Celebrating 20 Years: The Chaldean Cultural Center Founders Gala

Arabian Knights Depka group performs at the Gala.

By Weam Namou

The Chaldean Cultural Center (CCC) celebrated its 20th Anniversary Founders Gala on Friday, October 20 at Shenandoah Country Club. It was a night reminiscent of an ethnic bazaar, with a Chaldean bread lady, music, and other entertainment along with a stroll through the museum, a short documentary and commemoration.

Led by zurna player Omar Jarbo, guests were escorted inside the banquet hall where dancing ensued. Then, the Arabian Knights, a folk dancing depka group founded by Hassan Khatter over 16 years ago, did a performance and later invited guests to join. Vanessa Denha Garmo, the Master of Ceremonies, shared a delightful story of when she asked her older sister to borrow her Toyota Subaru. Her sister said, “Absolutely not!” and as they quibbled, their father, shaking his head, said, “You girls are so ungrateful. When I was your age, I had to share my donkey with Amo Thomas.”

Another story was of a Chaldean woman who came to America through Ellis Island. She had an eye problem which had to be cured for her to complete her journey to Michigan. Eventually, she was cured, giving glory to the Virgin Mary statue (AKA the Statue of Liberty), whom she prayed to every day.

Judy Jonna, event chairperson, handed out the CCC founder plaques made by renowned artist Sabah Selou Wazi. The founders include the late Rosemary Antone, Virjean Arabo, Francis Boji, Raad Kathawa, Mary Romaya, Josephine Sarafa, Victor Saroki, and Hanna Shina.

The Founders’ Stories

Born in Telkaif (Telkeppe) in 1941, Rosemary Antone came to the United States in 1950 when she was 9 years old. She was featured in the documentary Chaldeans in America: Our Story where she said, “We want our pioneers to be proud of what they did and where they brought us. We want future generations and our American neighbors and friends to know who Chaldeans are.” Sadly, Antone passed away in 2009.

Virjean Arabo was born in Samawah, a city in southern Iraq, to parents who were both teachers. She went to college in Iraq, majoring in economics and political science. In 1967, she married Faisal and came to the United States with books packed in her bags. Her dream was to continue studying, but she had five children in ten years, now all grown. “They continued studying in my place,” she said.

Arabo, an artist, was invited by Josephine Sarafa to attend a meeting at Southfield Manor. Though she didn’t know what the meeting was about, she went. “There were many people, and the next meeting, less people, and the meeting after that, even less people than that,” she said. “I was one of the ones who ended up staying until the end.”

Kashat Spices representative Caitlyn Norma Hakim

Francis Boji’s father, a builder, came and worked in the United Stated from 1929 to 1935, then returned to Iraq. Francis was born in Telkaif in 1942. He studied engineering and at age 21, taught at the Faculty of Engineering. He came to America with his wife and children in 1980. “There is an Iraqi museum, and there are other museums that dedicate parts to the Chaldeans,” he said, “but this museum is 100% Chaldean, and for Chaldeans, and it is authentically Chaldean.”

Raad Kathawa was born in Telkaif and came to the United States in 1969. He bought his first store in 1973 and worked in the supermarket business for 49 years. In the 1980s, he began working with organizations such as the AFD (Associated Food Dealers of Michigan). “We should teach our children and grandchildren who we are, and where we are from, so that they become interested not only in this museum, but in the history of the Chaldeans in general,” he said.

Mary Romaya is a retired teacher and former Executive Director of the CCC. Born in Detroit, she graduated from the University of Detroit with a B.A. in History and received an M.A. Degree in School Administration from Eastern Michigan University. She worked for 45 years as a professional educator with Warren Woods Public Schools, leaving the district in January 2011. “Shenandoah gave us just a little over 2,000 square feet with the idea that maybe one day we would put a museum in here,” she said.

Josephine Sarafa was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up speaking only Chaldean. “I didn’t know there were other languages in the world,” she said. She started working at her father’s store at age 12 and was reportedly the first Chaldean girl to go to college in the United States, to the University of Detroit, which was two miles from her home. “I took the 7 Mile bus and then the Livernois bus to get to college,” she said. She had a double major – Psychology and Education – and graduated in 1960. She started teaching in Detroit, and later in her life, taught at the Birmingham schools.

The youngest of 5 children, Victor Saroki was born in 1957 in Detroit. He is the president of Saroki Architecture, a multi award-winning architecture and interiors firm in Birmingham, Michigan, since 1983. Victor graduated from the College of Architecture & Design at Lawrence Technological University. He designed Shenandoah Country Club, the museum, and he’ll be designing the new Chaldean Community Center West Campus.

“Mike George and other Chaldeans bought Shenandoah to be the next home for Chaldeans beyond what Southfield Manor was,” he said. “They interviewed many prominent architects, and fortunately, we were selected. That was a tribute for us and an important project because it was for the community and the legacy for what the Chaldeans have done in the Detroit area.”

In his youth, Hanna Shina, born in Telkaif, received several trophies for his participation in sports. When he came to the United States, he opened a store, coffee shop, and a restaurant in the 7 Mile area. “I went to Iraq and brought the founders whatever they wanted from me,” he said.

Other Work

While the museum is the “crown jewel,” the CCC encompasses much more than that. As executive director of the Center, I had the opportunity to speak after the award ceremony about the impact of our programs, one of which is Digital Storytelling. I was able to thank videographers Fadi Attisha and Michael Nafso for their hard work and commitment to the Digital Storytelling program and introduce Vevean Hababa, a participant.

Vevean lives in the senior home adjacent to Holy Martyrs Chaldean Church. A retired teacher, she was visiting the United States in 2014 when ISIS attacked her birthplace and destroyed her beautiful home and everything in it, including a manuscript of poems she’d been writing since she was in fifth grade. A fitting tribute to the tenacity of the community, at the end of the ceremony, Hababa sang “I Have a Dream,” a song she shared with her students who have remained in contact with her, to remember whenever they feel despair.

Photos by Steven Attisha