It is of no surprise that all are susceptible to colds.   While some Chaldeans are accustomed to constant change of weather, there are plenty who are vulnerable.

Think of waking up to the traditional tea and toast one morning, and before you know it, you realize your nose is stuffy, your throat is scratchy and a sneeze is slowly sneaking up on you.  You try to reach for a tissue to catch it in time, and all the while feel the aches in your body, and the light-headed feeling that comes right before the big “Ah-Chu!” And it’s here: that nasty cold that’s been going around; the one your friend(s)/family has complained about all week.

Those that should really be watched over carefully are the younger Chaldean children. They are still building their immune system and other infections could easily develop alongside the cold, like ear infections.

Ghasoon Majed and Dawood Summa, met at a Communion celebration party.  “We were both friends of the family.  The parents of the boy that received Communion had a barbeque and invited friends and family to their home.  I was a friend of the boy’s older brothers and Ghasoon was a friend of boy’s aunt,” Dawood fondly remembers. “I was around 24 and she was 20.  I kept bringing her tea so we could talk.  We must have finished two pots by ourselves.  The worst part was that we both had to use the bathroom after drinking so much tea.  The best part was that neither of us wanted to go because we enjoyed talking to one another so much.”

After several hours of conversation—and several pots of tea—Ghasoon and Dawood knew they wanted to be together. Some 20 years have passed, living in four different countries since that tea-filled talk, but when Ghasoon phones her husband to say she's on her way home, Dawood ready reply is, "I'll put the teapot on." For Ghasoon, that simple phrase, loaded with memories and meaning, tells her she is still loved by the man she fell in love with.

In America and Europe more than 40 percent of first-time marriages fail.  Chaldean couples continue to need both an understanding about what it takes to make their marriages last in Western society.  Latifa Seeba examines the latest research and studies on Marriage and shares some of the “Do’s” that Chaldean couples can use to make the journey together easier and more rewarding.

Michigan, USA - The Chaldean Education and Career Center, Chaldean American Student Association of Michigan, and Chaldean American Professionals share with the community four very important instructional family based seminars on children with special needs.  The events are free and will be held throughout Oakland and Wayne County.

Chaldean parents and health professionals which include teachers, counselors, social workers, nurses, psychologist, ministers, and community family aid providers as well as Chaldean college students studying in these fields are strongly encouraged to register and attend.  The events offers state accredited certificates and an opportunity to network with other professionals in your field. 

The seminars will be held in English by industry experts.  The dates for the events are February 16, March 5, and March 18. The seminar will cover state aid and educational services for families with children of special needs. 

Afterwards CE&CC, CASA-MI, and CAP will be organizing special culturally focused sessions for families with children of special needs.  A brief summary including the seminar syllabus, location, and registration requirements follows.

California, USA - Chaldeans who eat a lot of red meat and processed meats have a significantly higher risk of several types of cancer, including lung cancer and colorectal cancer, says Dr. Tarik Kajy, a Chaldean cancer specialist and surgeon.  A recent study released by U.S. researchers concur with Dr. Kajy that high red meat consummation is a health risk.  

The study is the first big study to show a link between meat and lung cancer. It also shows that people who eat a lot of meat have a higher risk of liver and esophageal cancer and that men raise their risk of pancreatic cancer by eating red meat.

A growing number of Chaldeans in America are being diagnosed with cancer.  Dr. Kajy theorizes that high red meat consumption in the Chaldean diet might be to blame.  “Chaldeans originating from the Middle East often ate a high vegetarian laden Mediterranean style diet balanced with low meat intake.  However, Chaldeans in America have reversed the portions and are now eating more meat then the traditional vegetable driven meal.”

Chaldean parents are curious on how to capture their little one's creative energy when the weather gets cold.  Being cooped up in the house all day can make a toddler honery and troublesome.  Chaldean parents can help channel that energy by trying at least one of our nine fun, brain-boosting projects.

California, USA - Chaldeans are busily preparing for the holidays.  The community is getting ready for big family dinners, the traditional extended family tours, and the hectic gift giving calculations.  It arrives at the same time every year, and yet Chaldeans continue to get confused, stressed, and frustrated over the potential holiday madness. Chaldean holiday preparations can be less taxing for Chaldeans if these 7 simple steps are followed. 

Step 1 - BE PREPARED
Create a budget for your gift purchases, a list of who has been nice, and stick to it. Chaldeans have huge families and trying to buy a gift for every cousin, friend, neighbor, or employee will have you filing for bankruptcy.  Chaldeans are generous and charitable, but a line has to be drawn.  Create a gift list to fight the urge of seeing an item on clearance that you think would be perfect for someone not on your list.  Write down a few ideas for presents, based on the preferences of those on the list and hints they have given you throughout the year.

Michigan, USA - The increasing disgust and hyper-sexualization in the media has one Chaldean scholar seeking answers.  Phyllis Easter Jeden is a first-generation Chaldean-American born and raised in metro-Detroit.  The pre-law student at Central Michigan University is perusing studies in International, Minority, and Human Rights Law.   

Jeden, like most Chaldeans and Americans has grown increasingly concerned over television advertising portraying women as nothing more than sex objects. “I am appalled by some of the things that the media culture tries to mainstream and celebrate.  This has hurt America and has undermined our ability to speak to the world about values.  Just look at the amount of cleavage you see worn by younger and younger women (and girls) in the supermarket, on the bus, in church?” 

Rather than sit idly by and adopt a hopeless attitude Jeden decide to act.  In her recently published study Jeden tackles the impact of sexualization of women in media and how such efforts harm women.  The study Rape, Women and International Law began as a response to such everyday irritants.  However, the study quickly began revealing much more about the insidious sexualization of women in media and other mainstream venues in societies across the world.

California, USA - Wise and thoughtful Chaldean parents continue to harp on their children to honor other people's kindness and generosity.  Most children despise having to write thank you notes.  Sadly, parents who fail to teach their children how to recognize and acknowledge the good they see in others will eventually have to contend with the consequences of a self-centered, ungrateful, and spoiled child. 

Michigan, USA - Joe Bidawid, professional board rider, uses his paddle in the fight to finding a cure for cancer.  The middle child from a family of five children has his eyes set on breaking a world record as he trains to stand-up paddle surf across Lake Michigan from St. Joseph, Michigan to Chicago, Illinois. 

The Farmington Hills, Michigan Chaldean native is perhaps one of the more versatile athletes in professional boarding.  Skiing, snowboarding, windsurfing, kiteboarding, and surfing, Joe Bidawid has mastered them all at a world class level.  Capturing the imagination of world boarders the Chaldean Aquaman has been featured in top sports boarding magazines and local Michigan papers.

Michgian, USA - The southeast Michigan Chaldean Church Sports League prepares for their playoff games this Saturday, July 21, 2007.  The Chaldean Eparchy (Diocese) of Eastern United States has narrowed the four top performing church teams in the 18 and under category of girl’s volleyball and boy’s flag football. 

In the heart of Southeastern Michigan at the Southfield Municipal Civic and Sports Center hundreds and hundreds of Chaldeans gather to play, pray, and show their support.  The Chaldean church teams have been competing weekly for nearly two months.  Based on their win-loss record and total game point earnings the top four church teams qualified for the League playoff games. 

The CCSL is attracting a high level of talent and producing great competition.  The league features some of the best athletes in the Chaldean community as all-American high school athletes lead their respective church to victory on the field and on the sand court.

Michigan, USA – Chaldeans need to beware the hot summer.  With the excitement of heading to the beach, chaldean family barbeques with plenty of food and running children, or the excitement of July fireworks, Chaldeans need to be aware.   Chaldeans in Michigan need to be especially vigilant as the hibernation of a cold winter and wet spring can lead to careless behavior over the excitement of a hot summer. 

In the emergency room at the University of Michigan Hospital doctors and nurses know what that means: any minute now, another burned patient will come through the door needing immediate treatment.

Maybe it’ll be a Chaldean woman who burned her bare feet walking over the buried coals of a beach bonfire, or a Chaldean child who got too much sun and developed skin blisters.  Maybe it’ll be a Chaldean teenager who came too close to the hot exhaust of a lawnmower, or a Chaldean father who didn’t heed the warning on a package of fireworks.   Or maybe it’ll be a Chaldean toddler who strayed too close to a fire pit, or a backyard chef who got impatient with a charcoal fire and tried to jump-start it with a squirt of lighter fluid.

Whatever kind of burn comes through that emergency room door, says emergency physician Samir Namy, M.D., it almost surely didn’t need to happen.

California, USA - The American Chaldean Father spends over 15 hours a day at work.  That leaves little time for the family.  “I have to work this hard.  How am I going to feed my family, pay the bills, or be able to afford the stuff my children want or need,” says Waseem Bokus, a grocery store owner in the heart of San Diego.   “I know I should spend more time with my children but what can I do?”

Chaldean fathers unable to find employment in corporations have few alternatives.  Either they create their own business or join day laborers in Southern California.  The difficult situation takes it toll on the Chaldean family and the impact may be more severe then most Chaldean families can tolerate.

California, USA - In the life of every being that walks this planet, there is a purpose that is to be fulfilled before their time here is complete. Whether it be carrying out a career that may change the lives of many, creating a family of his own and protecting them, or just living a life that is alive with faith, hope and love… every mission is unique. It is vital in life to have confidence in understanding that the value of every accomplishment and deed done, be it big or small, is still so very great. For it is in the words of the Blessed Mother Theresa who proclaimed that, “Little things are indeed little, but to be faithful in little things is a great thing.”

Over in The Golden State, better known as California, a great man by the name of Gregory Acho is believed to have found what so many seek: their calling in life. But this calling, this purpose he prays to fulfill successfully, is not for his own pleasure, but is for people in his community that he yearns to reach out to and help by leading them to an improved stage in their life.

Acho, 30, founder of Conscious Contact, Inc., a non-profit sober living organization (rehabilitation clinic) are helping Americans overcome the strenuous process of staying sober. Acho adds that it is not as simple as it sounds, just “staying sober” or fighting an addiction, but that it is “[much] deeper than that. We provide support for each person to look within themselves and make contact, Conscious Contact, with who and what they have always been.” 

Tired of hearing Chaldean grandparents fuss over the health differences among American Chaldean and Iraqi Chaldean babies?  Do you find it odd that babies from war torn Iraq tend to be healthier than their Chaldean American counterparts?  In a country with so much freedom and prosperity it wouldn’t seem to make sense.  However, the facts are in and much of the health differences can be attributed to mothers who breastfeed versus moms that don’t.

Chaldean mothers in second and third world countries are have little choice in regards to choosing to nurse their infant or provide commercial formulas.  That may have been a blessing in disguise for Chaldean mothers.  More data continues to prove that breastfeeding is by far the best choice for a baby.  All the while, formula manufactures continue to come under scrutiny over their chemical products and the lack of comparative health benefits.