NEWS & ARTICLES
A Voice of Change
by Aida Cabrera
BH with Art and Aida Cabrera
The Brainstorm by Kelly Ann Olegario
CLSF-Windsor: Series of Activities
With our pastor, Kuya Arnel and his wife, Ate Weng, together with our elders and leaders, CLSF - Windsor
started its Bi-weekly bible study in London,Ontario last July 02, 2011.
Last July 18-22 was also another busy week for the church, especially the Children’s Ministry as
CLSF-Windsor held its first Vacation Bible School where the kids enjoyed and experienced story telling, making crafts, sing and dance, making new friends.Thanks to our VBS Director & Sunday school teacher, Wilma Campbell, the Youth Ministry and all the volunteers to make our first VBS a success.
CLSF-Windsor went camping for 3 days at Lakewood Christian Campground in Wyoming, Ontario.We also
like to thank our guest speaker from CLSF-Mississauga, Pastor Willie Asinas and his wife Ate Jessie who joined us for the whole duration of the camp.
5 Ways To Enhance (Not Erase) Filipino Faces....
It’s true, there is no real harm in indulging in dressing up and looking your best with the help of the works: makeup, hairspray, and flattering clothing. But, let’s focus on the key word here: flattering, not shape-shifting.
Focusing on the Filipino face, there are some that complain of barely visible eyelid creases, dark skin that contrasts the supposed coveted Caucasian fair skin, noses that are flatter rather than elongated, and pin-straight, short lashes that won’t stay curled. Though some of us may think these are woes, others actually believe some of these traits are beautiful gifts. Some may want our effortless tan, almond-shaped eyes, and dark, thick hair.
Clearly, beauty is always up for individual interpretation,and there’s always someone out there that can prove that your believed flaws are not flaws at all. So, there’s no need to hide behind that mask!
In light of the topic, here are some Asian-centric tips to naturally enhance the beautiful canvas you were born with:
1. Buy your shade, not a shade lighter.
Consult with a beautician or experienced makeup salesperson who can match your skin to a foundation that suits Asian skin types. Asian women need to find yellow- or warm-based colours. Nars Sheer Glow from Sephora is the best investment (at $40) that will last you all year, and it gives you longlasting, natural, youthful skin.
2. Choose drier mascara formulas for straight lashes. Wet formula or non-water-proof mascara weighs down straight lashes, which makes curled lashes droop and sag in no time. Drier formulas like water-proof mascara equal longer lasting curl. My favourite, afford able picks are from Covergirl’s Professional line and L’Oreal’s Waterproof Voluminous Million Lashes (both under $10).
3. Color with peach and yellowundertones.
Choose blushes and lip products with coral and peach in them, theirwarm hues appear natural and
complimentary to Asian and Filipino skin which often has warm undertones. A blush with warm tones that works on light to medium Asian skin is Jane’s Blushing Petal, and for lips, L’Oreal’s Infallible Coral Sands is great. Both can be found at Shoppers Drug Mart and Zellers, respectively (both under $10).
4. Use less eyeliner. From experience and observation, I find that less is more when it comes to accentuating Asian eyes. Use black eyeliner and outline directly above your lashes with one thin line, then finish with a light hand to the middle of your bottom water line, and directly below it as well, never closing the whole eye. Outlining your whole eye can have the effect of narrowing the size of your eyes or make your look too severe.
5. Contour those bones. Most Asian women I encounter have round- and square-shaped faces, and most likely high cheek bones are your best feature. Contouring the hallows of your cheeks, which are right underneath where you would apply blush—the apples of your cheeks, will help let those cheek bones stand out even more.
I hope you try to enhance rather than erase today, and maybe even try these tips out just in time for Valentine’s Day for that special someone or a night
FIVE Tips For The Offl ine vs. Online Life Balancing Act....
It’s also glaringly noticeable when technology, and its pervasive nature, has you remembering a time when you thought you were in an intimate and peaceful place or state, and you recall the electronic klaxon of a cell phone that awoke you from a prayer or meditation. Then there was the time that you realized how much and how fast information travels from your computer to your circle of friends, and whether you wanted this information to be seen or not may not have been in your control.
There’s a good and bad with the way we integrate our choice of tech in our lives. In fact, we can definitely benefit from the newest innovations made possible with the popular breed of phone: smartphones. I know I’ve never had better luck in remembering important dates and keeping track of my financial status until I bought a phone that features applications that remind me of need-to-know dates and gives me easy access to my bank accounts. I know there are hundreds of other undiscovered applications that would help me too. Also, I can’t recount how many times I’ve reconnected with friends and family in my past by using Facebook, though I’d rather not count how many hours I wasted on it either.
It’s impossible to escape technology, and it’s foolhardy to think that you can adapt in this lifetime without it. So, I believe what’s important is to have a balance. ‘Everything in moderation’ rings especially true here. Can we live without checking our phones or online statuses from our friends every few minutes? Simply put, the answer is yes. There should always be a balance when using your favourite smartphone, laptop, computer tablet, etc. at work, school, and at home, because you never know when these inanimate, yet innovative
tools surprisingly and easily collide with your offline life. Here are some tips to help you navigate through our seemingly amalgamated offline and online life.
1. With the first step you take in school or work, keep your phone in your pocket and on vibrate. Unless you have a dead nervous system, you can feel someone calling you. Also, there is no need to always have it out unless you really need it. When you need it, excuse yourself from class or work if you must answer or make an urgent call, and step away from earshot. I really don’t think you’d want to get dagger eyes thrown your way in the library or even get disciplinary action from your boss.
2. Pick: The Human Race or The Synthetic world. Here’s hoping you pick the human race, ie. your family
and friends, over your device when it counts. Yes, you will undoubtedly need your device for matters that need tending to in your busy life. However, when you’re spending time with your son, daughter, girlfriend, best friend, or even sitting down at your family dinner, I would like to think you could spare a generous amount of time before you go back to dialling numbers and Googling a random idea that popped up in your head.
3. What would you tweet or status update on Facebook out loud? Some friends allow it and some people may get annoyed by you constantly checking up on updates on your social networking website when, in the mean time, you should be having a fun night out or just having a face-to-face conversation with someone. Think before you type: is this announcement to the online world something worth announcing to the friends and family you are in the direct vicinity of?
4. Escape the digital world for just an hour or two. Most of us cannot escape cellphones and laptops because we need them to function at work and school, but when you get home it should be a different story. Keep your tech away from you for a one to two hour stretch, pick up a good book, take a stroll down your block, and just experience something that doesn’t require you to keep your face glued to a glowing screen.
5. Fix those privacy settings on Facebook. It always surprises me how fast people become aware of your personal life before you have a chance to even consider the futile attempt of erasing it from the internet. You can’t erase it, but try to prevent it from happening again or at all by adjusting the privacy settings on your Facebook page. It’s that or not posting intimate details of your life altogether (if that is your preference).
Another reason to consider this advice is the fact that there are some instances where people have lost their
job when their employers find out what they’ve been saying about their workplace through Facebook. Then there’s also the chance that you find out that the reason why a prospective employer did not hire you was because they Googled your name and that embarrassing photo of you from last Friday night makes the biggest and most negative impression of you.
School’s in, are you?....
I’m talking about some important questions post-secondary-bound grads may be thinking of. They may be wondering some universal things, like what’s the right career path for me? Is this path the right one? Will I make it through the first year of college or university? All of these thoughts may, at some point, hit you before and even throughout your first year after high school. But, I find the most common question for many young, Filipinos is: do I choose a major I’m expected to choose or should I choose what I want? Also, what if I don’t know what I want?
It’s hard enough to face what fears you may have about your future after high school, and the pressure of wanting to fulfill what your family expects of you can be more than you can handle. It’s certainly an admirable quality to want to make your family proud, however, to be frank, your future career does not directly affect your family; it directly affects you and possibly a family you may have on your own one day. It’s important to know if this is important to you or not, and when you know what’s important to you, then you may very well be on the right path after all.
Some of you are at this point of the article and are approaching it sceptically, and that’s because some of you know what a difficult task it would be to even begin to persuade your parents to let you study a major they do not approve of. To put this in perspective, your Filipino family innately loves you. Though there may be generational and culture barriers (for those born in Canada) that affect the message they want to send you, their child, one thing is certain: they expect greatness from you because they believe it’s already within you. On the other hand, if you have a strong ambition for what you want to study and your family does not approve of it, do not be rash and think that loudly arguing your case without a plan laid out for your parents to consider is enough to get your way.
For those who know what they want to study, the best thing you can do is research about the major you want. Some main things your family will be concered about are: what the major is all about, what careers does it lead to, does this career give you a reasonable income and job security, how much tuition costs each semester and each year, will you be working to pay for your tuition and where, and, most importantly, why is this major important to you? For all the work you put into your research and discussion with your parents, it should at least remind your family that you are a responsible, young adult and that this is your life-long decision too.
There are plenty out there that do not know what they want out of college or university. Some may not even want to continue. Some may think that being undeclared and not focusing on a specific major is a waste of time and money, though I believe putting yourself through a passionless decision to study something you are not sure about is an even more waste of thousands of dollars and time you could’ve spent picking and choosing courses that fit you and will lead you to the right path. In fact, the University of Windsor allows you to register for the Discovery program, which gives undeclared students standard and helpful classes to help you succeed in your post-secondary career, but also provides you the room to grow and make patient and purposeful decisions about your future.
So, now that your mind is thinking of the possibilities of life after high school, and especially now that you start your new educational journey, just remember that your life-long career path is centered around you and only you can make the best decision for yourself.
Still having trouble deciding what kind of future you have ahead of you? Try this quiz that gives you a general idea of what you may be good at, career-wise: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
ABOUT JOE HERALDO
by Nathalie Nguyen & Bianca Dinardo
Springboard Management helps organizations realize their unique goals and objectives, which may include implementing a regulatory standard such as the DWQMS
or OHSAS 18001 or executing an internal initiative such as a corporate communication plan or employee training program.
It leverages the experience and knowledge of its staff along with the proven methodologies on which its
proprietary software tool are based to achieve continual improvement, promote communication and feedback, and measure company performance. The result is a solutions that is relevant to the customer’s needs.
Springboard Management currently serves approximately 30% of the utilities within Ontario; however, it is beginning to branch out into other industries as well.
As part of his approach to business, Joe tries to infuse a strong sense of family into the work environment. It’s a teambased company where employees work in an open concept environment and are encourages to interact and collaborate on customer projects and building solutions.
According to Joe, “That family connection is a key contributor to the success of the company and the satisfaction of its employees. It’s important to maintain this approach throughout the growth of the
company and to instil it in the management team who will be leading the group.”
Some of Joe’s other achievements:
• Member of the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters Windsor Essex (BBBSWE)
• Designed the Springboard Software, which automates the administrative burden of management systems
• Participated in the roll-out of the City of Windsor’s automated 311-call management software system – the first successful system in Ontario
• Certified Lead Auditor
• Spoken at many conferences
• Second degree black belt in Kihon Karate
I Am Not My...
With the images of beauty from the media I was exposed to, and some perceptions of beauty from my peers and family throughout my impressionable childhood years, my definition of beauty and body image was being shaped without my conscious awareness. Whether these perceptions were shaped intopositive ones is debatable. Even now,for some of my fellow twenty-somethings with our changing moods and the external sources of negativity in our society, we are challenged to think positively about our bodies and ourselves as a whole. How do we combat the negativity around us? Firstly, I think we need to start healing from within. Specifically, I believe that there should be increased awareness and dialogue about our unique experiences and emotions towards our defi nitions of beauty as women and men, young and old.
I remember watching a few Miss Universe programs when I was younger, and I truthfully admired all the aesthetics: the crown, the gowns, and the beautiful women. Barbie had a similar effect on me; I thought this plastic woman was someone I could only hope to become, and if I were to become her, I’d be happy. I also remember the magazines that would have cover girls with perfect skin and perfect, put together outfits. Then there are other young women who would grace the big screens and smaller ones too, and they were thin and dainty. At the time, I saw these women get attention from their love interests and peers by getting a makeover or by just being their ‘perfect self’. Did I have to change my hair colour to Barbie’s platinum blonde or have an obsessive preoccupation about my weight to feel love and belonging in my life? More importantly, should girls at such a young age, or at any age for that matter, doubt that they could love themselves and wholly if they didn’t change their perceived imperfections?
Truth: no one is perfect. With that said, whether you have one physical flaw ora few more, it is wrong to be definedby something so human: to be flawed. You are not your crooked nose or your frizzy hair or your flabby arms or your dark skin. We should be defined by all of our strongest attributes or unique quirks, and we should feel beautiful regardlessof our flaws. If fact, I hope that someday the word beautiful, when used to describe a person, will never solely be a description of their physical appearance, but a sum of many things and aspects that represent a person. I propose for every negative thing you notice about yourself, count three more positive ones. We have all tried to single out one thing or a number of things that we don’t like about body. Sometimes it’s the fi rst thing we notice when we look in the mirror, and it follows us to school or work or when we’re trying to just have fun and relax with our friends, so it may distract us from more important things in our life. But, if we start appreciating some of the wonderful things our body has to offer, maybe, just maybe we’ll see that we’re worth appreciating as a whole. With this selfawareness and social awareness of perceptions of beauty, we can move forward and live a life that does not restrict us from happiness and love and belonging based on our outer appearances. As for me, I am not my height. I am small and I may never be a super model, but I am beautiful because I like the way my hair looks on a good day; it’s got a ton of volume, it’s shiny, and amazing when curled. I am beautiful because my hands create beautiful things with the use of a simple pencil and the imaginative strokes it makes on paper. I am beautiful because I love and am loved, and when I love I can see why Louis Armstrong can sing with so much earnest conviction about the beauty around us.
Cold feet for prom?
.....In fact, Iona from one of my favourite John Hughes movie, Pretty in Pink, gave me some insight on the infamous night I idealized. “I had this girlfriend who didn’t go to hers, and every once in a while she gets this terrible feeling that something’s missing. She checks her pockets, she checks her purse, she counts her kids, she goes crazy, and then she realizes that nothing is missing. She decided it was side effects from not going to her prom.” Iona said this and I was somewhat affected by it before, but now I laugh. Though, even today, I wonder if there’s any truth to this. Is it really important to attend senior prom? If you skip it, will you regret it even into older adulthood?
My prom is something I mock with girlfriends and family because, and in no offence to our prom committee, I simply think it didn’t encapsulate everything romantic, dramatic, and memorable about our adolescence. I give the prom committee credit for how ‘perfect’ it was. They followed the formula to create a prom to a tee; they arranged for us to have the conventional three-course meal, a photographer that gave us a couple of cutsey poses to compliment a whimsical backdrop behind us, and the well-meaning attempt at a memorable prom song (Eve 6 - Here’s to the Night). By the end of it, it didn’t turn out to be the worst night of my life. In fact, it had great moments, but it certainly wasn’t as life-changing as I anticipated or how pop culture led me on to believe it would be.
However, years later, I started to get the feeling that I might have been missing something after all, even if I did attend my own senior prom. The ‘Evening in Paris’ (our way of distinguishing ourselves from a certain hotel heiress’ movie with a similar title) was more than its face-value. I read recently that a group of terminally ill teenagers, who were told that they had only months to live, were thrown a senior prom in New Orleans as they would be missing their offi cial school prom. Apparently, these teens had ‘go to prom’ on their bucket list. My mind drifted to different perceptions of my prom night in 2005. When I think of bucket lists, I think of big trips to exotic countries and once-in-alifetime experiences I want to experience before I die. But, I never thought thatgoing to prom, as miniscule it may seem to other things in a span of a lifetime, would be one of these experiences. These teens understood its importance when I mocked it; they chose their single, last memorable experience as an adolescent to be prom. So, it got me thinking. Who is to say prom isn’t a big deal? Who is to say that it isn’t life-changing? Granted, the corny decorations may be lack-luster, your prom date might not be your life-long partner, and your only illness throughout the whole night may be something you ate from that ‘exquisite’ three-course meal. But, what we have in common with the children at Children’s and Touro hospitals in New Orleans is the need to celebrate friendships and make memories, hopefully happy, lasting ones. I’m certainly grateful for the friends I still have since high school and the memories from that night are ones we still laugh at and cherish today. So, do we need a terminal illness to realize how precious these aspects of our life are?
Now, you may go to a prom that other people have organized for you, and you may nitpick about every detail about it, but you ultimately have the final say in how you celebrate your prom. Make it romantic, make it a girl’s night out, leave early to make it to that concert your friends planned to see if the prom ended up being a disaster. Just make it your own.
What’s really important is having a good attitude before going in and carrying it with you even after crossing that threshold with the cheesy balloon archway. It’s the best way to prevent what I like to call early-onset cynicism. You’re not even close to middle-age and I doubt you’re taking multi-vitamins yet, so make most of the night before the big, grownup stuff creeps up on you! Think about it again: is prom really that important to attend? Isn’t it just some stupid tradition? Iona from Pretty in Pink had some more insight that rings true here: “You could say that life itself is a stupid tradition. Don’t analyze it. Just go.”
Source: http://tinyurl.com/68t58nr
Don’t worry, be happy, live longer
.....But, according to findings from the journal Applied Psychology: Health and Well- Being, those that do take this advice,
and namely have a positive outlook, tend to outlive their pessimistic counterparts. But, wait, we all know the facts: eating
right, not smoking, exercising, avoiding obesity, and avoiding risky behaviour already lead to a long, disease-free life.
Well, there’s more to it than this. Deiner & Chan (2010), authors of the mentioned publication, clarify that happiness isn’t the cure-all. However, they do believe that to ‘be happy and avoid chronic anger and depression’ are just as vital as eating your veggies and improving your jogging time. It makes sense. Excessive stress has several negative effects, so it’s safe to assume that being happier could avoid said effects. In fact, Deiner & Chan’s (2010) study shows that having positive moods are related to better protection against sickness and improve recovery of your heart after overworking it. In contrast, those that lead negative lifestyles, like dealing with marital confl icts and pessimistic attitudes, have lowered defenses against sickness and slow wound healing. Also, something else interesting was found with 180 Catholic nuns, who were followed from early adulthood to old age.
Apparently, those who wrote positive autobiographies in their early twenties seemed to live longer than those who wrote more negative accounts of their young lives.
Now that you know more, and probably already feel sick and tired of this winter season bringing us down, let’s start thinking positive. I know we all probably have tried several things in an attempt to perk us up once and again. But, here’s hoping that these are some helpful, simple things we may not have tried yet or need to repeat for good measure:
1. Turn up the volume…on your favourite music. Whether you’re on the way to work or relaxing before bed time, you must have noticed the effects of a good song (and singing along too). Dust off that old album or create a playlist on your mp3 player to enjoy throughout the day. Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, and The Cure do it for me.
2. List three things in your life that make you happy when you start the day. Instead of overwhelming yourself with all your crazy errands for the day, you may actually feel a bit better knowing
that you’ve got something to be grateful for in the fi rst place. Once you
start appreciating what you have, you’ll find it’s easier to accept things you cannot change and/or whatever may come later.
3. In contrast, openly express negative feelings. Bottling up feelings isn’t a good idea and neither is holding a grudge for days on end. Find the middle ground by expressing your anger, but also find time to count to ten, take deep breaths, and remind yourself that you’re patient and understanding; eventually you may find that doing this repeatedly may actually lead to being more patient and more understanding.
4. Laugh it off…This may be another article on its own merit since laughing has positive benefits on our body. We don’t necessarily have to understand all the science of it (which are similar to the mentioned journal had pointed out), but I’m sure we all have felt ourselves
destress from simply watching our favourite comedy show or movie. Find some time to fi nd the humour in life. At the very least, spare a couple minutes to find something on Youtube; that keyboard-playing cat still cracks me up.
5. Don’t neglect loved ones… It’s easy to get too involved with the millions of things you have to get done in one day or whatever accumulates in a span of a week. However, it’s as simple as taking time to sit down all family members for dinner and catch up on each other’s day. We all know it’s not a good feeling when you’re isolated or lonely, so schedule something we all love to do (eat!) and spend it with people we love. Far from home? Dialing a phone number of a significant other, family member, or friend and taking ten to twenty minutes to just talk can’t hurt either.
References
Diener, E., & Chan, M. (2010). Happy people live longer: Subjective well-being contributes to health and longevity. Applied Psychology: Health and Wellbeing, 3, 1-43
The Tastemaker
by Kelly Ann Sanchez Olegario
MY TOP FIVE BESTSUMMER EATS
.....5. Slinky’s Dairy Hut – Though this ice cream spot is not a full menu restaurant, many will be craving good ice cream this hot season, and this is the place to pick from a huge selection of gourmet-quality, flavour-rich ice cream. Head over to 100 Lesperance Road in Tecumseh to cool down this summer.
4. Bubble Tea Express – You can’t go wrong with most of the bubble tea vendors in Windsor, but I recommend a new downtown bubble tea establishment at 359 Ouellette Avenue. Its bubble tea is affordable and perfect for those searching to quench their thirst from the heat. They also serve Halo-Halo!
3. Kabobgy – A Lebanese restaurant with kind, attentive service and possibly the best hummus I’ve ever tried. When you’re out with the family, try a mixed tray of an assortment of beef and lamb
meat, pita bread, hummus, salad, and other uniquely Lebanese food. These platters start at $39.99 or you can try their lunch menu with combo meals starting at $9.49. Located in the Green Valley Plaza in Tecumseh at 13300 Tecumseh Road East.
2. Motor Burger – Instead of settling for your burger craving at any old, generic burger franchise, try a much
tastier and freshly made burger in a cozy and chic location at 888 Erie St. It offers various appetizers, salads, side dishes (sweet potato fries are delicious), and even a kid’s menu. Then there are the unique burgers they feature, including, and not limited to, a
classic burger, lamb burger, Kobe beef burger, and shrimp burger. Prices for burgers start at $6.50.
1. Smoke & Spice – Barbeque is a quintessential summer food, and Smoke & Spice do tasty, authentic southern-style barbeque right. Fromthe barbeque ribs to the waffle fries to the best macaroni and cheese I’ve ever tasted, their food is truly flavourful and satisfyingly fi lling. Try their lunch special to save money, where a customized meal of your choice of meat, side dish, and drink starts at $7.95 (lunch times: 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.). Located at 1515 Ottawa Street.
AFFORDABLE PROM:
From Head-to-Toe
.....So, with the somewhat preachy subject matter in my previous article in mind, I’d like to admit that having the guts to say that you’ll have a fantastic time at prom is only half the battle; there’s also the price tag to worry about. Here are some tips that
might help alleviate some of the stress from your superfi cial prom needs that might be causing you more stress than the emotional stuff.
1. The dream dress: I know that some of you will not sacrifice quality or brand names to save money. You will pay to get that amazing, crowd-stopping dress. So, here are a couple of places I went to that
have been affordable, and yet have comparable looks to high-end fashion.
• Staple Shop: Ewindsor at Great Lakes Crossing (Auburn Hills, Michigan):
I bought a 14 dollar formal dress for a debut from here, and it was not tacky at all; it’s original price was 80 dollars. They usually have 14 dollar racks, but their other sales racks range from 40, 60, 100, and 200+ dollars. You will find great dresses under 100 dollars here—short to long, an assortment of colours, and sparklyto satin-fi nish. Another worthwhile store at this mall: Group USA.• Surprising Find: H&M at Devonshire Mall (Windsor, ON): Many may be aware of their casual, affordable apparel. But, you may have noticed their selection of dresses spread across the store’s floor plan. They do have short and long dresses that I have purchased myself over the years, and all it takes to bring a formal look to these dresses is to accessorize with bold and elegant jewelry. Otherwise, some of their dresses already have texture and embellished designs that are appropriate for formals like prom.
2. Gems in the rough: A lot of the specialty stores for dresses carry shoes and accessories that claim to have reduced prices, but they may be misleading. Also, specialty stores like Claire’s, Aldo accessories, and Icing may sell their accessories for steep prices (steep, considering how much you’re already paying for that dress!). Just remember that some of you may only be wearing these matching jewels for one night only, so I wouldn’t buy your accessories from the mentioned stores right away. Look around. Places like Ardene’s at Devonshire Mall and even the casual clothing retail stores like, H&M, Costa Blanca, Le Chateau, and Urban Behaviour at the same mall carry inexpensive accessories in their sale sections that look just as glitzy as high-end jewels. Forever 21 at Great Lakes Crossing has even less expensive jewelry. Also, don’t forget to peruse each of the mentioned stores’ selection of affordable clutches and purses.
3. Heels, Pumps, Stilettos, etc.: Unfortunately, you may have to shell out the big bucks for shoes, unless you want to end up with a sprained ankle or seriously distorted- looking feet at the end of a dance-filled night. You will want quality here for this reason, and specialty stores carry shoes that are as stylish as they are comfortable. Aldo at Devonshire Mall (DM), Windsor Crossing (WC), and Great Lakes Crossing (GL); Nine West in WC and GL; The Shoe Company at the Walker Centre; and Bakers at GL offer
shoes at sale and regular prices.
4. The Aesthetics: It may seem daunting to try a DIY beauty project for your prom, but, from my experience, you may be more talented than you think. You will be saving tons of money and avoid going to a free makeover at the mall (believe me, it’s more of a risk the day of prom than a benefi t). In fact, try to make a night of it during the weekend before prom with your girlfriends by experimenting with hair and makeup. With the abundance of tutorials online on Youtube to date, there is probably a tutorial for your skill level that will help you decide what you can do on your own. My favourites are: ItsJudyTime, Xteeener, and fafinettex3 for hair and makeup.
• When in doubt: A make-up artist and one of my best friends does beautiful, professional work, starting at 30 dollars for a prom makeover. Please call: Jaskiran Grewal at 519 564 8591. To see Jaskiran’s work, please visit my flickr account for amateur photoshoots we’ve worked on together:http://www.flickr.com/photos/persnickety.
Congresswoman Bernadette “BH” Herrera-Dy and Bagong Henerasyon:
The Filipino Community of Windsor Essex County had the rare opportunity to welcome Congresswoman Bernadette “BH” Herrera-Dy for a quick visit at the Filipino Community Centre on Thursday, April 14, 2011.
Congresswoman Herrera-Dy exemplifies the ideal public servant who can hopefully help lead the Philippines toward an improved and responsible government, a more successful nation and a prosperous, self sufficient economy. Her 2011 BH Planner describes Herrera-Dy as a “public servant for the new generation” whose primary ambition is to be of service to the people, particularly those groups who are poor and disadvantaged and on the fringes of society. So far, her work for the last 11 years provides credence to this description.
Bagong Henerasyon started out as an NGO in 2001 and became a foundation two years later. Since 2010, it has been a Partylist representing the youth and women in the House of Representatives. Congresswoman Herrera-Dy was the leading nominee of the Bagong Henerasyon Partylist during the May 2010 Congressional elections (see inset for a quick overview of the Partylist election).
BH the Congresswoman and BH the Partylist share one vision and that is “to lead the country in the fight against sickness, poverty and indifference by empowering individuals with knowledge and skills.” To this end, they have identifi ed a 5-pronged advocacy that speaks very loudly and very strongly of the Group’s mission. This advocacy reads “H.E.L.P.S.” and this stands for Health, Education, Livelihood, People Empowerment and Sustainable Development.
When Herrera-Dy was in Windsor, she delivered a short but compelling message about some of the things that she has accomplished since serving as a councillor for Quezon City up to now that she is a member of Congress. She has been a luminary
through her career as a public servant as manifested by the house resolutions and house bills she has filed, her landmark legislations as a 10-year QC Councillor, and her multiple awards and achievements.
She has a very impressive resume, with an extraordinary service record and a long list of notable projects that cannot be easily matched possibly even by veteran politicians. She is highly educated, having earned a Business Economics degree and a Master in Finance degree, both from the very prestigious University of the Philippines.
As a QC Councillor, she sponsored several landmark bills that addressed issues close to her heart - such as the bill for Youth empowerment urging the City Mayor to set aside funds for computer laboratories in all public high schools in QC, or the ordinance
on Livelihood, creating the QC Livelihood Development Board that institutionalized the Livelihood movement of QC. In the short term that she has been in Congress, she has been a very active representative pursuing resolutions and bills that would ensure transparent, good governance and much-needed social transformations. At the same time, she leads BH in continuing to carry out extraordinary projects that have benefitted not just the citizens of QC but people in other areas as well.
To the benefit of women, children and the poor, BH has established the Supplemental Feeding Program, nourishing otherwise malnourished children back to health; they also have the BH Mobile Clinic – a van that has the capability to provide health services
including X-ray, ECG, laboratory and dental services to needy residents of QC and nearby cities and provinces.
In the area of education, BH has established community-based computer learning centres in various geographic areas and has collectively produced more than 6,000 graduates from these centres. BH has brought the Computer school on Wheels (COW), a fully operational computer learning centre that according to the BH website “provides free quality computer training right at the very doorsteps of the targeted benefi ciaries.” In
June 2006, the APEC Digital Opportunity Centre of Taipei, Taiwan recognized the BH – COW project as “Best Practice in Bridging the Digital Divide in the Philippines.” Bagong Henerasyon has also been recognized by other prestigious organizations such the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and was awarded as “Best Community Training, Community Employment Coordinator in the National Capital Region” in 2003 and the “Regional and National Kabalikat Awardee” in 2007.
BH with the Filipino Community Centre
Board of Directors
Those of us who were able to meet and hear the Congresswoman speak during her recent visit to Windsor all seemed to be very pleasantly amazed by what she presented to us. She made quite an impression. She thrilled us with positive undertakings led by BH and best of all, she gave us hope for our mother country.
We wish her the very best as she strides along to fulfill her promise to be a voice of change and a champion for those who otherwise will not be heard.
Denis Robillard was born in Northern Ontario and now teaches high school in Windslor. For the past 15 years several of his poems have appeared in the small presses and on line magazines across Canada, The USA and England and Scotland. Some of those include: Rattle, Rampike, Word Riot,Naashwak Review, Algoma Ink, Cliff Soundings, Sidereality, Orange Room Review, Dogzplot Magazine, Dusty Owl, Dufus and many more.
In 2011, Robillard will be published in Windsor Review and Bolts of Silk. He is also an avid photographer and traveler. You may see his article work on occasion in the pages of hey Philippines! newsmagazine.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kelly Olegario, a graduate of University of Windsor’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, is a young columnist for heyPhilippines! with an affinity for the arts, literature, popular culture, and lifestyle topics.
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