I saw a panicked expression from my doctor’s face as she ordered for forceps, which to me looked like clamps for bread, only larger. My baby was forced out of my womb using forceps!

In a few minutes, I couldn’t believe I saw a tiny, hairy creature slipping out of my body…and she was wailing. To me, she looked like the ewok I always watched on Fridays on TV.

The doctor said it was a difficult delivery because I couldn’t hold on to my pushing, and the baby was already in the vaginal canal. She could no longer call for a CS.

It was true what my mother and grandmother said; that at childbirth, you will realize that life is a miracle. This crucial moment could claim the lives of both or either mother and child, after all.

Instantly I felt a mix of joy and exhaustion when I held her. Lilette, teary-eyed that she has again helped another friend at giving birth, told me, there is your baby, as she was being washed in the sink by the nurse. I whispered to Lilette, does my baby have complete body parts, to which she replied, teasing: she has a third eye on her forehead. And we laughed.

I saw my baby who had eyes that were narrow slits, so much like a Chinese doll, with spiky soft hair running all over the place. Tired but joyful, I held her for a short time before she was immediately taken to the nursery.

After that tender, tender first moment with her, I went through the first of many torturous ordeals: when the doctor stitched back my vaginal laceration.

And then I had to be hospitalized a week after I gave birth, due to extreme anemia. My hematocrite level was down to 6 (the normal level is 12). My family was alarmed when I fainted after talking to a friend on the phone, and rushed me to the hospital to have blood transfusions.

Oh, and did I mention that I also went through post-partum blues, that vampire that every woman must brace herself against, after a horrifying experience of childbirth?

Mine included gaining enormous weight (I shot to 130 lbs. from a petite 98), and realizing that motherhood was a womb to tomb responsibility (each time I watched my baby sleeping in the crib, this thought bothered me).

The weight gain proved to be more depressing to me than the exaggerated thought of my maternal responsibilities. All my pants didn’t fit me anymore. I could put them on only up to my thighs. For several months, I had to wear the same maternity dresses. It felt awful.

I refuse to believe that there is such a thing as maternal instinct in an instant and in absolute terms. Maternal skills are to be learned. I didn’t know how to calm Nikki down when she cried like crazy. I didn’t know how to bathe her either.
When she would cry so angrily that her face would turn blue, I would hold her up by the armpits and bring her to my mother. Mommy, could you quiet her please. I don’t know how to do this… this was the constant plea I remember asking my mother every time.

Well, I realized that the trick is just to put a wailing baby on your chest and rub her back. When Nikki was no longer a baby and well into her Terrible Twos, however, I found it easy to ignore her during each of her temper tantrums. As a result my daughter has learned to use her head and reason with me whenever she wants something from me (perhaps a little too well). But I am getting ahead of myself.

My cousin Mary Ann, a nurse, taught me how to properly bathe Nikki the day she flew to Saudi Arabia for work. Since then, Mario and I have gained confidence that no, we will not accidentally slip and drown our child in the tub of water.

After the first few months, motherhood was an absolute joy to me. I saw her through many things, including walking, reading and swimming. Oh, and yes, of course; how can one forget potty training? My baby didn’t stop wetting the bed each night until she was nine years old. She will not appreciate me writing that, but she will forgive me. Among one of the most important things I taught Nikki was how to laugh at herself.

The longest time I was away from my daughter was one year and six months, but it seemed like a lifetime. Now I knew how it felt to be away from the person you truly love. My heart melted away when I saw families together as I walked through the crazy streets of Times Square, or in beaches, or anywhere else.

I told myself, I will do the best I can to bring her close to me once again, at least before she reaches the age of majority.

I had to wait for unica hija to graduate high school in March of 2009 and had to give her three months to officially bid her friends and family goodbye. America waits for you, I told her. I knew she was apprehensive and would have preferred to stay in Cebu where life is so much more comfortable than uncertain.

I focused my time and resources to getting Nikki back with me in New York. It was a difficult feat, emotionally and financially. Expenses for her immigration papers, interview, medical, airfare, and so on strapped me down financially.


All that careful, calculated planning finally paid off in May, 2009, when she and my sister Joan finally flew in, entering California.

Happy was an understatement. Joyful was I. What more could a mother ask for! I have been so blessed to be able to bring her in such a short period of time.

For my mother, Nikki’s coming to the US was a joyful occasion, too. For the first time in nine years, my siblings and I were gathered together again. We could have wanted our father to be with us too, but it wasn’t meant to be yet. I was just grateful that I saw my two brothers and sister in America.

We were all in California for three days until Nikki and I flew back to New York to start our new life together. I was a hands-on mother again, to a homesick and culture-shocked teenager that is.

I did not realize that the challenges would once again be that huge. Nikki came to the US at the time when the economy was in a terrible shape. But our lives as mother-daughter have just begun.

(Excerpts from Biting the Big Apple: Memoirs of a Journalist Turned Immigrant www.amazon.com)

 

[caption id="attachment_1675" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Xocai Dark Chocolate: It is a healthy love.[/caption]

IDLE NO MORE: Canada's First Nations Struggle to Defend Mother Earth

By Marivir R. Montebon

"...To live in peace, friendship, and harmony on Mother Earth, the place that gave us birth..." - From Idle No More, by Alex  Jacobs, a Mohawk and a visual artist.

[caption id="attachment_2279" align="alignleft" width="168"] Sylvia McAdam[/caption]

New York -- Cree Nation leader Sylvia McAdam told her audience in New York City that Alex Jacobs one time approached her and asked what he can do for the ongoing movement of indigenous peoples in Canada who were voicing out to respect their lands against corporate encroachments.

"You know, one cannot underestimate the youth. I told this young person, just do whatever you can," Sylvia, a lawyer, intimated.

"Two weeks later, he approached me, and showed me his poem, Idle No More. His search is over. As a young person, he knows he has to add his voice to our call to save Mother Earth. The poem has become the name of our movement to save Mother Earth."

In the city that never sleeps, the Saturday of May 25, 2013, was one of those deep, meaningful gatherings I attended, to listen to two speakers from Canada, feisty and gracious women leaders in the indigenous people's breaking of silence.

[caption id="attachment_2281" align="alignright" width="168"] Kerry Coast[/caption]

"There is such thing as acquiescence in Canada, meaning your silence is taken as a consent. But the indigenous peoples were never silent. They were silenced," says Journalist Kerry Coast who wrote the book "Colonial Present", a documentation of legal and social conflicts that hound the indigenous peoples of the Turtle island (the indigenous name of Canada), the Canadian government, and giant corporations.

Kerry and McAdams alternately pitched on the situation in their land, which they said, had been wrongfully reported by the press.

"I chose to be the media for my people, because the press in Canada has not reported the truth. In Turtle Island (Canada), many prayers are being said. Mother Nature is suffering. We are struggling to protect our lands for our children, and for seven generations more. We are taught that way," said McAdams.



Coast said that they hope to eventually translate the people's movement into a political electoral voice. The First Nations say that an impending law, Bill C-45 impinges on the daily lives of the aborigines and disrespects all treaties and aboriginal lands. They also want to quash the FIPPA, an investment law, which grants corporations massive authority over resources.

The messages were compelling enough that immediately someone from the audience asked, "how can we help here in America?" The conference room of the National Writers Union - NYC where the forum took place, upon the initiative of the women's group AF3IRM NYC, naturally turned to an assembly of fired up and enlightened citizens.

"There is every reason to take action and raise our voices together, because the water of Canada, for example, goes downstream to the US. There is too much toxicity and death of our rivers," said McAdams.

One from Hawaii opined that peoples all over the world must rally around the implementation of the International
Indigenous Sovereign Law, and oppose the ongoing genocide of peoples and the devastation of sacred resources.

McAdams points out, "We have the technology for renewable resources to do that and live harmoniously with nature.
The multinational corporations don't want that, they want fast money without regard to the effects on people and the
environment."

[caption id="attachment_2278" align="alignleft" width="168"] Patricia Ann Davis[/caption]

American indigenous leader Patricia Anne Davis of Choctaw-Navajo from Arizona shared a reflection: learn to use the power within us. "We are all currently living in a parasite system, a global system in the world. But the age now is breaking silence, because in the tribal language, submission-domination does not exist. And it has been proven that the win-lose situation that is being propagated right now does not last long, it creates imbalance. We break our silence by using the power within us."

Babaylan Ines Carinugan

Stories We Were Told, Stories We Will Tell

By Ninotchka Rosca

New York City
The last major battle in Cagayan Valley, Philippines, against Spanish occupation was waged under the leadership of a woman, a babaylan (priestess) of the Itawes tribe, by the name of Ines Carinugan. A friend emails her story to me, apropos of what, I do not know. Ines was also a mandyadyawak (a healer who also conducts rituals and dances, as oppose to the
herbolario, who uses concoctions from plants and animals). I wonder now whether a mandyadyawak was ipso facto a babaylan, though the reverse may not hold true. In any case, the Itawes tribe contemplated rebellion on the heels of an uprising led by Magalat in the lowlands. Magalat's mother had convinced him to forego Catholicism and return to tribal ways, making my friend suspect she was a babaylan as well. Magalat's rebellion was so fierce it required treachery to defeat it; he was assassinated by "friends."

Undeterred, Ines led the Itawes into battle. With Spanish troops augmented by local collaborators (which is how Filipinos are, to this time, defeated), Ines and her warriors were captured. She was hanged (likely as a witch, as Gabriela Silang would be, a hundred years later) and all who followed her, executed. To obliterate her memory and all of her teachings/sayings, the Spaniards concocted the story of the Virgin of Piat -- a small brown statue brought by the Dominicans from Mexico to the Philippines in 1604. The statue, they claimed, instantly converted the Itawes (but only after killings and torture). Via this arrative of “superior magic," they obliterated the memory and teachings of Ines, replacing it with what the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard would call a simulacrum of memory. There is a basilica in place now for the Virgin of Piat.

I had heard of the Virgin of Piat, of course, but knew nothing about Ines. How many constructs had I absorbed through the years and how many more do I still absorb, on a daily basis? When narratives are perverted for purposes beyond truth, or even against truth, how does one distinguish between a simulacrum of reality and reality itself? The eye, after all, doesn't see; the brain does -- and if the latter's processes are perverted, if an automatic mantra rises in the brain that says that one’s thoughts are not sanctified and hence in error, inferior to the infallibility of those who create matrices, even one of smoke and mirrors, what happens then?

If Man were the tool-making species, Woman -- I'd always thought -- must have been the narrative-creating species. The paintings in the Caves of Altamira were likely made by women, as part of the effort to understand and survive nature. The earliest named poet (as oppose to ubiquitous Anonymous) was Ehenduanna (ca. 2300 B.C.E.), high priestess of the moon goddess Innana in that now unfortunate place called Iraq. Narratives, at the dawn of human time, were meant to explain and codify the values/perspectives/practices that enabled humankind to survive. In the hands of women of pre-history, the narrative was both integral to and integrating of communal life, inclusive, not exclusive. The narrative has become warped, of course, as most things female-invented have in the rise of sexual dominance and private property. The narrative began to serve other purposes. From the earliest slave society to the present, narrative construction evolved into the making of tales (and cultural products) cautionary of rebellion or of questioning the matrix.

The Iliad, whose core is an echo of the struggle between women's rights and men's rights (really a vivid illustration of how slave society consolidated itself), teaches the futility of defying the gods, of trying to weave a life outside the construct. Weep and learn, you who read this, is Homer's message; Troy was destroyed because it accepted a woman's right to decide. But our modern construct is that Helen was "the face that launched a thousand ships" (reflective of what we think should be women’s prime quality) rather than Helen, the woman who chose, who defied an arranged marriage.

Now we have modern constructs, trying to create acceptance of even the most unjust acts and actions, like war and invasion. Jessica Lynch and Kevin Tillman bewail before the US Congress stories imposed upon them: the first, as a supposed "female Rambo;" the second, of the supposed heroic death of brother, Pat. Jessica explains she didn’t even fire her gun; and only doctors and nurses were at the hospital where the US military allegedly mounted a death-defying rescue mission. Kevin Tillman, whose brother was practically a military recruitment poster boy, agonizes over the discovery that Pat had actually been killed by "friendly fire," the whole incident covered up and a construct of bravery substituted. As he himself say, the narrative does not fit reality. The two try to delete these simulacra deliberately metastasized all over the world.

On the reverse side, Yoko Tojo in Japan is trying to change history's and popular judgment on her grandfather, Hideki  Tojo, prime minister from 1941-1944, an architect of the carnage unleashed by that country upon its neighbors during WWII.

He ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor and was hanged in 1948 by US occupying forces as a war criminal. Ms. Tojo offers a different narrative, with the claim that Japan went to war "in self-defense," since a US oil embargo threatened the country's survival. For the moment, she is a lonely voice, calling for Japan's re-arming, citing the Chinese threat. But who knows how far a "meme" could go, in its insidious assault upon consciousness? The grandfather of the current prime minister had also been a war criminal.

We think of the past as immutable but in the Philippines, some writers of children's textbooks are attempting to change the verdict on Ferdinand E. Marcos and his regime. They make the claim that his intentions were good, that his desire was for the nation's benefit, but he was just unsuccessful. Being a survivor of that unspeakable dictatorship, I suffer  extreme angst, wondering whether, in due time, this simulacrum of memory will prevail, and all the dead, the tortured and the dispossessed will be, not just ignored or forgotten, but non-existent.

Hope comes from an unlikely source. Our building super, perched on a ladder in the backyard while fixing a window in my apartment, thrusts his head through the opening and in that delightful accent of a migrant from Trinidad, bawls out: "IS THAT WOMAN WITH THE SHOES STILL ALIVE?"

I had to laugh. Imelda's self-indulgence and lust for self-aggrandizement were just too loom-large; no construct wide enough nor thick enough could suffice to veil it. My super has just taught me that nowadays, one person's narrative is hardly ever solely about him/her; it inevitably encompasses his/her spouse, children, people close to him/her, friends and foes alike, their acts and actions impinging upon the main text of the story, providing unforeseen paths and channels by which reality can either deconstruct or reinforce legends of infallibility; or render myths -- well, less than interesting. It is a lesson both optimistic and cautionary.

In the shadow of the simulacrum that was the Virgin of Piat, the memory of Ines Carinugan was sheltered by a few who, under the lash of Spanish colonialism’s injustice and the arrogance and cruelty of its adjutants, the "black" friars, rejected the Dominicans’ “smoke-and-mirror” tale, choosing to honor Ines instead. Through 500 years, those who remembered dwindled to one, from whom an anthropologist got and wrote the narrative down in a book which itself was reduced by time to a single copy, which was fortuitously found and Ines became the name of a guerrilla squad operating in the area, both book and squad eventually lost in the turmoil of the post-Marcos era, but the story was remembered, jumping the ocean decades later, to this continent and, now, is sent to me who lives so far from the Valley. First, one mind held the narrative of Ines, then two; three now with me in the tally, and when you finish reading this...

(Illustration by AF3IRM; Reprinted from the Lily Pad of Miss Ninotchka Rosca http://ninotchkarosca.blogspot.com/2007/06/stories-we-were-told-
stories-we-will.html)

Josette Francia: A Promising Voice

By Marivir R. Montebon

Chantilly, Virginia -- One of the awesome perks in life is to wake up in the mornings to the lovely singing voice of a young girl. As she prepares for school with hurried footsteps to and from the bathroom, she belts out pop songs as well.

I smile to that, and in my mind, 10-year-old Josette Francia will be going places with this voice and personality.

Josette is the reigning Little Miss Migrant Heritage, a little ambassador of goodwill position for her to help promote the arts and culture of the Philippines. Bubbly and smart, Josette is friendly and can very well command an audience. She yells, "I want some noise!" and her audience roars. She begins to dance and sing in electrifying delight for them.

Josette's father, Ronaldo Francia, coaches her to sing. He himself has earned the title "Elvis Presley in the Fil-Am community in Washington, DC." Obviously, Josette takes on her father as a promising singing sensation.

She gets her dance lessons from the cultural development program head of the Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC) and co-
executive director Grace Valera. Grace teaches her the native tinikling and popular dances. "Josette is an eager learner. Has a very good attitude at learning something new," says Grace.

Although growing up to be a promising star that she is, Josette's mom Bel makes sure she grows up in discipline and responsibility. Mommy carefully normalizes everything by supervising their home chores, while Daddy Ronald makes sure they did their homework in the evenings.

Along with her elder sister Jasmine, whose talents at singing, visual arts, writing, and modeling are also beginning to show, Josette helps set up the table before dinner, clean up the kitchen, and fold the laundry. "We want our kids' talents to be developed so that their self-confidence is honed. But while growing up, they have to learn the value of discipline. I am making sure that my children are well-disciplined. That is very important to succeed in life," quips Bel.

During the recently concluded Fiesta Asia in Washington, DC, Josette was the busiest little performer on behalf of the MHC. She was part of the floral parade for the Santa Cruzan Festival, she danced the tinikling, and sang some pop songs at the Rising Star booth. Her rendition of Respect and Rolling in the Deep wowed the audience. "She carried her duties with the jolly heart of a child," dance coach Grace says with thumbs up.

When asked what she liked best in Fiesta Asia, Josette simply said, the food.

A BITTER PILL: A Book Review

By Marivir Montebon
New York City

[caption id="attachment_2215" align="alignright" width="150"] Tim Sheard[/caption]

In his 6th Lenny Moss crime novel, A Bitter Pill, Tim Sheard unravels a new boss who has turned the hospital private and is trying to decertify the union in order to crush it and layoff a third of the workforce. At the same time, he's forcing unbearable working conditions on the nurses, who decide to join forces with the service workers and fight the attacks together. A Bitter Pill is a lovely story of solidarity and union building.

Discounted to $10 for unions and schools that purchase ten or more copies.

Please check out the first chapter at www.hardballpress.com.

Helena Worthen, Emeritus Professor of Labor and Employment Relations, University of Illinois, reviews at the UALE Digest:

"A Bitter Pill is a short, fast, tight book, giving us what we like best about Lenny Moss, hospital custodian and union steward. It's an awful situation: JamesMadisonHospital has been sold to a for-profit chain called Croesus and the boss, on a rampage to cut labor costs, has instigated a decertification campaign. Speed-ups result in injuries to patients but also spur an organizing campaign among the nurses, who are at first dubious about joining the service workers' union. In the midst of this, a hospital employee who is trying to escape the city — and his drug problem- is found hanged by the neck , an apparent suicide, except for what is revealed by the autopsy. What does his death have to do with the new regime at the hospital? Lenny Moss, the person everyone talks to, figures out what happened. Along the way he's suspended, beat up…This is a great book for labor studies students who want to experience the intensity of a big fight vicariously but realistically. The piling-on of stressors culminates in a happy ending when Lenny finally gets a night's sleep."

When Love Comes, Adventure Follows (After Reading My Christmas Story)

By Marivir R. Montebon
New York City



[caption id="attachment_2231" align="alignleft" width="150"] June Pascal[/caption]

I heard myself singing... sometimes the snow comes down in June, sometimes the sun goes 'round the moon... after reading the memoir "My Christmas Story" by June Pascal. It is a one year journey of love, which usually comes as a sweet surprise, among two people. In this case, in Manhattan, at the thick of winter.

June Pascal writes her memoir in an unpretentious manner, upbeat and full of wit. At best, she made me giggle, and brought me to the splendour of the countrysides of Canada, and delightful food and respectable and adventure-filled friendships.

June offers a mix of poetry, paintings, and sketchings to color her story of love. Pretty much like a roller coaster, her relationship with Simon, the handsome river guide who looks like the sexy St. Francis who is 40 years her junior, continues to unravel into a remarkable friendship.

For lovers of all ages, it is a must read.

 

Flowers of May

The month of May is dedicated by the ancient world to the Roman goddess Flora, considered a minor goddess to symbolize spring and new life. To the Roman Catholics, May is dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, where children gather and offer flowers to her altar at Catholic Churches.

Jewish communities in the US observe special customs on Shavuot in May. These activities include reading the Book of Ruth or staying up all night to study the Torah (the five books of Moses). Many Jewish people also eat dairy foods during Shavuot. Many homes are decorated with various plants, including those with flowers.

[gallery columns="4" ids="2240,2239,2238,2237"]

May is indeed a merry month, when her flowers bloom, one cannot help but marvel at their beauty.

[gallery columns="5" ids="2236,2235,2234,2233,2232"]

Sa Dihang Naghimamat Pag-usab ang mga Higala

Weng Ranoco

Kalit ang desisyon…

Magkita na usab ‘ta mga higala
Gitakda sa panahon nga may hamubong bakasyon
Patabang sa Facebook, cellphone, chat, text ug tawag
Pinasubay sa nahimong giya sa pagtakda ug pagpatigayon:
Kinsa ang mga higalang maghimamat?
Si Weng, Alice, ug Alma siguradoa, apil si Dinggay ug Bina kung magskype sila
Unsa ang kinahanglan nga andamon?
Passport ug paglukat sa bus hinanali, gamay nga badyet ug iskedyul sa aktibidades importante
Kanus-a kini himoon?
Tayming nga adunay hamubong bakasyon sa 2013 kwaresma
Asa ang dapit sa otrong panaghimamat?
Sa mabugnaw ug mahangin nga siyudad sa Toronto, Canada
Ngano kinahanglan kini tumanon?
Di na angayan ipangutana kung panginahanglan sa mga higala.

Translation:
When Friends Meet Again
‘Twas a quick decision…
That we friends shall meet again
Set on the occasion of a short vacation
Through the help of Facebook and cellphone, chat text and call
Guided by a preparation scheme to make sure that things happen:
Who are the friends to meet again?
Weng, Alice and Alma for sure, Dinggay and Bina when they do skype call
What needs to be prepared?
Passport and bus quickly booked, modest budget and schedule for events not overlooked
When is it held?
During the short 2013 Spring break in Lent
Where is the venue of this reunion?
At the cold windy city of Canada – in Toronto
Why should this happen?
No need to ask when friends know they need it for certain.

 (Weng Ranoco is a High School teacher in Maryland. She is a teacher without borders.)

Oh the Wonderful Colors of Asia!

By Marivir R. Montebon

Washington, DC -- The streets of downtown Washington DC burst in colors and delectable scents with the parade and street fair of Fiesta Asia on May 18, 2013, celebrated in spring and now on its 8th year.

Community organizations showing off Mediterranean dances, Philippine tinikling dances, Martial arts, and yes, delectable unique cuisine filled the streets with fun and great spirits, despite the rain.

The Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC), a not-for-profit organization providing comprehensive social and legal services to immigrants, was one of the most active contingents from the Philippines. Major attractions were the floral parade of the Little Mr. and Miss Migrant Heritage prince and princesses, teenage brain-and-beauty queens, the interactive Tinikling dance, delectable food, cooking demonstrations by a popular Mama Sita, an array of Filipino traditional fashion, as well as Atiatihan and Igorot tribal dances, and Fil-American talents in modern entertainment.

The stage on 6th Street featured Rising Young Stars Justin Fronda and Christian Leja. There was the martial arts Eskrima and Parol (lantern) making tents which provided spectators the awesome artistry of self-defense and home-made lanterns.

A tent for immigration consultations was up for the Legal Resources Program of the MHC, headed by lawyer Arnedo Valera, in order to provide quick information on the impending immigration bill being discussed right now in Congress.

The one day event was sponsored by the Asia Heritage Foundation and brought out the different Asian cultures and tradition in Spring, aimed to foster understanding and unity among diverse cultures that make up America.

Spearheading Fil-Am community participation was MHC co-executive director Grace Valera, also original co-Founder/Board Director of the Asia Heritage Foundation's Fiesta Asia together with AHF’s Executive Director Wuiping Yap of Sutera Malaysia who first brought in the idea of putting up the festival 8 years ago. The two cultural advocates mobilized the Asian immigrant community and were later joined in by Asian- American volunteers who share a common passion for the performing arts and for propagating Asian cultures to the American mainstream and preserving Asian identity. Among them were (Chinese) Stella Choi and Mon Lau ; (Filipinos) Jesse Gatchalian, Antonio Calaro, Mike Favila, Arnedo Valera and Carl Abella; (Indian) Shruthi Mukund; (Afro-Asian-American) Sifu Rahim Muhammad; (Vietnamese) Tini Dihn; and (Korean) Christian Oh.

(Photo Credits: Elizabeth Babiera, Bel Francia, and Merlinda Weber)

Rosca, Montebon to Speak in International Writers Conference NYC

[caption id="attachment_2184" align="alignleft" width="300"] Ninotchka Rosca[/caption]

New York City -- Two Filipino writers will speak at the International Writers Conference in New York City on June 1, 2013, Saturday. "WRITING ACROSS BORDERS" will be a gathering of writers of different nationalities where issues on immigration and social concerns will be tackled from the perspective of writers.

Writer/novelist Miss Ninotchka Rosca is one of the main speakers of the conference and OSM! editor/publisher and managing editor for the Migrant Heritage Chronicle Marivir R. Montebon is among the panel of discussants for race and gender.

Organized by the National Writers Union (NWU) - NYC, the conference is timed when immigration is being hotly discussed at the halls of Congress. Esther Armah and Sergio Troncoso will also be in the main panel of discussants writing across borders.

[gallery ids="2179,2186"]

Rosca is a feminist writer and novelist. She was a political prisoner at the time of the Marcos dictatorial rule in the Philippines. Her novel Twice Blessed won the American Book Award in 1993.

Montebon, a journalist, recently published her third book, "Biting the Big Apple" and was recipient the of Woman in Media award by the New Jersey-based organization Pan-American Concerned Citizens League. She founded OSM! (awesome), an online magazine which debuted on March 18, 2012.

[caption id="attachment_2183" align="alignright" width="215"] Marivir Montebon[/caption]

In its website, the NWU writes: "At a time of unprecedented migration, when families are divided and communities shattered, writers can provide a vital historical record, a public voice of protest at social injustice and a healing balm.

Writers are able to bridge the gaps among communities through depicting the experiences of diverse people that often prove to be more similar than different, while, at the same time, attempting to fight widespread injustices of forced deportation and economic migration.

The conference will explore all of these issues, as well as engage the writing community in a discussion of our role and responsibilities at this moment of economic upheaval and unprecedented movement across borders."

At the migration and immigration concurrent panels, Dhalma Llanos Figueroa will moderate discussions on writing about leaving home, establishing new communities, and adapting to new cultures while holding on to your own. Speakers will be Danielle Georges, Elsie Augustave, and Titziana Rinaldi.

On the panel on race and gender, Miss Montebon will speak along with Patrick Delices and Marva Allen. Herb Boyd moderates.

[caption id="attachment_2192" align="alignleft" width="150"] Tim Sheard[/caption]

A panel discussion on book publishing and internet use will provide writers additional tools of Internet publishing and social media opportunities, which provide a window on the world, enabling the virtual crossing of borders. NWU NYC co-chair Tim Sheard will moderate the panel.

A panel discussion for new writers, with Peter Benjaminson and Cecilia McCall as resource persons, will be opened in the afternoon. An interesting discussion on language through "Lost in Translation" will likewise take place with Adam Wier, Alta Price, and Barbra Jungwirth as speakers.

Conference fee for the whole day affair is $30.00 and includes continental breakfast, lunch and cocktail party. There is a cap to the attendees, so register as soon as possible.

The venue is at the Empire State College, Harry Van Arsdale School of Labor Studies on 325 Hudson Street (entrance on Van Dam Street), NYC. To learn more, email info@nwuny.org or go to nwuny.org to register.

Two Memoirs and A Children's Book

By Marivir R. Montebon
New York City

Three members of the National Writers Union (NWU) will launch their books in the auspices of the NWU-NYC in mid-Manhattan on June 17, 2013 at six o'clock in the evening. "A Launching of Three Books" will feature the works of Filipino authors Marivir R. Montebon and June Pascal, both from New York and Bart Davidoff, from New Jersey.

Biting the Big Apple

Biting the Big Apple is a memoir of a journalist who came to the US to seek a new, safe life after the murder of her husband in the Philippines. It is an inspiring story of an immigrant single mom’s struggles in the city that never sleeps. Written in poignant, funny, and insightful manner, this memoir relates the personal life with the reality of Philippine diaspora and culture, as well as having a keen eye on the American life.

Author Marivir R. Montebon is currently Managing Editor of the Migrant Heritage Chronicle where she mainly writes about immigration and social issues. In March 2012, she published her own online magazine called OSM! (Awesome). She was recipient of the Woman in Media Journalism Award by the Pan-American Concerned Citizens Action League in 2012. Marivir lives in New York City with her daughter Nikki.

Momsie's Book

Momsie's Book, a children's book, is a collaborative effort of husband and wife Bart and Madonna Davidoff. The story, a book within a book, includes a memoir entitled "Natie and Me" handwritten and illustrated by Muriel Shutan-Davidoff in which she describes her childhood adventures growing up in New Haven in the late 1920's with her younger brother Nate. New Haven Connecticut was a different world in the 1920's. It had delis with real pickle barrels and gas-lit candy stores.

Bart Davidoff is the author and publisher of Momsie's Book. His mother, Muriel Shutan-Davidoff Muriel has been living with Alzheimer's disease for the past 5 years and since she is unable to write nor paint anymore, Bart decided to publish the book, not only to make it a part of Muriel's legacy but also to shed some awareness about the disease to children. He graduated from the University of California, Riverside.

Madonna Davidoff is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer who use traditional and digital methods to create her whimsical and lively children’s illustrations. She has illustrated for international publishers and one of her biggest breaks is being the illustrator of Barack the Anointed, a picture book based on President Obama's home place, published by BlackBook Press. Madonna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, where her work was one of the 10 finalists in the SCBWI 2003 Artist Showcase Award. She graduated with a Fine Arts degree at the University of the Philippines and studied Illustration at School of Visual Arts in New York City. She lives with husband Bart and daughter, Bianca Marmy, in New Jersey, and has also lived in Switzerland, Singapore and Manila.

My Christmas Story

My Christmas Story is about a New York City artist who falls in love with a young river guide from Quebec City forty years her junior. He declares undying but purely platonic friendship. She in turn offers him a kind of love he can't refuse, agapeic love, the unconditional kind, love for love's sake. He gladly accepts, prompting the artist to sit up and find for herself what exactly that entails.

Born and raised in the Philippines, author June Pascal studied Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines. New York City has been home for more than thirty years where she has raised a family, traveled and continually functioned as an artist, a dreamer and an optimist.

The Philippine Elite Dancers of New York Conquers at the Multinational Cultural Fest

By Virgil Rafael
Long Island, New York

The top dancers of the Philippine Elite Dancers of New York represented the Philippines at the 2013 Multinational Cultural Festival. The festival was sponsored by the Asian-American Cultural Circle of Unity whose mission is to foster awareness and appreciation of the many different groups represented here in the United States.

The event, held on April 27, 2013 at the Roosevelt Hall of the Farmingdale State College in Farmingdale, New York featured a puppet show, martial arts and yoga workshops, multicultural booths, live performances, art and photo exhibits, outdoor food court, children’s activities, raffle drawings, corporate and small business vendors. The raffles were actually won by the two Elite dancers.

[caption id="attachment_2185" align="alignleft" width="800"] Standing from l-r: Heide Briffa, Emie Panganiban, Josie Martil, Virgil Rafael, Cristi Ras, Aileen Reyes, Donna Manzella.
Seated from l-r: Marissa de Guzman, Giselle Limbo Edgar[/caption]

The Elite dancers who performed two Philippine national dances, the Subli and Tinikling are Giselle Limbo Edgar, Heide Briffa, Cristi Ras, Emie Panganiban, Donna Manzella, Aileen Reyes, Josie Martil, Marissa de Guzman (master choreographer) and Virgil Rafael (director).

The group will do special Tahitian and Hawaiian performances on May 18th at the Tanglaw Hawaiian Luau in Queens, and another Filipiniana performance on June 2 on stage after the Philippine Independence Day parade in Manhattan.

Tea Cups from Sharon Murphy

[caption id="attachment_2191" align="alignleft" width="168"] Sharon Murphy[/caption]

At the weekend Green flea market on 79th Street and Amsterdam stands an awesome display of tea cups, pots, and saucers that are conspicuously delicate and rare. Sharon Murphy's tea cup collection never fails to attract the curious and the collector. Her cups are distinct, and clearly a collection from time knows when and from the old worlds of Europe (England, Hungary, Germany, Portugal and France) and Asia (China, Japan, and India). Usually pricey, but oh, the cups are worth a treasure.

Sharon, who used to be a nurse before deciding to be a full time entrepreneur, handpicks these treasures, mostly hand painted porcelain, China bone, Vintage English bone, and Limoges hand painted cups, saucers, and plates. Every collector will delight at the wide array of choices at Sharon's nook at the flea market. Check it out in Manhattan's Upper West Side.

[gallery columns="4" ids="2190,2189,2188,2187"]

(For more of Sharon's tea cups, go here)

Search for the First FALDEF's Defend Serve and Educate (DSE) Awardees

New York -- The Filipino American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. (FALDEF) announces its search for its first Defend Serve and Educate ("DSE") awardees which will be featured on FALDEF's First Annual DSE Gala Night on Saturday, October 26, 2013 at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel (formerly Sheraton) in Newark Airport.

The DSE Gala is an opportunity to encourage our members and community to live out FALDEF’s mission to defend, serve and educate for the greater good. It is also an opportunity to recognize individuals who have shown a deep commitment to these values in the spirit of public service.

The DSE awards will honor trailblazers in the legal profession, the arts, the business world and the civil rights community whose extraordinary work and achievements have contributed to advancing FALDEF's mission to defend, serve and educate members of the community.

The event's keynote speaker is Sherrilyn Ilfill. Ms. Ilfill, a long-time member of the Legal Defense and Education (LDF) family, and is the seventh President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP LDF. Ms. Ilfill is a graduate of Vassar College, and received her J.D. from New York University School of Law. After graduating law school, Ilfill served first as a fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union and then for five years as an assistant counsel in LDF’s New York office, where she litigated voting rights cases. Ilfill is a highly regarded national civil rights strategist and public intellectual whose writings, speeches and media appearances enrich public debate about a range of political and civil rights issues.

A critically acclaimed author, her book “On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century,” reflects her lifelong engagement in and analysis of issues of race and American public life. Ilfill's scholarly writing has focused on the importance of diversity on the bench, and she is currently writing a book about race and Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Ilfill is the immediate past Chair of the Board of U.S. Programs at the Open Society Institute, one of the largest philanthropic supporters of civil rights and social justice organizations in the country. (Source: http://www.naacpldf.org/sherrilyn-ifill )

FALDEF, is the only Filipino American legal defense group, of national scope, in the United States. Based in New York, it provides pro bono legal services to Filipinos and members of the Filipino-American community who are suffering from legal injustices, is equally committed to voter education and protection, and focused on fighting human trafficking through prosecution, training, education and victim support in the Philippines. For more information please visit www.faldef.org

[caption id="attachment_2132" align="aligncenter" width="640"] (L-R: Lito Pernia, Patricia Astorga, Jose Ramos, Jr., Marie Aunio, JTS Mallonga, Sherrilyn Ilfill, Cecilia Mejia, Merit Salud, Nimfa Tinana)[/caption]

 

I Miss My Mom!

By Cherry Marmes Smyth
Pachaug, Connecticut

My Mom, Luz Lambujon Marmes, passed away September 11, 2009. She was the best mother in the world! My best friend and my best mentor. She was super graceful and had a very happy personality. I love my Mama Luz so much and miss her so badly. But I know, she is happy in heaven and is now my guardian angel. I can feel her presence sometimes and smell flowers in my car. I can tell, she is watching me and guarding me everyday.

I keep all the wonderful and best memories of my Mama in my heart. How I wish she is still around. She's a sweetheart. She had this quality that when you see her, you feel it is so easy to be with her around and seems like she knows you beforehand.

Mama was very kind, loving, caring, generous, patient, responsible, and happy to be with. She was good decision maker and great planner. We all went to church together, and Mama would wake us up. We were a happy family.

I remember she would wake me up every 4 o'clock in the morning to study when I started high school. Got a good grades!

I called the Philippines when I arrived here in the US. My day wasn't complete if I didn't hear my mother's voice, even for just a short phone chat.

Our last conversation and her last goodbye was when she said, as if seeking my permission, "Gikapoy nako Dai, mopahulay nako" (I am tired now. I will rest). And to which I replied, "Okay Mang, you can rest now." I never thought that would be our last conversation.

The saddest moment of my life was when she passed away. I miss her so much.

With this photograph, you can see her beauty inside and out. She is smart, beautiful and good hearted Mother. I am blessed to have her in my life.

Much of what I am today, I learned from my Mom. Much of what I do and say, or what I think and feel, is a reflection of my Mother Luz. My Mom lives in my heart. Her spirit is in me. I love my Mother Luz always and forever!

EASY CHEESE BREAD

This was a Saturday snack with the sweetheart. We enjoyed with hot cocoa milk chocolate.

 

1 egg
1/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup skim milk
1 1/2 cups tapioca flour
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Put all of the ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth.

Pour into 12 muffin tins.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until just lightly browned.

Remove from oven and let cool.

|*|*|*|

Ruth D. Ezra is a culinary queen in her own right through experience and training. She works at the AllState Roadside Services in Northbrook, IL.  Her greatest delight is serving good and healthy food to her husband Heman and only daughter, Isabelle. Kit would love to receive feedback on her recipes, and exchange them with yours at ezraruth@comcast.net.

Immigration Hopes and Woes

By Marivir R. Montebon

The immigration forum at the Philippine Consulate in Manhattan sponsored by UNIPRO, FALDEF, NAFFAA Region 1, and the Office of the NYC Mayor on Immigrant Affairs had me pondering.

When did TNT (Tago ng tago for Filipino parlance, or incessantly in hiding in English) cease to become a painful joke? I suppose that was when undocumented immigrants have grown in ridiculously huge numbers, it ceased to be a 'funny' fact that could no longer be swept under the rug.

There are one million undocumented Filipino immigrants who are TNT, of the 12 million total, in the US, the home of the largest immigrant population in the world.

This growing population is like an epidemic sweeping America. But if taken seriously by lawmakers, this would mean a win-win situation for American society and economy as well as to immigrant families.

People who are TNT may also be likened to the explosive Trinitrotoluene, ready to erupt anytime, especially emotionally. People who are away from their families for a long time or in the margins for so long are simply vulnerable. One cannot be sympathetic enough.

By logic, I am personally sympathetic to immigrants, because I myself is a new one and have been graced to become a writer with special focus on immigration. By logic too, one would ponder why about 12 million people have become undocumented immigrants. No sir. Most people, falling in the normal frame of mind, would not want to be living in the shadows.

So we look at the system that breeds millions of undocumented individuals. It is a broken immigration system. Parents have to wait about 12-20 years to become US citizens when they are petitioned by their naturalized US citizen children. Chances are, when they become US citizens, they are already in their sunset years and could no longer be as productive as when they were young. Many would need intensive health care, and thus a 'cost' to government.

I believe that lawmakers must expedite family petitions, because taking in the aging population is more costly as the law of nature so dictates.

America has to shift emphasis from this age-old family immigration system to a work-based immigration system. In this manner, able-bodied and talented individuals are intently admitted into the society to become its productive contributors. Work-based immigration has been proven effective in the developed countries of Canada, Australia, and Singapore. The US can very well do that.

The current bill which is in Congress right now, "Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” is a sure leap of hope for America. This 844-page document that addresses border security, undocumented immigrants and the legal immigration system is a milestone in American history.

Immigration lawyer Arnedo Valera says this is a humane and practical piece of legislation and a good start. Lawyers JT Malongga and Merit Salud for their part say it is time.

As legislators begin deliberations today at the Capitol, I feel like we should be in a cheering mode. I say cheers to the lawmakers, America is powered by immigrants, please discuss things passionately and intelligently, for the sake of keeping this country great.

[caption id="attachment_1980" align="aligncenter" width="300"] An immigration reform law...long overdue. (Photo by Jeffrey Stern)[/caption]

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1675" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Xocai Dark Chocolate: It is a healthy love.[/caption]