Eight people, three women and five men, are crouched in the dirt in the center of a roundabout where the main road at Poipet –a major Cambodia border town– merges with the check point to Thailand. Dust swirls in the wind as they squint their eyes at the sun. Others playing the waiting game mill about […]

by Michelle Tolson -USA- “I want to make money, but I have to take care of the fish,” said Yakama Nation fisherwoman Caroline Looney Hunt when asked how much salmon she sells each year. “I sell it locally to our …

Restoring First Foods to the Columbia River Basin Read more »

Tep Vanny, organizer of “the Boeung Kak 13” group of women activists. Photograph courtesy of the author.

by Michelle Tolson –Cambodia– “The way [Cambodian] women demonstrate is not physical. They use their voices. It is a collection of voices to spread awareness. For men, there is more violence. When someone commits violence against them, they feel like …

Tep Vanny: The Woman from Village Number 22 Read more »

by Michelle Tolson –Mongolia– On May 31 2012, the Tibetan Women’s Association dutifully recorded the self-immolation of Rikyo, a Tibetan nomad woman and mother of three who set herself on fire near a monastery at a town in Ngaba County …

Tibetan Nomads Lose Ground to Development Read more »

by Michelle Tolson –Cambodia– Entertainment venues are very popular in Cambodia. They are well supplied with beer and young women to serve it. Karaoke clubs and beer gardens are frequented by Khmer men who expect women to sit and drink …

Despite Profits, Beer Companies Do Not Provide Living Wage For Cambodian Promoters Read more »

by Michelle Tolson –Cambodia– On January 12th, 2012 I traveled 45 km outside of Phnom Penh with a group of human rights workers and journalists to a relocation site for the evictees of the Borei Keila slum, which had been …

Borei Keila Evictions Highlights Economic Hierarchy Among Poor in Cambodia Read more »

by Michelle Tolson –Mongolia– One night while relaxing at home after a long day of horseback riding, I heard a loud banging on a door downstairs. It was a man adamant to be let in. He was probably drunk. This …

Life-Skills Training to Break the Cycle of Violence in Mongolia Read more »