For kids that need it. And i had an opportunity to actually go to some of these vision screenings, some of these dental screenings, and see children get access to healthcare that they werent able to get at home for different reasons. And when i saw the difference that these exams made in terms of the family getting this information, and maybe realizing that their child wasnt able to really learn forbecause they couldnt see the board, or were having a difficult time eating because their teeth hurt, knowing that this organization was at the forefront of making sure that that did not happen out here in the bay area was enough for me to get involved. Erikas in a much better position to talk about the day to day, but knowing that is why i fell in love with the organization and why ultimately i ended up joining the board. Damian all right, and healthier kids, is that a county agency or its a foundation . Is it just a foundation that helps whoever . Erika its basically we help all santa clara county, and now were expanding as well. So, we are actually into other counties as well, like san mateo. Damian okay, and so, talk about the chip program cause i really didnt know about the chip program until rolando started mentioning it. But tell us about it, and why is it in jeopardy . Rolando the chip program was started in 1987 as an agreement between senator orrin hatch, republican from utah, senator edward kennedy, democrat from massachusetts. And what it does is it gives over 9 million children in the United States of america access to free quality healthcare. In the bay area alone, were talking about 200,000 children that are provided, getting access to free quality healthcare. This is healthcare they would not be able to get due to circumstances, economic circumstances at home. So, this program is ensuring not only that kids get access to preventative healthcare, but the kids are not flooding local Emergency Rooms at ten times the cost of preventative care. Whats happening right now in the political spectrum, given the current environment of the presidency and congress, is that chip is being used as a bargaining chip, pun intended, for immigration. So, what you have now is children who are at peril of losing healthcare because of a game of chicken essentially by a republican congress, the republican president , who are saying, we can go without it. But the only way to keep it in is if you give us funding for a wall. And what we saw is that we were able to get emergency gap funding up until march for chip. But come march, it is very possible that 9 million children in the United States of america, 200,000 of those here in the bay area, will lose access to healthcare. And anyone that thinks that this is actually good from a fiscal point of view is oblivious to the fact that our ers are going to be inundated with children needing healthcare that couldve been done at hypothetically 10 preventative, now at 1,000 emergency care. And thats why the healthier Kids Foundation is at the forefront of that fight, not only providing access to healthcare, but making sure that our legislatures understand, our people in congress understand that this is unacceptable. It cannot happen. Damian thats a great speech to run for congress. When are you going to do that . Rolando my wife will leave me, i cant do that. Damian the healthier Kids Foundation, again there is the web address for more information. Well be back and expand on what this Great Organization does in our community, stay with us. Sfx tsfx feet shufflingc life can change in an instant. Be covered when it does. With a health plan through covered california. We offer free expert help choosing the best plan for you. And all of our plans include free preventive care. Financial help is available, so check for yourself to see what savings you qualify for. Open enrollment ends january 31st, so dont miss out. Because you never know when life. Will change. Get covered today. With the healthier Kids Foundation. And so erika, does thatdoes your foundation then, these 200,000 local kids, California Kids maybe who might be without healthcare, is that where you come in the organization, the foundation, and says, we cant let that happen . Erika yeah, we ultimately cannot let that happen because what were doing is we want to make sure that parents access the services that are provided. And so, if 200,000 kids here in the bay area dont have the Health Insurance that they need, they will not be able to get the services. So, for instance, that vision screening, that dental screening, that hearing screening that we do out in the community, unfortunately the children will not be able to get preventative services, which ultimately can turn into emergencies like rolando said. So, were definitely fighting for this program to stay because without this program, then we cant really move the families forward to what they need to get. Damian and its more than a financial burden if you want to call it a burden, the fact that theyre going to the emergency room. Were talking about children who, if their vision isnt checked annually, periodically, then if theres some sort of thing thatsome sort of ailment in their eyesight, it just gets worse and worse and worse with each passing day. So, its more than just the cost of it, its the health, Actual Health of these children. Erika yes, so, i think great examples is, for instance, if a childs not wearing their glasses. Ultimately with healthier Kids Foundation, what we want is prevention, prevention, prevention. The earlier the better. And so, if we get a child thats 4 years old and needs glasses and wears them earlier in life, then hell be able to have a successfulhell be successful in school. And then if you look at older kids, right . And if they need their glasses, theyll be able to get their license, and theyll be able to get to work, and will be able to get to college. Not only that, but for instance hearing. If theyre not hearing clearly, most probably they will have language, speech delays. And so, what that will mean is that theyll also be behind in school, and thats what we dont want for our children. We dont want them getting behind at all. And then if you want to look at dental, if theyre having cavities, what that could mean is that they could have, you know, headaches. They might not be going to school. The number one reason why children miss school is because theyre having some sort of pain due to dental issues. So, we dont want that. And if you want to look at also diabetes, unfortunately with the latino population, were finding that children arecould possiblyresearch is suggesting that could possibly onehalf of all latinos or 50 of latino children could possibly have diabetes. So, if we dont have these kind of problems, what that would mean is that these children cannot get toget their physical, and ultimately not, you know, change their diet, and get informed and educated. So, thats how i think it will affect our families, our communities. Damian boy, thats one way to scare us straight, and youre scaring me right now. But i mean, so i guess what you all are doing now, rolando, is youre getting the word out in case it gets to that point. You have the ball rolling already, and youre able to accommodate those who might need that healthcare that might lose. Rolando absolutely, i think what we want to do is let people know we exist. But we also want to have a secondary conversation, which is there are a lot of cities and counties in the bay area, and all of them are impacted if their constituents dont have access to healthcare. So, were looking for the opportunity to build relationships with them as well, and say to them, we are helping your constituents. We are working directly with the people within your legal boundary of your city or your county. How can we Work Together . How can you help us minimize the cost in your er room, while also expanding these services to more . Because for all the talk of us being in the silicon valley, all you got to do is drive up 101 in East Palo Alto and there are families living in rvs, there are families living in rvs here. We have the tiny home discussion. So, we also know if youre having economic discussions, without a doubt the healthcare discussion is attached to that. So, we want those families to understand we exist, we are here for you, but equally those that are in charge, the decision makers, the people that actually do run for congress and win, that we want them to understand they have a role to play in this too. And perhaps the real resistance isnt always in dc. Part of the resistance is here locally, providing us the resources that we need to actually serve more kids. Thats what this is about for us. So, absolutely we want to get in front of the chip program. We hope that chip program is around for many, many years to come. But in the event that it is not or even if it is, were still going to be here, and were still going to be on the ground providing those services. Damian its personal for a lot of us. I mean, we all have children, we all want the best for them, and we cant imaginewere lucky to be able to afford healthcare for them. And those who cannot, thank god for folks like the healthier Kids Foundation are able to provide that. And theres a web address again for more information to where children can get access to the preventative healthcare that they need. Thank you all so much for the work that youre doing. Rolando thank you. Damian all right, and up next here on comunidad del valle, a local chicano legend, stay with us. Here on comunidad del valle, adrian tepehua vargas of casa vargas productions. Welcome back to the show again, its been a while since youve been on. Adrian tepehua vargas thank you. Muchisimas gracias, im glad to be back. Damian youre here to promote something that youre offering free of charge in gratitude for all the support youve received over the years. Adrian yes, casa vargas productions has been working since the year 2001 providing artistic and cultural work in the community to youth and the community in general, educational programs, and social action programs, and activities. And weve had a lot of support in the past. And this is a form of gratitude that im offering myself in particular, but through the auspices of casa vargas productions. And its aits workshop that will involve activities of theatre games and music games, a 2hour workshop for 2 age groups, where they will explore the concepts of balance, energy, and movement, kind of a little triangle of basic training for actors. But its really how to move the body, manage and modulate your energy, and always be in balance as you play theater games and music games with the free flow of play. And this is for adults, not for children. We have 2 age groups, the 18 to 45yearold age group, and the 45 and up. And the younger said group will be at the hour of 11 oclock in the morning, 2hour workshop, 11 to 1. And the afternoon group, the other group will be from two to four. Damian all right, and youre going to give us a quick sample of what youre going to play . And its part of this unleashing of your adrian yes, im going to illustrate a little bit how you can evolve movement out of listening to a song. Now, the verses are in spanish, but basically it talks about something floating in the air. And you can maybe imagine if you dont understand the words what that might be. Damian all right. Adrian okay, so heresand im just going to do the first couple of verses. Its called la gente, the people. [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] adrian so, it talked about playing along the breeze, you see it floating. And so, you imagine whats floating in the breeze. You dont know what it is, and oh, look at my hand, its floating in the breeze. Theres my hand making the movement, it automatically did it. It passes through playing in the clouds. The clouds, the clouds, what do the clouds look like . Ooh, theyre fluffy, theyreor theyre big. And ooh, there goes the thing floating in the clouds. Now you got yourboth arms going and theyre doing two images. One is doing the cloud image and one is doing something floating in the air. And then it says its singing and floating through the clouds as if two dove birds, so you think, two dove birds . Well, how do two dove birds float amongst the clouds . Well, theres one dove bird, right . And what about the other one . Whoa, look at that, we got two dove birds floating around the clouds, and theyre dove birds of peace. Peace, oh, peace. Peace, people. You know . So, whatever your imagination is. Andor it could be give me a piece of that pie. Whatever your free flowing imagination imagines when you hear the words. Damian we have about one minute in this segment. Basically, come to the workshop with an open mind. Adrian yes, come to the workshop with an open mind. And its free, its totally free. And because its for adults, these are games that you can also incorporate in the home with your children or in the backyard, and then they provide the benefit of generating the sense of wellness in a human being because when you play games, you come in contact with the element of spontaneous creativity. And doing so, theres a lot of benefits to thatto the physiologically and mentally to the human body. Damian all right, well, again, these workshops are free. Theyre at the Africanamerican Community center on 6th and julian across from mi pueblo foods there in san jose by casa vargas productions. Well have more with adrian, stay with us. Vargas productions here on comunidad del valle. And we want to emphasize that, again, those workshops are free. And then youre offering extended workshops, i mean, after that. Adrian yes, based on the experience of a number of years, as well as what were going to try to explore in this free workshop, casa vargas productions is conducting a series of workshops in the months of march, april, and may. And this will be the last saturday of each one of those months for an extended workshop. And this will be a 3hour workshop for the 18 to 45yearolds and still maintain a 2hour workshop for the others, but damian same location . Adrian were exploring various venues because i alsopart of thepart of the process of these workshops is toand i must emphasize that this is for both nonprofessional performers and performers who have the experience of performing. Everybody will be on equal footing because some things are going to be introduced that nobodys done before basically, or extensions of things that maybe some people have done. The point is that these will be exercises that will explore balance not only in the body, but in life, energy modulation and management not only in the body but in life, and movement, something that we do in life continuously even when were asleep because the heart is still moving. And our diaphragm is still allowing us to breathe. So, movement. And its tied to utilizing techniques that apply to theater and performance, but that also have some foundation in mindfulness training, as well as the free exploration of expression. So, when you put all those things together, you try to have an outcome after these three sessions that were going to have. And by the way, people will be able to take them individually, or enroll for them for the entire three series because there will be both new elements in each one and there will be progressive elements in each one. Damian and now, we imagine that its alsoits not only for those who are interested in theater and actors, its for anybody who wants to relieve the stress about working nine to five, picking up the kids from school, taking them to soccer or dance practice and whatnot. Adrian its precisely that. Its not meant to be focused for performers. Its meant to be focused for nonperformers. And because, you see, adults to a large degree deal with the management of life in their families and homes or whatever you do to survive as an adult in the society or in this world. But the young play is kind of stripped away from the adult experience. And sports sometimes isnt the best way to maintain that in the longterm because you might get injured. And therefore, you will look at your ability to exercise and a whole bunch of other things start storming down. Wherebut safe, creative play allows you to have that recreational activity. And the word recreate is in the word recreation. So, youre recreating yourself by a simple activity, creative activity of just playing with theater games and music games both, both theater and music. So, the theater games comprise basic things like situational improvisations between people who are in different roles or relationships. Activities that you can play out, environments that you can illustrate, and its all based on improvisational technique. In other words, there are no lines to memorize, rehearse. And what people will experience in the short skits that evolve in the theater aspect is that element of spontaneous creativity. And its a very key thing for human beings to experience that. Some of us have the good fortune to experience that in our professions sometimes, but not everybody. The majority dont. And life becomes, you know, something that brings you down. Whereas if you have an alternative along with your daily activity that brings you up in the natural way and its a group thing, its a collective effort, and its a safe environment, and anything goes really. Damian thats awesome. Well, again, these workshops, the ones on january 27 are free at the Africanamerican Community services agency. Theyre on 6th and julian in san jose, and there is the email address for adrian tepehua for more information. Thank you so much, adrian. You are a treasure in this community. Adrian and i should say to sign up early because they are free and the slots are limited, so make sure you get in there with plenty of time. Damian all right, well, thank you. Were going to play the rest of that song in just a bit, but first heres whats happening in your comunidad on que pasa. Damian and our saludos to those celebrating a special day, felicidades. Damian and heres our contact information. You can follow me on twitter, my handle is newsdamian. Also, pick up a copy of El Observador newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. You can also watch us every sunday usually at 11 a. M. On Telemundo Canal 48, your comunidad del valle in espanol on our sister station, telemundo channel 48. We thank you once again for sharing a part of your sunday with us on comunidad del valle. Were going to leave you with a true treasure here in the south bay, adrian tepehua vargas. Adrian gracias para ustedes. [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish]