Last month, Jewish people around the world gathered to celebrate Passover. For many of us, this year’s seders presented challenging opportunities to reflect with our family and friends on what freedom and liberation mean today.
In this edition of our Stories of Hope newsletter, we want to pose another question: Once we’ve cast off whatever kept us feeling shackled, who can we become?
To help ignite your own answers, we’ve gathered stories of our grantee partners around the world who are answering that question in unique, powerful ways. These activists provide incredible examples of how to become the truest versions of ourselves once we’ve identified what’s holding us back.
Below, you’ll meet a group of trans men in El Salvador who’ve built a thriving community amid a society in which they once felt invisible. You’ll travel to the Dominican Republic, where an AJWS grantee is helping Afro-descendent girls embrace their identities through traditional dance. And you’ll hear from a mother in India who was married at 10 but demanded that her own daughters experience true freedom to choose their own futures.
These changemakers fought for — and achieved — their liberation; their own personal Passover stories. What they’ve built since then should inspire us all.
Thank you for being a part of the AJWS story.
— Your friends at AJWS
Around the World
This Is Me: Traditional dance in the Dominican Republic is helping girls reclaim their identity
Welcome to Los Mercedes, a town in the Dominican Republic founded by Afro-descendent people who liberated themselves from slavery and created their own autonomous communities. There, AJWS grantee Así Soy (“This Is Me”) is teaching girls and young women of African ancestry to love themselves through traditional dance and theater in a country where Blackness is deeply stigmatized.
Invisible No More: Inside El Salvador’s growing movement for trans men’s rights
For years, within El Salvador’s LGBTQI+ community, many trans men say they felt invisible — while enduring discrimination and violence from Salvadoran society. That’s why HT El Salvador is so revolutionary — the organization has created a safe space for trans men to be themselves, as well as a platform for the trans men community to make their mark. As founder Villy Rivera says, HT “is a torch for trans people, lighting the path forward.”
A Different Future: One mother’s fight for her daughters’ education in India
Until recently, no girl in Medabas village in rural Mewat, India, had ever finished high school. That included Najee, who was only 10 when she was married off to her 30-year-old husband, forced to abandon school and her dreams of a future. But when Najee became a mother, she vowed that she would liberate her daughters from the same fate. When AJWS grantee AMIED began advocating for girls’ education in her village, she knew her moment had arrived.
What We’re Reading and Listening To
“Gaza hostages raise painful reminders as Jews prepare for Passover”
NPR: This Passover presented the opportunity for meaningful but difficult conversations at seders across the world, with the war in Gaza raging, a humanitarian crisis growing and hostages still captive. NPR interviewed rabbis and other Jewish thought leaders, including AJWS President & CEO Robert Bank, for a thoughtful look at the pain, hope and compassion looming over this year’s holiday. Listen now >
“Hundreds of Lives Are in Limbo While U.S. Drags Its Feet”
Newsweek: Read the story of Michael Samorio — a former Nicaraguan political prisoner — in his own gripping words. In this powerful op-ed, Michael details how the regime of dictator Daniel Ortega has torn Nicaragua apart, along with his own journey from unjust imprisonment to release to the United States, where he now exists without any legal status. AJWS has supported Michael through this ordeal — and we join his plea for political asylum. Read more >
“Thailand moves closer to legalizing same-sex unions”
Channel News Asia: This summer, Thailand is expected to become the first Southeast Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. And AJWS grantees have been at the center of it all — growing a massive social movement supporting legalization and even helping to write the bill set to become law. Watch this interview with two AJWS activist partners who co-authored the bill (beginning around 4:00) and get an inside look at history in the making. Watch now >
“Do Not Empower the Criminals in Haiti”
The New York Times: Dr. Jean-Phillippe Austin, the co-founder of AJWS partner organization Haitian American Foundation for Democracy, describes a childhood of fear and violence in his impassioned op-ed explaining why the future of his country must be determined by the people, not the criminals who terrorize them. Read more >
Take Action for Democracy in Haiti
Haiti is in crisis. Millions of people are running out of food, clean water and gas. Gangs have even attacked public hospitals, police stations and government buildings. AJWS has been working alongside our grantees in Haiti for nearly two decades to protect human rights, uncover political corruption through local media and advocate for government accountability. In Washington, D.C., AJWS staff and partners are advocating for the U.S. government to support Haitian-led solutions to this crisis. Please raise your voice with us: Sign this letter to members of Congress urging them to support a safe and democratic future for Haiti.