MARCH 2023

FROM THE EDITOR
PUBLISHED BY
Chaldean News, LLC
Chaldean Community Foundation
Martin Manna
EDITORIAL
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Sarah Kittle
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Cal Abbo
Dr. Rena Daiza
Crystal Jabiro
Sarah Kittle
Dr. Adhid Miri
Weam Namou
Paul Natinsky
Jacqueline Raxter, MSW
Fr. Marcus Shammami
ART & PRODUCTION
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Alex Lumelsky with SKY Creative
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Zina Lumelsky with SKY Creative
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Wilson Sarkis
Celena Soka
SALES
Interlink Media
Sana Navarrette
CLASSIFIEDS
Sana Navarrette
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Celebrating Sisterhood
March is International Women’s Month,
which means not only here in the U.S., but
in the United Kingdom and Australia, people
are celebrating us! We also happen to feature a
few articles about the fairer sex in our current issue.
Our March cover is the remarkable Genevieve
Kashat, who competed in the Kids Baking Championship
on Food Network. Whatever the outcome
of the contest, Genevieve and her macarons are
winners in our book. Stay tuned for a future podcast
with her and Cal Abbo.
And we simply had to do a feature on Jaclyn
McQuaid, a top-level exec at GM who is instrumental
to the roll-out of the EV market
in Europe. Jaclyn, along with her twin sister
Jamie Brewer (who also is a top-level executive
at GM), are shaping the way we drive
and even think about the automobile. It is an
exciting time to be an automotive engineer.
(Shout out to Mary Barra who is shaking up
the corporate structure with her diversity initiatives!)
Rita Soka’s story may not be unique to the Chaldean
community, but it does exemplify the hard work, perseverance
and dedication to a goal that makes the community so
successful. Rita decided what she wanted and went for it.
When her ESL test scores for college came back unsatisfactory,
she refocused and took a job as a cashier to improve
her English, moving up at every opportunity. Now she is a
co-founder of her own law firm.
Ava Sarafa is a volleyball star at Marian High School who
is on her way to play for the University of Kentucky. She was
named to the 2023 USA Today All-Star Team and may very
well play in the Olympics one day. (But only if she wants to.)
We are grateful to Genevieve, Jaclyn, Jamie, Mary, Rita,
and Ava – for their courage and faith in taking on roles that
maybe people told them they couldn’t. To quote the great
hockey player Wayne Gretzky, “You miss 100% of the shots
you don’t take.”
FOMO, or “Fear of Missing Out,” may be currently at play
in the travel industry, according to reporter Paul Natinsky,
SARAH KITTLE
EDITOR
IN CHIEF
who interviewed some local travel agents on the
travel boom. After years of restricted or delayed
travel, flights are picking up. Where are people travelling?
Usually somewhere sunny.
Dr. Miri was honored this month to write about
his friend Habib Hannona, a pioneer in the Chaldean
community. “Each time he walks into a room,
a rainbow of hope appears,” said the author. Habib
has done many things in his lifetime, creating art
pieces and writing books and poems; currently, he
is a civil engineer employed by the Chaldean Community
Foundation.
We are grateful to Genevieve, Jaclyn, Jamie,
Mary, Rita, and Ava – for their courage and
faith in taking on roles that maybe people
told them they couldn’t.
Iraq in the Frame continues with a special on the children
of Iraq. In perusing the spectacular photos that Wilson
Sarkis has provided, one question kept coming up in
the minds of CN staff: “Where do the children play?” Turns
out, they play in the streets (a lot of street soccer) and near
churches; ironically, being next to the desecrated places of
worship may now be the safest places for them to play.
Fr. Marcus Shammami returns to the CN as a contributing
writer on the celebration of Lent, Crystal Jabiro tells a
deeply personal story of her cousin’s addiction and recovery,
and the CCF’s Jacqueline Raxter shares resources and signs
of depression that can lead to suicidal thoughts and actions.
It’s a societal problem that won’t go away on its own.
We head into the season of spring this month, and together,
we look forward to the promise of hope and rebirth.
Sarah Kittle
Editor in Chief
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6 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2023