Nine Lives Making the Impossible Possible

How do people keep going against all the odds in their efforts to change the world? Meet nine remarkable individuals who tell their own inspiring life stories and are blazing trails for others to follow.

From Cambodia to Israel-Palestine, nine stories from individuals standing up for their rights. ‘You can cut the flower, but you cannot stop the coming of spring.’ Malalai Joya, the young member of the Afghan parliament, refuses to let injustice go unchallenged. Her words reflect the irrepressible attitudes and actions of all the women and men who tell their stories here.

Youk Chhang - who has dedicated his life to laying bare the atrocities of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge. Malalai Joya - one of the first women elected to Afghanistan’s parliament, now banned for denouncing her warlord fellow MPs. Harry Wu - survivor of and campaigner against China’s laogai labor camps. Chaeli Mycroft - a teenage girl with cerebral palsy whose campaign for disability rights has lit up South Africa. Sompop Jantraka - Thai campaigner who has rescued thousands of girls and women from the sex trade. Oscar Arias - Nobel Peace Prize winner and President of Costa Rica, which has no army. Monireh Baradaran - who survived years of imprisonment and torture under Iran’s theocratic regime. Bassam Aramin - Palestinian peace campaigner whose daughter was shot by Israeli troops. Rami Elhanan - Israeli peace campaigner whose daughter was killed in a suicide bombing.

About the Author: A.P. Braaksma has worked as an editor, communications advisor and journalist in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.