The beginning of a new year offers the possibility for a fresh start — to change in ways that will benefit ourselves, the people we love and the world at large. The power to make change is always within us, but sometimes we need a push, like a new year or a significant event in …
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Seventy-five years ago today, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in response to the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust. The first document of its kind, developed by people from diverse backgrounds from around the world, declares that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity …
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Burned fields. Depleted and poisoned waterways. Widespread renal failure. These are just some of the high costs of growing sugarcane in El Salvador—from which the producers profit, and the surrounding communities and environment pay the price. The sugarcane industry in El Salvador is infamous for its propensity to use any means necessary to increase yield—and …
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“My neighborhood is known as the backyard — as in, the place where you throw the trash,” says Fernando Saint Hilaire of his barrio outside Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. “We are the other side of the tracks. But when you grow up living in poverty, you’re used to the misery. You don’t realize …
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Many young people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) can’t recall a memory of living in peace — because there simply hasn’t been one. “I’ve only seen peace in films. But I’ve never seen it myself. It’s complicated in our country, but peace is something I dream of,” says Parfait Muhani, an activist living …
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The Sri Lankan economic crisis that began in 2019 was so severe that, at one point according to the World Food Programme, over 30% of Sri Lankans were not getting enough to eat. Inflation soared. Sri Lankans faced a shortage of life-saving medical supplies. People waited in long lines for hours to purchase gasoline. The …
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Lucy Wanjiku Njenga always believed she was meant for something more than the life she was born into: “I saw myself getting from a place of poverty to success — I knew there was something else waiting for me.” Lucy was born and raised in Dandora, one of the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods of …
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Samreen grew up Lucknow, India, in a household where her mother wasn’t allowed to do anything without her father’s permission. But when her father passed away, Samreen began to question the patriarchal norms that ruled her family. When she connected with AJWS partner Sadbhavna Trust, her world opened entirely. Sadbhavna Trust runs leadership workshops and …
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For years, I spent the High Holidays in Fire Island. Beginning in the mid-1920s, this barrier reef about 60 miles from Manhattan has served as a haven for gay New Yorkers. Although it’s a raucous social scene from Memorial Day to Labor Day, the feverish party vibe dissipates by mid-September when Fire Island Jews—gay and …
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