SAN FRANCISCO — Diagnosed with biliary Artesia, a rare liver disease at birth, nearly 2-year-old Christopher Padua is known as the “little fighter.” When Filipino American Kababayan group of Skyline College coordinated an event called Rock the School Bells last October, little did Christopher know that one day, Kababayan and the Paduas’ paths would miraculously cross and turn into an adventure worth remembering.
From October 29th to November 3rd 2007, the Kababayan group organized an educational hip-hop program that promoted pure, original talents among the youths, and 10 percent of all proceeds were contributed to the Chris Padua Foundation. Successful indeed, was the Kababayan group not only in raising enough money, but with the help of a myriad of other fundraisers, little Christopher got a liver transplant that took place before Christmas. Where there’s pain, there’s glory.
Born June 1, 2006, Christopher could not have been the walking real-life miracle he is today if it wasn’t for his arduous path. Biliary Artesia occurs every 1/15,000 births and even more frequently among Asians and African Americans. Because the liver is incapable of draining out fluids and absorbing nutrients effectively, Christopher had to receive nutrients through a feeding tube that was worn at all times. With nine months of being hospitalized, father Jason Padua and mother, Jenille Rimando knew that the only option was a liver transplant. Costing half a million dollars in addition to another $40,000 for post-surgery treatments and medication, the family placed their faith in God’s hands.
Around the same time, a friend of the family, Nate Nevado, Skyline College’s counselor and the main coordinator of Rock the School Bells, took matters into action by creating a fundraiser for Christopher Padua. In a study done by New America Media, young people of today’s society ranging from ages 16 to 22 defined themselves not by their color nor racial background, but instead by music and fashion as a culture. Therefore, studies have proven that the younger generation are much higher in activism in cross-racial lines than generations of the past, paving the way for a more peaceful world. The successful turnout from Rock the School Bells proved just that.
Hip-hop is a culture, a lifestyle that reaches out to more Filipinos more than any other music cultures do. As part of the event, Rock the School Bells displayed a number of consecutives workshops that entailed a film day presenting one called Beyond Beats and Rhymes which showed how society and hip-hop fused together, a music day where music producers taught the art of creating beats, a battle day where MC’s were invited to freestyle while welcoming others to join as well, and a history day where a full background of hip-hop was presented. As the week came to a close, a grand finale was topped with performances of various artists such as xL, Kiwi, Enoch of GLT Music, Haluan, Brown Buffalo Project, Souls of Rap Folks, and more that lured the audience to a fun-filled educational and enjoyable night to dance and bob heads to.
A major trend of the attendance from these workshops turned out to be a majority of high school students compared to the actual intended audience, the college students. Where hip-hop defined originality that provided an outlet for a person to maintain realness to his or her self, the youth demonstrated their enthusiasm to take part in an opportunity.
“I believe the younger you are, the easier we had to get the message out,” replied executive director and mentor of the Kababayan group Rommel Conclara. “Anybody can be anybody on T.V., but you can’t be yourself; so I think you have to stay true to yourself even though it’s hard to sell out,” was the message Conclara strongly advised.
As Skyline College paid it forward to help educate the youths about gaining commitment to the love of hip-hop in a way that aspires them to steer focused in his or her life, eagerness of education was achieved where a good cause was able to gain enough funds for the Chris Padua Foundation. A life can be saved not merely in ones, but in a connected chain of events through a simple, yet powerful spark of inspiration. Christopher Padua’s recovery is living proof that, sometimes, a generation of young talented go-getters can get things done.
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