Wilma Bulkin Siegel, MD

 Orlando Figueroa (Puerto Rico-USA) represents article 1 UDHR We are all born free and equal: Mechanical Engineering, Scientist. Senior Executive and Expert Aerospace Consultant. Former NASA senior executive with 33 years of experience. He served as the Director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program. https://youtu.be/IWkVS2vXl6k?si=gl-Rpwq60G85z6Wl

 Dr. Fernando Camacho, MD. Hematology, Medical Oncology. Director of the Community Oncology Section of Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care. NY

 Fernando was a student of mine when I did training in Oncology at Montefiore Medical Center. He is the Director of Community Oncology at Montefiore. COVID-19 forced his practice into Telemedicine. He himself got COVID-19 since he was seeing his oncology patients in the outpatient setting without protection in the beginning. He was profoundly tired and febrile for 12-14 hours. The experience made him reevaluate his career and he is very much into Eastern philosophy mindfulness therapy. He used mindfulness with meditation to diminish his own apprehension of death. His wife also contracted the illness since she is the administrator of the outpatient Community Oncology unit also, but she had very few symptoms. Fernando is an expert on Buddhist Holistic Care philosophy and has been on retreats to learn more. He oversees meditation and spiritual insights at the wellness program of Montefiore, running 3 meditative sessions per week for doctors and staff. He feels that this should be a major part of medical school training. Death education is a major part of life and the Eastern tradition can teach us to accept.  https://vimeo.com/455271116

LAUREN ENGELMAN

Lauren is 32yo and a member of 3GNY, an organization to educate the public on the Holocaust. In NY state it is mandated that there should be Holocaust education in the schools. She is third generation of Hungarian descendant her grandmother was in Auschwitz. Lauren is of a mixed marriage with an interfaith wedding and she has given her living grandmother her first great grandchild. Her grandmother is loving and “full of life”.

She has written a book” And the Month was May” described-“A personal epic of scope and sincerity, And The Month Was May traces the life of Lillian Berliner, from her childhood in Hungary, to the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen, to her eventual liberation and resettlement in New York. Rendering with equal candor the searing cruelty of the camps, and the flourishing of life thereafter, Berliner has produced a memoir that embraces hope even as it looks unflinchingly at horror. Central to the telling is Berliner's voice, springing from the page to evoke the characters, settings, and inner motivations of her life in stunning detail. It is a story that affirms the resilience and infinite potential of the human spirit.” 

With this history Lauren is passionate in her life to continue the education further to others. She herself works at home mostly considered as an “inclusion leader” making sure that all underprivileged are included in obtaining jobs. VIDEO HERE: https://vimeo.com/378026800

Leila : Children of a Modern Family, Watercolor/Paper/Collage 33x43 (2018) Leila is 11 years old, the daughter of a white American mother whose family dates back to the Mayflower and whose father is of Afro-Caribbean Heritage including multiethnic blood of Asian, Caribbean Indian, European and Black. Leila’s mother was in the Peace Corps teaching in Grenada, West Indies, when she met her father, whose family were leaders in their island community, helping their neighbors to thrive. Her father is an artist, carpenter and builder of things. Leila's maternal grandmother also lives with their family and is a retired (but active) education activist. Leila's maternal grandparents moved to Paterson, New Jersey in 1969 as a part of his Methodist ministry and their shared commitment to the civil rights movement. Leila's grandfather left the Methodist church before her mother’s birth, but her mother convinced them to become members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church while she was still a child. We are connected by this church, where I once created a project about the Homeless, which featured her foster sister, and so she knew my work. Sitting with her and her daughter was so remarkable because she is teaching her empathic insights to her mixed heritage with full respect. Leila wishes to be a dancer in the future. She enjoys learning art from her father and has benefited from extensive exposure to the arts both as home and at school. Her mother was a middle school Science teacher and ran after school programs that integrated Science and the Arts (STEAM) in the Paterson Public Schools for 14 years, which allowed Leila to attend classes in the schools where her mother taught until the family moved to a new community.

HULYA GUNDUZ EKEN

 Hulya was born in Diyarbakir, Turkey where she lived until she was 11. Her family moved to Istanbul, were she continued her education and stated working in the famous Haute Couture Designer center were she became a premiere tailor. Later she and her sister moved to the US where she worked at Lillie Rubin , Lord &Taylor and Saks gown company for six years. She is a Muslim woman who believes Islam is a peaceful religion. She doesn’t wear the scarf but her sister does. She believes in tolerance between the religions and loves everyone. She owned Moda Tailor Designer Company for 17 years which is located in Broward. She is married and has two daughters. Watercolor/paper 35x29 2016 

RON STUX
Ron is the husband of Elizabeth Strux. His future mother and father lived in Vienna where his father worked in the clothing business. In 1938 after they married, his father remained in a cellar because of the danger to Jews at that time. They decided to leave for Shanghai because it was still possible to go there. After the war they learned that living in the Shanghai ghetto was very different from the other ghettos of Eastern Europe because they were free to roam the city and conduct b

JAKE MILKOVICH

Jake Milkovich: He is 23 years old and he grew up “playing army”. His father gave him the movie “Top Gun” when he was 7 years old and he dreamed that he too would fly jets and be a fighter pilot. At 17 he wanted to be the best of the best so he joined the Marines and once at Paris Island it was a great shock but he always wanted to achieve so he became a squad leader and then was chosen to infantry school learning basic security and was picked to serve at Camp David to be part of security for President Obama. His leadership led him to be deployed as platoon leader in Afghanistan going in April 2011. At first there was no fighting because it was poppy season and the Taliban own the poppy fields but after the harvesting everyone left and then the bullets were flying. He observed many casualties with many amputees. He is spiritual and learned of death early when a mentor of his was killed in the shower by a grenade. His mentor said when it is your time it is your time to go. He was deployed for 7 months. He learned the respect for life here where we can breathe free. He states that he has PTSD and it helps to keep in touch with his buddies. He is now studying to get his college degree at NOVA Southeastern University with his significant other Kelsey who is a martial arts instructor for the marines. They both decided to study in Florida. They are creating NOVA Students Veterans Association because Florida will have a large population of returning veterans and they are planning a major function throughout the campus for Veteran’s Day. The photo is of a young Afghanistan who saved his life. 

Jacob

Eddie