Rona Fernandez

Words for a New World

Writer and #StillMother

Welcome to my World

I write about fundraising and money, grief and healing, nature and relationships, climate change and the future, surviving and trying to be happy when everything seems to stand in your way. Tell me what you think of my words with a few of your own. Thanks for dropping by and spending some time with me.

Lucky: My Reaction to Alex Tizon’s Essay on Eudocia Pulido

June 1, 2017

Originally published on Medium. I have not been sleeping well lately. I’m not a good sleeper in general, especially when I’m stressed or emotional. I stay up on my phone, reading things, Facebooking, arranging my calendar, trying to assert control over my unruly life. Since reading the late Alex Tizon’s groundbreaking essay about the woman … More Lucky: My Reaction to Alex Tizon’s Essay on Eudocia Pulido

My Short Stories

May 3, 2017

Excerpt from ‘The Waterfall’

San Miguel, northwest Philippines, 1934

I have seen him before, when he comes to my house with his father, the postman, to help deliver packages. His name is Arturo Viray, and when he sees me he always smiles. Today, at the market, it’s the way he walks—leaning forward a little, his hands behind his back—that catches my eye. That’s the way Father walked. When I look at him he smiles again, and I wish I could talk to him, but Placitas, our maid, is just ahead of me and she always tell me not to talk to boys.
… More My Short Stories

Viva La Causa: Fundraising Lessons from the United Farm Workers Movement

July 17, 2014

FOR MANY PEOPLE, the words “Sí Se Puede” and the image of the angular black eagle on a red and white flag are synonymous with César Chávez, the United Farm Workers (UFW), and the popular social movement for farm worker dignity in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. The UFW holds an almost sacred place in movement history … More Viva La Causa: Fundraising Lessons from the United Farm Workers Movement