Year: 2010

SOLD: The Story of Lakshmi

The atrocity of sex trafficking is highlighting in this heartbreaking book simply titled "SOLD." I read it for a book club recently and was completely floored at the power of Patricia McCormick's writing. It is the story of Laskshmi, a 13 year Nepalese girl whose stepfather sells her to help with his family's financial troubles after a monsoon. She is taken to India and forced into prostitution to survive.

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Hillary Rodham Clinton on Women and Girls

US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, made a surprise appearance at TED Women in Washington DC this past week. Her talk was about the role of women and girls in diplomacy, security and peace. (TED Women is an extension of the not for profit TED, which brings people together to share revolutionary ideas.)

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Journalism Abroad: Nicholas Kristof’s 2011 Win a Trip Abroad Contest Announced

Based on search data, Melibee readers have been anxiously awaiting this announcement! Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times has once again invited video or essay applications to his “Win a Trip” Journalism Abroad contest. If you haven’t read about it in a previous posting on the subject, here is a short summary:

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Interview with Steve Moore: Safety and Emergency Planning in Study Abroad

Today's posting is an interview with Steve Moore, retired FBI agent and past Deputy Director of Public Safety at Pepperdine University. (This interview was done via skype - thank goodness for technology!)

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Sita Sings the Blues: A Creative Rendition of the Ramayana

"Sita Sings the Blues" tells the tale of the epic Ramayana using three very different styles of animation in Flash technology. It is visual storytelling taken to an entirely new level. The Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses in 7 books and 500 cantos, and tells the story of Rama, whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon king of Lanka, Ravana. Thematically, the epic explores the tenets of human existence and the concept of dharma. While it is clearly a story about Rama, the film focuses on Sita, his wife. There is a strong female voice and perspective throughout this feature film.

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