For nearly two decades, AJWS grantee the Association of Communities for the Development, Defense of Land and Natural Resources (ACODET), has successfully fought off government plans to build a hydroelectric dam in Ixcán, Guatemala, that would force 19,000 Indigenous villagers to lose their homes. ACODET is a grassroots coalition of 36 Indigenous farming villages that …
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Methawee Pannon (Sai) grew up in Khon Kaen, Thailand, understanding exactly what was expected of her. Outside of Thailand’s metropolitan, progressive capital of Bangkok, traditional, conservative gender values can be completely destabilizing for queer people, especially in rural regions like northeastern Isaan. “Women are meant to be the pride and joy of our parents and …
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Growing up in a conservative, deeply patriotic Thai family, Nutchanon Pairoj (Nut) dreamt of being a soldier, serving his country and his king. But when he lost his leg in a motorcycle accident at 16, his life took a drastically different path. He enrolled in Thailand’s famed Thammasat University to study political science, and quickly …
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Anima Mondal was in eighth grade when her parents announced they’d found a man to marry her. Growing up in a village in rural West Bengal, Anima knew this was the norm — her mother wed when she was only nine; her grandmother at six. But something inside Anima demanded that she say no. Anima’s …
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Today, 25-year-old Shabnam Khan is a minor celebrity in Mewat — a rural region of Rajasthan home to Muslim and Dalit (lowest caste) communities. Her claim to fame? She is the first woman from the region to become an engineer. She’s respected by men and a beloved role model to women. But her journey wasn’t …
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Santoshi is the youngest of seven siblings in a family where none of her older sisters ever went to school and all were forced into marriage. As her sisters’ lives unfolded, Santoshi understood she couldn’t follow in their footsteps. She convinced her parents to allow her to go to school, but that was the extent …
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