Michigan, USA – “If you’ve ever gone a month without spending any real quality time with your spouse, you know how negatively it can affect your marriage. All relationships need to be nurtured, and none more so than our relationship with our spouse,” says Eddie Kuza from Farmington Hills, Michigan. 

Kuza attended the new Couples Club at Mother of God Chaldean Catholic church with his wife.  The Couples Club organizes fun outings and events for engaged and married Chaldean couples.  “The Club is fun.  The group organizes some great activities, like dinner and a play, or a small trip up North, or great tickets to a basketball game.” 

Kuza says the goal of the Couples Club is to nurture strong marital relationships and create opportunities for Chaldeans to have fun.  Successful Chaldean marriages may be best seen as a triangle, with God at the top and each partner at the lower corners. The closer we draw to God, the closer we’ll be to each other.  “Marriage is not a ‘done deal’ at the altar; it’s a continuous, daily ‘I do.’ Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads, which sew people together through the years.”

The Chaldean Couples Club event brochure offered these wonderful tips to perk up a relationship.

California, USA – Chaldean immigrant receives special attention from the U.S. Center for Disease control (CDC) for his blood.  “It is like the movie Arachnophobia where a spider is brought to the U.S., spreads, and creates havoc,” says Dr. Jason Edwin III, Director of Entomology at the CDC.  “We were able to find an Iraqi who has something in his blood that is immune to the spider’s venom and is assisting in treating the infectious bite site of the spider.”

David Abbas of Tel’Kepe, Iraq seems to be immune to the venom of the infamous “Camel Spider” which is identified as the cause of a state-wide outbreak in Nevada.  Abbas was given $100,000 after a sample of his blood proved to contain the necessary antibodies.  The CDC is now asking Chaldeans in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Michigan to be tested.  Those with the rare blood immunity will be offered a $100,000 in order for the CDC to have enough vaccine to stop the epidemic from spreading outside of Nevada.  

“I was scared and worried,” says Ashley Michael.  “My baby would not stop crying.  It was late at night and I was so tired.  He was getting on my nerves.  Thank God we lived with my Mother-in-Law.  She helped keep me calm and made me feel that everything would be fine.  She was so kind and helpful.”

All babies cry. And at about two weeks of age, it is common for babies to develop a fussy period in the evening that can last for as long as two hours.  Fortunately for Mrs. Michael it is a Chaldean tradition for a new mom to stay with her mother or mother-in-law after giving birth for a few months.   

The reassurance, extra set of hands, and experienced advice can make all the difference.  So can a number of these helpful tips given to www.CHALDEAN.org by experienced Chaldean moms on how to soothe a fussy baby.  Try some of the following techniques, or perhaps a combination of them, to soothe your baby.

Chaldean expectant mothers know that a healthy diet is the best way to get the vitamins and minerals you need. Chaldean food is one of the healthiest of cultural cookery, but even if you eat healthfully every day, some Chaldean moms may fall short on key nutrients. If you're pregnant or hoping to conceive, prenatal vitamins can help fill any gaps.

In today’s article I cover why you need them, when to start taking them or how they help.  I hope Chaldean moms-to-be find the information useful and helpful.  If you have suggestions for future articles on healthy living e-mail me at info@chaldean.org care of Brenda Hermiz. 

California, USA – “Chaldeans who voted for him should be ashamed of themselves.  When will people learn that what goes around comes around?  Like the Nazis who supported eugenics and the killing of the useless and unwanted, so too goes America with this President,” says Ashley Bashi. 

Barack Obamaa has plans to reward the allies that helped him topple Hillary Clinton and seize the presidency by making total unrestricted abortion in the United States his number one priority as president.  Nonetheless, some Chaldeans think abortion is a religious issue or only a disagreement to overlook with the controlling Democrat party. 

 “It is sad that some in the Chaldean community think abortion is a religious issue.  Our entire society is based on morals and values.  If we don’t value the innocent, the old, unproductive, weak, or poor of our society, how much longer before we begin to make decisions to eliminate them,” says Dr. Hiba Hannou, a leading Chaldean medical researcher in reproductive science.  “How much longer before we say those that are not smart or unproductive must also be killed.”

California, USA – The double standard in the Chaldean community always was a point of contention.  Why is it okay for men to smoke, but not women?  Some argue the double standard was required by Chaldean men living in a Muslim dominated society where smoking was seen as a male’s passage to adulthood and encouraged.  

The society pressures seem to be a strong force as American society continues to grow in disgust with smokers.   Chaldean men living in western society show a significant decrease in smoking compared to their Middle Eastern counterparts.  However, the increase in Chaldean women smokers versus their counterparts is staggering, but understandable, given the freedoms and consumer coaching aimed at women who have come a long way to light-up.

Stories abound in the Chaldean community of fathers and mothers disgusted at the sight of young American teenage girls smoking at school.  Some of the stories go so fat as to say that the parents refused to allow their daughters to enroll in the school, opting instead to home school. 

So whatever happened to those teen girls who defiantly puffed away as gawking Chaldean parents drove by worried as to what their child was being exposed to.  A new study says those insecure girls have grown up to be fat and are now costing society in hefty healthcare costs.

Florida, USA – “The family is the nucleus of society.  When it is weakened or destroyed, we all pay,” says Jenny Jabril, a Chaldean nurse in Florida’s Orange County.  “We all pay when families break-down or fail.  We the people, deal with the dysfunction.  Our taxes go up to care for the abandoned or misguided children, our education system spins out of control, we pay more to prevent crimes, protect our families, or hospitalize these people.” 

Jabril is frustrated over the increased number of substance abuse.  In Florida law, citizens can be held against their will under the Marchman Act. Individuals whose substance abuse makes them a threat to themselves or others can be held at a mental-health facility for up to five days while physicians evaluate them.

Jerry Kassab, president and chief executive officer of Lakeside Alternatives, Orange County's receiving center, said his facility receives about 20 patients a day who are committed under the law.   There are three scenarios in which someone can be committed under the Marchman Act.

In Orange County, Kassab said, most patients are taken to Lakeside by law enforcement officers.  "The most common instance is when someone's out on the street who's acting up, or the police might be called by a store owner because someone's acting up or acting weird," Kassab said. "You also get instances when one family member calls the police because someone in their family is out of control."

You are My Sunshine, My only Sunshine'….Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling.

They found out that the new baby was going be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his sister in mommy's tummy.   He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her.

The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen.  In time, the labor pains came. Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of labor.

Would a C-section be required? Would the mother survive?  Would the baby live?  The entire family and medical staff were on pins and needles.  Finally, after a long and exhausting struggle, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in very serious condition.

Michigan, USA – The Church of Transfiguration in Southfield, formerly St. Michaels hosts the Southfield 40 Days for Life kick-off campaign.  The 40Days for life team invites the public to join the prayer effort as the prayer group gathers at 6:45 p.m. today, Tuesday, September 24th to help put an end to abortion. 

From September 24 - November 2, our community will be one of more than 170 cities in 45 states joining together for the largest and longest coordinated pro-life mobilization in history -- the 40 Days for Life campaign.

40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life effort that consists of:

40 days of prayer and fasting, 40 days of peaceful vigil, and 40 days of community outreach.  Chaldeans4Life help lead the effort in the Chaldean community.  Group leaders say the are praying that, with God's help, their groundbreaking effort will mark the beginning of the end of abortion in our city -- and throughout America.

Chaldeans interested in becoming part of the growing movement are encouraged to take a stand for life. 

Michigan, USA - Three levels of difficulty will challenge Chaldean visitors to the second annual Bowers Farm Corn Maze nestled in the fields of Bloomfield Township’s historic farm at 1219 E. Square Lake Road.

Beginning Saturday, Sept. 27 and continuing Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 1, the corn maze will offer beginning, intermediate and advanced routes covering ten acres.  All mazes have check points where visitors can consult a map.  Walking time varies from 15 minutes to 45 minutes, depending on pace. Guides will be present inside the maze to assist visitors.  

Chaldean families can also enjoy free wagon rides or horse drawn hayrides for $3, concessions including apple cider, doughnuts and hot dogs roasted over a bonfire, complimentary on-site parking, and pumpkin picking beginning Oct. 17.  Guests should wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather, and may bring flashlights for after dark.