Call of the Caribou short story
Brilliant Book About Muslim Women in the Wake of Targeted Violence by Hindu Fundamentalists
Rupture, Loss and Living – Minority Women Speak about Post-Conflict Life, K. Lalita, Deepa Dhanraj, 434 pp. 2017, Orient BlackSwan Press.
Indian Village Women Take Control of Economic Life in Their Communities
Samson Nakkala is a man who has spent most of his life working to empower low-caste women in a range of rural communities in India’s state of Telangana, formerly part of Andhra Pradesh.
Shangri-La in India’s Hill Station Country
Visiting India over many years I have seen most of the country’s highlights, but I never experienced a famous hill station reminiscent of the British Raj. However, after a recent visit to Chennai, I was fortunate to discover a charming boutique bed and breakfast called Clive and Curzon a short flight away in the heart of the Nilgiris hills.
People Power in Tunisia and the Nobel Peace Prize
Behind the Nobel Peace Prize that was recently awarded for 2015 to four civil society trailblazers in Tunisia stand millions of ordinary unsung Tunisians who deserve recognition. Without them the hands of the National Dialogue Quartet would have been tied.
Highly qualified Muslim immigrants face employment discrimination
In the wake of the proposed charter on Quebec values, more and more alarming stories are surfacing about employment discrimination against Muslims, mostly from North Africa but also from Iran.
Nasty remarks and dirty looks
In the debate that has led up to the tabling Thursday of a charter of Quebec values, too many Quebecers, including some well-known Quebec feminists, appear to be supporting the idea of excluding Muslim women who wear head scarves from major employment opportunities in Quebec society.
Tunisia: Women Reshape the Political Landscape
Keeping the revolution alive, female activists play an invaluable role in effecting change in the country that gave rise to Arab Spring.
Un climat d’inclusion
“Le nouveau portrait de la situation linguistique dans la métropole reflète des tendances particulièrement positives et encourageantes. Des données tirées du dernier recensement démontrent que parmi les habitants de l’île de Montréal, pas moins de 85% parlent français.”
Celebrating Multilingual Montreal
The Language Situation should be embraced for the opportunities it offers, not fought over.
Tunisia: A revolution in progress
It was my first night in the city of Sidi Bouzid where a humiliated street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi burned himself to death a year and a half ago – launching the first of several Arab Springs.
Days of Reckoning for Microcredit at the 2011 Microcredit Summit in Spain
On the opening day of the 2011 Global Microcredit Summit in Valladolid Spain, this November the mood among 2000 delegates from over a hundred countries was sombre.
Nandini Azad – A Model for Social Performance
A special pleasure for me at the 2011 microcredit summit in Spain was spending time with Nandini Azad, one of the current powerhouses in the Indian anti-poverty movement, who has distinguished herself for path-breaking grassroots development not only in India but also in several other countries.
Muslim Women Shine at the 2011 Microcredit Summit
Despite the preponderance of men on podium of the microcredit summit, it was Muslim women from Pakistan, Tunisia, Lebanon, Sudan and Egypt, who offered some of the most inspiring leadership models at the sessions in Spain this year.
Microcredit in China
In 2007 Justin Ang, now a student at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, was part of a group in Singapore called Youth that Care that raised $20,000 to help people in Tsunami-afflicted fishing villages in Thailand pay off a debt burden to loan sharks so they could be free to build up small businesses.
In Conversation with Ela Bhatt of SEWA
In a small house in Hamilton Ontario, I was sipping an Indian soup with Ela Bhatt, founder of the one-million-strong Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India.
The Lesson of Kerala Women
Grassroots women that have set up farm collectives of their own in Kerala have now entered municipal politics where they will take community development to new heights says Ananya Mukherjee-Reed, a Toronto professor and researcher.
Microcredit Suicides in Andhra Pradesh
Cooperatives run by women are the way to protect marginalized Indian women from the worst aspects of the commercialization of microcredit, says SEWA leader Ela Bhatt and Indian development volunteer Vithal Rajan.
Jasmine and Sugar Cane
In 2005 I let my imagination fly with a short story set in both India and Montreal. It appeared late in 2005 in The Little Magazine, a literary journal published in Delhi.
Healers of the Mentally-Ill Homeless in Chennai
At the end of my first trip to India I went to Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat hoping to do research on the Self Employed Women’s Association but instead I ended up in the middle of mob violence by Hindus against Muslims. In my book, see chapter 9 - Into the Inferno.
Hoofing it in Hyderabad
In a big City in India, it helps if you’re a gymnast if you want to use your legs to move around.