Michigan Chaldean Community

Faith Gumma was killed on August 12 in Sterling Heights when the car she was in with her family was struck by a teen driver fleeing police. Her son, Elijah, survived largely unscathed but her husband Norman has been in intensive care ever since.

The CCF experienced a record-breaking year, awarding 33 scholarship recipients with a total of $103,500 in scholarships at our Scholarship Award Reception on August 24.

The CCF has a large donor based of donor families and businesses including: w3r Consulting, Yvonne Nona Memorial Scholarship Fund, Drs. Nathima and Peter Atchoo Family Foundation Scholarship Fund, the Abdul Karim and Jameela Sesi Memorial Scholarship Fund, Derek Dickow and the Children’s Health Fund at the Children’s Foundation, DA Advisory Group, and Alline Salon Group.

The topic of dating is highly debated and ever changing; this comes as no surprise because it is a universal experience. Most of us have dated, will date, or are currently dating. However, this idea of dating is rather new to the Chaldean community, when compared to the “courting” our parents experienced.

Chaldeans have lived and learned in Michigan for over 100 years. During that time, they have brought with them and transmitted their culture and traditions, including how knowledge is passed down and inherited. The defining characteristics of Chaldeans as it relates to education are family and community.

Every year, it seems as if Halloween is arriving earlier and earlier in the year….and I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t hate it. Halloween is such a fun way to bond with your children and get creative while you do it. While you can go the traditional “trick-or-treating” route, (an oldie but a goodie), why not put a fun spin on it and start branching out to create new ghoulie traditions you and your kids will love and remember for years to come?

Bushra Hormis is an Iraqi expatriate who came to America and faced many difficulties, including learning a new language, translating and filling out paperwork, and finding employment. Bushra thanked God when she heard about the Chaldean Community Foundation, which aids immigrants in general, and Iraqis in particular. Said Bushra, “I would like to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to Him for this great idea of providing useful and beautiful assistance.”

“Mommy’s Salad,” as it was named by her children, is not just a salad—it’s a meal. On most dinner menus, salads tend to play a supporting role, served in small portions at the start of a meal. However, West Bloomfield resident Aida Yousif has taken the concept of a salad to a new level by elevating it to a full meal. Among family and friends, “Mommy’s Salad” is a favorite and has been at the top of the request list for many years.

Diya Butros Sliwa, a Chaldean political activist, lives in Erbil, Iraq, but he gives talks around the world on human rights. He visited North America recently where he gave talks and interviews in Michigan, in Canada, and he also plans to travel to Washington, DC. His goal is to bring awareness to the status of the rights of religious and national minorities in Iraq and Kurdistan.

In 2020, Nathan Pawl’s son, an honor-roll student, felt attacked because he wouldn’t wear a mask in school. This was in Walled Lake School District, and when Pawl, the father, tried to resolve the situation, he felt frustrated that he wasn’t being heard. Pawl then decided to act. He teamed up with Monica Yatooma, a former Oakland County Commissioner candidate, and Matthew Nelson, a Walled Lake parent, and they founded the Great Schools Initiative (GSI), a non-profit organization based in Michigan and dedicated to advocating for premium public education.

In today’s rapidly evolving world, establishing and nurturing a brand that captures the hearts and minds of consumers is an art form. One individual who has masterfully embraced this challenge is Lydia Michael, an author and brand strategist whose groundbreaking book, “Brand Love – Building Strong Consumer-Brand Connections,” released on July 25, 2023, by Kogan Page, a leading independent publisher of business books, has taken the marketing world by storm.

Michigan is such a beautiful state. We are surrounded on three sides by water – fresh, glorious water – and have the advantage of experiencing all four seasons of the year, sometimes in the same week! (You may have seen memes on social media that say, “Everyone: “You can’t have all four seasons in one week.” Michigan: “Hold my Faygo.”)

For nearly half a century, Chaldeans have been visiting the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio. It is the site of an annual pilgrimage of Roman Catholics, primarily Iraqi Christians, to mark the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, celebrated August 14, on the Eve of the Assumption.

When Christina Roki’s family car broke down, they couldn’t afford a mechanic to look it over. Her family lived paycheck to paycheck, and with three children, there was little money to spare. Most would turn to a family member for help or take out a short-term loan. But Christina had a rare and enterprising thought: What if she tried to fix it herself. The rest, as they say, is history.

Although there are a variety of ways to prepare Pikota, the age-old Chaldean dish, Samira Cholagh’s presentation is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. With only a handful of ingredients, the recipe itself is surprisingly simple but the final touch of display Samira gives her Pikota is over-the-top extraordinary: It’s a work of art.

Bahi was born to farmers Zingel and Gorgia Jarbo on December 10, 1947, in the village of Telkeppe, Iraq. As a young boy, he shepherded animals and cared for his hunting dog. His mother died when he was 11. His older sisters helped raise him, as did his mom’s brother, the late Ramzi Yono, who taught him how to cut hair. When he was 18, Bahi was drafted into the Iraqi Army where in between training and combat he would trim soldiers’ hair for extra money. He served six years in very difficult conditions because of ongoing conflict in the region. After he was discharged, Bahi went to Kuwait and worked for a sheik as his personal barber. Several years later he traveled to Lebanon with a friend to await their American visas.

Representatives from Oakland University visited the CCF recently to learn more about the projects and work done at the center. Open for discussion were ideas to strengthen the current strategic partnership between Oakland University and the Chaldean Community Foundation and future scholarship opportunities.

Preserving our beautiful language is the responsibility of every person who has been blessed to be born into our Chaldean culture. The language is being spoken less and less in homes and is becoming exclusive to the older generation. What a shame it would be for our thriving community in Michigan to allow our language to die!

This month, we feature more photos of the old neighborhood. We love to see old photos; they evoke memories of a simpler time. These were submitted by CN reader Alexa Saffar.

It’s so easy to begin this by listing off all the accomplishments that Clarence contributed to the community around the world. Many knew him for his friendly smile, witty one-liners, or the fact that he battled stage four colon cancer behind closed doors and still managed to provide pro-bono services for the Iraqi community while they fought deportations, alongside his own determination and valor to live life to the fullest.

Albert Einstein has been credited with saying the only constant in life is change. Accordingly, the Chaldean community is in a constant state of change, evolving on all levels– social, educational, professional, economic, and geographic. This story pertains to the latter two levels.

Chaldeans from Iraq began coming to Detroit a century ago. In the 1960s, they began pouring in, some to join their families, some to escape the persecution that this Christian minority faced over the years in their ancestral homeland. Metro Detroit now is home to an estimated 200,000 Chaldeans. Tens of thousands of them started their lives in Chaldean Town; at one point, a quarter of the area’s Chaldeans lived there.

In the Middle East, war seems to follow you like a monster from a Stephen King novel. It’s unrelenting and always a step ahead; a story told by many Chaldeans who arrive in the bright and beautiful lands of America. The story of David Shammas is no exception.

Josh Garmo skated up the right wing, deked Brendan Danou, eluded two other players, and sent a perfectly placed shot into the top left corner of the net. It was a spectacular goal, and it gave Team Red a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over Team Green in the first game of the best-of-three Chaldean Hockey League playoff championship series.

On May 6, the Chaldean Community Foundation hosted a Community Health Fair in partnership with the Chaldean American Association for Health Professionals.

Those in attendance experienced live demonstrations, interactive displays, and had the opportunity to receive free health screenings for blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol.

The Chaldean Community Foundation hosted the Breakfast of Nations event on May 19. The event featured a panel of immigrant entrepreneurs who talked about the challenges of being an immigrant in the United States.

Panelists Wassem Ayar, Nicole Chen, and Amer Batal shared their unique migration stories, personal childhood anecdotes, and early experiences with entrepreneurship.

A commission is looking to place a historical marker on 7 Mile Road, commemorating the businesses and people that contributed to a thriving neighborhood that was so popular it earned the distinction, “Chaldean Town.” We will be publishing photos from that historic era all this summer. The photos on this page were submitted by Heather Boji.

When Fadi Y. Sitto found his calling, the switch was immediate. He would stop writing articles for magazines and press releases for corporate firms. He had no choice but to follow where his heart pulled him. He would become a poet.

The First-Time Filmmaker Sessions Online Film Festival is proud to present The Great American Family, a documentary that sheds light on the injustices of the American criminal justice system. Directed, written, and produced by Weam Namou, this film tells the story of Dawn Hanna, who was sentenced to six years in federal prison for having conspired to send telecom equipment to Iraq during the sanctions.

Tommy Gasso, Senior VP of Commercial Lending for Community Financial Credit Union was named one of Crain’s Detroit Business 2023 Notable Leaders in Commercial Banking. Gasso joined Community Financial Credit Union in 2013, and in less than 10 years, grew its collective commercial portfolio from $20 million to $220 million, a sizable figure for the metro Detroit-based credit union.

The Learn with a Leader program, a partnership with the Chaldean Community Foundation and Wireless Vision, continued last month with a session focused on Creating Vision and Purpose as a Leader. It also included a presentation from CCF President Martin Manna about his personal journey. Future sessions for the program will detail important leadership skills and topics about Leading Culture, People Intelligence, and much more. The CCF is proud to partner with Wireless Vision to support our next generation of leaders.