Meet the Activist and Intersectional Storyteller Developing Data-Driven Humanitarian Tools

Melissa Jun Rowley is a journalist, entrepreneur and activist focused on the intersection of storytelling, technology and social justice.

As the founder and CEO of Humanise, Inc., Melissa Jun Rowley is developing TheToolbox.org, a data-driven humanitarian initiative created by acclaimed musician Peter Gabriel. CATALYST had the chance to catch up with Melissa to learn more about Humanise in Detroit and Melissa’s path to social entrepreneurship.

How did your experience with TheToolbox.org inspire you to develop Humanise, Inc.?

TheToolbox.org is an online destination, founded by Peter Gabriel, that connects people to apps that can help them improve their lives and become everyday activists. I first became involved as an editorial consultant, and was developing stories while curating tools that promote social impact.

For example, there’s an app you can scan over a product’s barcode to see if human trafficking was involved in the product chain. While apps like these are interesting and useful, they’re under-utilized given their lack of commercial and entertainment value. 

We came to the conclusion that the site itself is a valuable database of tools, but in order to have an impact, we need to go into the field and get people on the ground using the tools, and providing feedback about how they can be improved. That’s where Humanise comes in: It was created to function as the parent company of TheToolbox.org. The tools we curate are now one of three pillars. We’ve evolved into an organization that promotes human rights through technology, storytelling, AND collaboration with local communities.

Can you describe some of the projects that Humanise has initiated since its founding?

We decided to take Humanise to Detroit, primarily because there’s a lot of data-driven development unfolding in the city. Also, I grew up an hour outside of the D and am in love with the entrepreneurial community there. They’re so spirited. They’re the genuine article. 

While money is being directed to development in certain districts, such as downtown, the neighborhoods on the outskirts are tragically deprived of funding and resources. Forty percent of the people in Detroit don’t have Internet access, and 40 percent can’t pay their water bills. It’s a first world city crawling with third world problems! 

In the year 2015, there are no excuses for letting people in our own backyard suffer like this. We need to meet them where they are, not where we think they should be, and we need to collectively solve the problems from the ground up — not the top down. 

So we started thinking of ways we can work with technology providers to foster digital inclusion. We’ve been working closely with community activists in the Detroit neighborhood of Morningside to understand the neighborhood’s needs and aspirations. We’ve connected them with a smart city advisory to see if the area is eligible for some pretty revolutionary technology. Some of the Detroiters we know are going to use TheToolbox.org as their own citizen journalism platform, where they can publish stories about their neighborhood and discuss the tools they find the most empowering. 

If we’re able to provide connectivity for this neighborhood, we may be able to do the same thing in some of Detroit’s other hardest hits zones. 

Before developing Humanise, Inc., you spent much of your career as a journalist. How did working in journalism influence your interest in social entrepreneurship? 

Being a journalist is the way I became an entrepreneur, really. I worked in TV when I was younger, producing business news updates for CNN and then covering entertainment in Hollywood. The red carpet was my second home.  But eventually, I started to feel like I was losing my soul. I became a journalist because I wanted to help connect people through storytelling — not perpetuate the dumbing down of the country, which is what I felt like I was doing half the time, particularly when I was asked to start quoting TMZ in stories. I knew that was the end. 

I left Los Angeles, and I started focusing on nonprofits and social responsibility movements. I quickly discovered that I couldn’t make any money that way. Two years later, I began developing content for companies that have a social mission. This was when I started to view myself as more of an entrepreneur. But I’m always going to be a journalist at heart, always looking for the truth and humanity in every story. 

Do you have any advice for future journalists or entrepreneurs? 

These days, if you’re going to be a journalist, you have to be an entrepreneur. By that I mean, you need to think like an entrepreneur. You need to be constantly thinking of different strategies, who you can connect with, and how you can build your brand and business. It was this mindset that led me to TheToolbox.org and Peter Gabriel. 

A second piece of advice is that the best way to develop an idea is to collaborate and find some common core or level of connectivity in the heart of why you’re doing what you’re doing. It’s only through that kind of commitment that you can build a business that has meaning. It’s not easy. But the people you meet along the way will change your life and expand your heart and mind in ways you’ve never dreamed of. I can promise you that. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT HUMANISE, INC. HERE.


Sarah Sutphin

Sarah is an undergraduate at Yale University and a content editor for CATALYST. As a traveler who has visited 30 countries (and counting!), she feels passionate about international development through sustainable mechanisms. Sarah has taken an interest in the intersection between public health and theater, and hopes to create a program that utilizes these disciplines for community empowerment. She is a fluent Spanish speaker with plans to take residence in Latin American after graduation. 

Pakistani Women Continue to Push for Societal Change

On March 8, Pakistani women’s rights activists took to the country’s streets for the Aurat March, which celebrates International Women’s Day and advocates for better treatment. The organizers of the protest immediately experienced backlash from the Taliban. 

Pakistani woman sitting with friends. Vicki Francis. CC BY 2.0

Pakistani women, despite the presence of the Taliban in the country, still organized and marched on International Women’s Day. The Aurat March included pushing for accessible health care, basic economic rights and equal opportunities for women. After the marches, the Taliban posted a forbidding statement: “We want to send a message to those organizations who are actively spreading obscenity and vulgarity in our beloved Pakistan. Fix your ways.” The Taliban accused participants in the Aurat March of insulting Islam. The group falsified photos and videos, signifying that protesters held the French flag.

The social media organizer for the Aurat March in Karachi responded to the Taliban’s accusations of “obscenity and vulgarity” on Twitter: “Their attempts do not and will not deter us. We will continue to organize and speak out against the violence we are subject to. We will continue to build political power and fight back.” 

Pakistan was ranked the world’s fourth worst-performing country when measuring women’s well-being and empowerment in their homes, communities and societies, according to the 2020 Women, Peace and Security Index. At least 28% of women aged 15 to 49 have experienced physical violence, according to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey. In the same survey, 40% of men agreed that it was acceptable to beat one’s wife under certain circumstances. With no national data for comparison, the scale of the violence against Pakistan’s women is difficult to gauge with other countries.  

The fight for women’s rights in Pakistan is not new. In 1983, over 200 women marched on the Lahore High Court in protest against former Gen. Zia ul-Haq’s discriminatory laws. In 1979,  Zia enacted the Hudood Ordinance, which required four male witnesses for an accusation of rape. Under this same ordinance, women who filed accusations of rape without without the proper witnesses could be sent to jail for adultery.

In December 2020, President Arif Alvi signed into law an anti-rape ordinance that approved the speedy trial of rape cases with women and children as victims. The ordinance also include the creation of a countrywide registry of sex offenders. The law came months after a rise in social outcry across Pakistan because of a motorway gang-rape incident

Inequalities are still seen between men and women in Pakistan through lower literacy rates, lesser wages and a smaller representation in government. Pakistan ranked 151 out of 153 countries on global gender parity, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020

Despite the adversities facing women in Pakistan, they continue to organize and push for sweeping changes. In the words of Aurat March Karachi’s social media organizer, “Merely existing is a radical act of resistance.” 


Kyla Denisevich

Kyla is an upcoming senior at Boston University, and is majoring in Journalism with a minor in Anthropology. She writes articles for the Daily Free Press at BU and a local paper called Urban Media Arts. Pursuing journalism is her passion, and she aims create well researched multimedia stories which emphasize under-recognized narratives to encourage productive, educated conversation.

When Travel Stopped, These Sustainable Travel Agencies Pivoted

COVID-19 has disrupted virtually all facets of what used to be considered “normal.” Over a year into the pandemic, millions cannot safely work in person, children face difficulties with online education and governments struggle to develop and administer vaccines.

An empty check-in area at Gatwick Airport near London. Mark Hodson Photos. CC BY 2.0.

One area significantly impacted by COVID-19 is the sustainable travel industry. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, air travel dropped by 60% in 2020 compared to 2019, with a $370 billion year-on-year loss worldwide.

But a broad array of sustainable and social action travel agencies, organizations which uplift the communities they bring groups of travelers to, have worked tirelessly to continue bolstering at-risk communities while weathering the many challenges of the pandemic.

Pivoting for a World Without Travel

As COVID-19 began to spread and governments imposed lockdown measures, travel agencies focused on sustainability and social action had to work quickly to pivot toward operating in an environment where travel was impossible.

“At first it was a ‘wait-and-see’ thing because it was uncertain how long it was going to last or how widespread it would be,” said Lindsay Booth, CEO of Off Season Adventures, an agency providing an immersive experience to empower travelers and destinations. “We were lucky we didn’t have anyone traveling when everything shut down … But obviously, everything got worse, so we touched base with our partners to make sure they were safe and see what their current situation was like. And then we talked to our travelers about postponing their trips.”

While some agencies initially canceled trips on a week-by-week basis, others, like G Adventures, a leading agency for small-group adventure travel, canceled or postponed all travel through the end of April 2020 without hesitation.

“We made the decision mid-March that we’re canceling until the end of April [because] there’s no reason to keep these tours if we don’t know,” said Casandra Rotunno, a consumer marketing specialist at G Adventures. “From there we kept it going on a monthly basis of canceling tours.”

Catarina Rivera, co-founder of ExplorEquity, an agency supporting local communities and connecting travelers to social justice issues, explained how shortly after the onset of the pandemic, her agency shifted its focus to creating virtual spaces for travelers to connect and talk about the recent loss of the ability to travel.

“We hosted [a series called] ‘Travel Lovers Happy Hour,’ where we invited people to come and share together,” Rivera said. “We invited a mental health expert to give tips at each one for how [travelers] could process what was going on and how they could approach planning for the future. [The expert] would respond directly to the sentiments people were sharing.”

Rivera also noted that ExplorEquity held a panel with the company’s partners in Brazil and Honduras, two countries where trips were canceled, to talk about how the countries were dealing with the uncertainty of the pandemic and how their travel partners’ communities were doing.

ExplorEquity was not the only agency to shift to completely virtual offerings. Beginning in April 2020, G Adventures launched virtual tours hosted by guides around the globe in countries like Italy, Costa Rica, Thailand and Japan.

“[The tours are] an hour on Zoom hosted by one of our [guides] and they remake a complete tour through Zoom and Google Earth and they include their own photos, they give you a welcome meeting and they hit all of the stops on the way—they condense this seven- to 10-day trip within an hour,” Rotunno explained. “And it's great because it allows our [guides] to work while they aren’t able to work within their country.”

Occasional Opportunities for Travel

Bus passengers in South Africa being screened before boarding. GovernmentZA. CC BY-ND 2.0.

As the pandemic continued into the summer, the spread of COVID-19 was uneven. While the United States maintained high case numbers, Europe saw significant declines, presenting opportunities for limited travel on the continent.

James Willcox, co-founder of Untamed Borders, a United Kingdom-based agency partnering with local communities in inaccessible parts of the world, explained how after the U.K. began permitting limited international travel without a mandatory quarantine, the agency was able to look into regions it had previously worked with to offer some in-person travel.

“There was a time where the U.K. had this list of countries where you didn’t have to quarantine upon return, and Turkey was one such country, and we [already] work in Syria, Iran and in Kurdish regions, so we [discussed] putting on a trip to Turkey in September,” Willcox said. “There’s a couple of areas which are stable where the [government] has some travel warnings against. Not that that’s what we look for, but [Turkey] looks like somewhere we could add value to and ensure people have a good experience where they can travel safely.”

Adventures also hosted several in-person experiences beginning in the summer when able to do so safely. The agency implemented new rebooking and cancellation policies to allow for greater flexibility given the pandemic’s uncertainty.

“We took our time in deciding to move forward with that,” Rotunno said, “and in the summer and fall Europe was able to travel within Europe. We had sailing trips for Europeans [with] everyone wearing masks, there’s extreme sanitation, the groups are smaller than usual, and it's all private transport as well. And then Costa Rica started to open up to travelers, then Tanzania and Egypt. So now it's dependent on if travelers are able to go.”

Focusing on Social Consciousness When It's Needed Most

Black Lives Matter demonstrators in London. Livvy Adjei. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

At the core of each of these agencies is a mission rooted in sustainability and social action. While COVID-19 has for the most part disrupted the in-person travel component of these agencies, they have continued to uplift and support the communities they work with.

“There’s something [Untamed Borders is] trying to push at the moment which is that travel has always been a privilege, and in these days you should kind of be appreciative and have some thought about it … consider where you’re going, consider what the impact is and the benefits are,” Willcox said.

Untamed Borders has followed suit through a number of projects it has been able to hold throughout the pandemic. In Afghanistan, the agency helped to organize the Marathon of Afghanistan, and started a tree-planting initiative to help combat deforestation.

ExplorEquity continues to engage with its travelers and the communities it supports through a shift in the online content produced. Rivera discussed how the agency’s social media platforms have been used to shed light on issues including racism in travel, climate change, equity issues for Indigenous communities and decolonization.

“Instead of talking on Instagram and Facebook about our upcoming trips, we’ve been talking about equity issues and highlighting different themes,” Rivera explained. “We’ve seen a lot of engagement and a lot of learning. People who are connected to us on social media have been commenting and sharing the content, and I think they’ve been enthusiastic about being exposed to new concepts or things they weren’t aware of. Even though we can’t travel the way we used to, I still think it's important to create better travelers.”

Promoting social consciousness within the travel community is not limited to sustainable travel agencies. Planeterra, a community tourism nonprofit seeking to reduce global poverty, has worked throughout the pandemic to support many of the same communities the sustainable travel industry works with.

“We looked at what our partners needed and what they’ve been requesting, what support they need that we would normally give in person,” said Rhea Simms, a program manager at Planeterra. “We built an online learning hub … for no budget. Our team compiled a hundred years of [combined] experience on what are the key opportunities, challenges and instructions we bring a community through when we launch and start a tour.”

Simms discussed how these virtual webinars and trainings have served as a way to work directly with partners around the globe, and noted how the pandemic has given the organization the opportunity to reevaluate its approach to volunteers.

“Planeterra’s never had the time or the right projects for volunteers to work with our partners, but having the time now, we’ve got volunteers working with us all around the world,” Simms said. “One just finished designing an e-cookbook for our partner in Jordan … We’re just completing a project with the Canadian High Commission in Sri Lanka, where we got funding from a partner we have there … It's a handicraft shop where over a hundred women from various backgrounds create beautiful handmade goods … and we’re finishing a project in Peru … doing some technical training with communities hoping to launch a tourism program in the coming years.”

Planeterra and G Adventures had been partners before the pandemic, a relationship made stronger as the two have collaborated on recent initiatives. Rotunno said G Adventures worked with Planeterra to raise over $100,000 at the beginning of the pandemic to fund some projects which were impacted by the inability to travel abroad.

“This time has allowed us to reflect on what works best, what has created the most impact … and begin to create the strategy of how we scale this and do it bigger, with the right people, with different organizations,” Simms explained. “This is a huge opportunity for us to facilitate this space for socially minded community enterprises that are trying to empower women or break down barriers for at-risk youth or celebrate Indigenous culture.”

Looking Toward a Post-Pandemic World

The sun setting in Samara, Costa Rica. John. CC BY-SA 2.0.

While there is no concrete timeline for the formal end of the pandemic and the beginning of a “new normal,” the distribution of 10 different vaccines worldwide as of March 17 signals the pandemic’s end will eventually become a reality. As countries receive and distribute COVID-19 vaccines to their citizens, international travel is expected to return.

But just because travel will be possible does not mean it will look the same as it did in the pre-COVID era. ExplorEquity ceased all group travel throughout the pandemic, a change made permanent going forward.

“We are shifting entirely away from group travel, so we’re not going to be offering those kinds of trips anymore,” Rivera said, noting the agency would be pivoting to an online store in March 2021. “What we’re going to be offering is [locally made] products as well as virtual experiences … The two experiences we’re starting with are both live, so you can still have the magic of a travel moment, creating a memory in a community with other people, through these experiences in a different way. And the benefit is that local communities can still earn income from this type of experience without receiving travelers in person.”

Other agencies are working to schedule prospective trips in 2021 and beyond, anticipating possible delays in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. Off Season Adventures has begun planning new trips, taking into account the Adventure Travel Trade Association’s guidelines and safety measures from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We have people planning to travel in June of this year, and we’re still keeping that open because we’re really still not sure what’s going to happen,” Booth said. “They’re planning to go to Tunisia. Tunisia has been closed to Americans for most of this, so we’ll just have to see.”

Given how far in advance most of its offerings need to be planned, Off Season Adventures is also working on coordinating with travelers who reach out to them to plan trips to Asia and Africa in 2022 and 2023.

Every agency interviewed expressed optimism for the future. While travel has been a temporary casualty of COVID-19, it has also brought folks together around the issues of sustainability, social consciousness and justice. The unique ways in which every agency pivoted to continue serving communities around the world show how versatile this industry is, and how vital the cause of uplifting marginalized communities remains today.



Jacob Sutherland

Jacob is a recent graduate from the University of California San Diego where he majored in Political Science and minored in Spanish Language Studies. He previously served as the News Editor for The UCSD Guardian, and hopes to shed light on social justice issues in his work.

The Call for Change: Women Speak Out on Sexualized Violence in South Africa

The tallies have been rising on women murdered on the streets of South Africa. From a country with a history of violence and suppression, the fight is nowhere finished. Multiday protests throughout major cities have brought the crisis to international attention. 

Protest drawing awareness to rape victims at University of Cape Town. Devin O’Donnell.

The brutal murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana, a University of Cape Town student who was raped and killed while at the post office is unfortunately not a standalone incident. Mrwetyana joined upwards of 30 women that had been murdered in August alone. This marks the highest rates gender-based violence the country has seen, in a month that is, ironically, also designated as the national awareness month for Women’s Rights. 

There are many reasons thought to be behind the high numbers. Culturally, it comes from a history of women being viewed as inferior and the belief that women must obey their husbands. In many parts of South Africa, there is a general acceptance of rape, including martial rape and gang rape, as not being seen as wrong. This has led to South Africa having the highest rate of domestic abuse in the world. Domestic abuse was only outlawed in 1998 and martial rape in 1993. A studied done by the South Africa Medical Research Council found that 50% of men have abused their partners. Most relevant to the recent murders, every six hours a partner kills their female counterpart and one in four men in South Africa have raped someone. 

Studies have also found that there are certain traits in men and women that can lead to a greater risk of abuse in the country. Men who have grown up with violence, without father figures, and who use alcohol are more likely to abuse. It is also tied to race and socioeconomic status, as women of color, who are unemployed, and/or are from rural communities are more likely to be victims. Psychological studies have found that domestic abuse is often used as a response to feeling powerless. Apartheid proved violence is successful as a means for control and left people with a lack of trust in the government. Men who feel helpless regress to using violence against their partners in an attempt to regain a sense of control and self-worth. They also have a lack of fear of being prosecuted due to flaws in the police system – which is legitimate when only 15% of perpetrators are convicted. 

The exceptionally high rates of HIV in South Africa pose an additional danger to rapes. The belief in a virgin cleansing myth, if you rape a virgin you will be cured of HIV, has led to high rates of abuse in children, with 50% of children being abused before they turn 18. Rates of sexual abuse have also been found to be exceptionally high in schools and often deters girls from pursuing education. Additionally, South Africa has increased rates of violence surrounding homophobia, with rates of “corrective rape” reaching 10 a week just in Cape Town. This mirrors statistics for gay black men. 

President Ramaphosa said that measures have to be taken now to address the femicide. He has proposed longer sentencing and introducing more sexual offence courts. With current rates of rape reporting lingering at 2%, there is a chance that this will cause little change. The women marching firmly believe that change is necessary, but will it be enough?





DEVIN O’DONNELL’s interest in travel was cemented by a multi-month trip to East Africa when she was 19. Since then, she has continued to have immersive experiences on multiple continents. Devin has written for a start-up news site and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Neuroscience.









In Romania, 500 Days of Silence Mark Movement Against Corruption

For citizens of tiny Sibiu, Romania, “watchful eyes” nestled in the city’s roofs have become a symbol of ongoing protest.

Houses with eyes in Sibiu. lucianf. CC BY 2.0

Each day at noon, in the picturesque little city of Sibiu, the red-shingled roofs and the protestors silently assembled in the streets send the same message to the corrupt government of Romania: We are watching you.

Visitors to Sibiu take note of the standard Central European attributes: the quaint, historic architecture, punctuated by the Gothic Lutheran cathedral, whose steeple looms high into the sky; the houses clinging to the bank of the river Cibin, which winds lazily down from the main waterway of Olt. But they are likely to do a double-take upon noticing the ever-watchful Sibiu eyes—narrow windows rising up from the city’s roofs, giving the impression of a perpetual half-lidded gaze. Originally designed to ventilate attics where meat, cheese, and grain were stored while keeping the harsh sunlight out, the eyes have become a potent symbol of Romania’s anti-corruption movement—specifically, a grassroots organization called V Vedem din Sibiu, or “we are watching you from Sibiu.”

V Vedem din Sibiu came about in December 2017, when the government moved to shift judiciary statutes in a way that was widely regarded as tightening state control over judges and undermining the National Anticorruption Directorate. The attempt further inflamed tensions ignited at the beginning of the year, when the ruling Social Democrat party (PSD) decriminalized a range of corruption offenses, triggering Romania’s most sizable street protest since the fall of communism in 1989. The emergency ordinance—which, among other stipulations, dropped charges of official misconduct in cases where the financial damage did not exceed 200,000 lei ($47,000)—passed at 10 p.m. local time; by midnight, more than 10,000 infuriated citizens had taken to the streets in the capital of Bucharest, and around 10,000 in other cities across Romania.

Anti-corruption protesters in Bucharest. Paul Arne Wagner. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Corruption is considered a serious problem in Romania, and the country’s fragile political state is exacerbated by its status as one of the European Union’s newest and poorest members, leaving citizens concerned for their rights and constantly at the ready to mount a protest. In the years and months since the events of 2017, Romania has seen ongoing organizing against corruption and in support of judicial independence, and the government has endured criticism from the European Commission, the U.S. state department, and the centrist president and National Liberal Party leader, Klaus Iohannis, who has made strong calls for governmental transparency. In January 2018, approximately 50,000 Romanians marched towards parliament in Bucharest, waving flags, contending with riot police, and raising raucous chants of “Thieves!” And in August of that year, up to 100,000 members of the Romanian diaspora descended on Bucharest to protest the PSD—an event that took a violent turn when police deterred marchers with tear gas and water cannons.

Anti-corruption protesters in Bucharest. Paul Arne Wagner. CC BY 2.0

Relative to the chaotic, overwhelming tableau of the ongoing demonstrations in Bucharest, the soundless walkouts occurring daily in Sibiu present a stark contrast. This July, the Sibiu protesters commemorated their 500th day gathering in the city center, sacrificing their lunch breaks or school recesses to stand in silence outside the headquarters of the PSD. “Those 15 minutes every day, it is like a flame that never goes out,” said Ciprian Ciocan, one of the founders of V Vedem din Sibiu, in an interview with The Guardian. “Somebody knows that there are still people in Sibiu, no matter whether it rains or snows or whatever.”

Ciocan posts live videos of the protests on V Vedem din Sibiu’s Facebook page, where they reach more than 20,000 followers. During the events of December 2017, allies from around the world sent in more than 68 versions of the Sibiu eyes—scrawled on walls and scraps of paper, carved into sand at the seashore, inscribed with branches laid on fresh snow, from Berlin to Chicago to Kuala Lumpur. Though the initial tide of eyes has slowed, the page continues to share media coverage of the protests along with its regularly scheduled live videos. The “about” section defines the sit-in as a form of protest, stating, “We are protecting the values and principles in which we strongly believe, the state of law and the independence of Justice.”

Sibiu. Camelia TWU. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

In May of this year, under pressure from the EU and overwhelming dissent from Romanian voters, the PSD abandoned some of its most controversial measures. Even more devastating for the party was their loss of seats in European Parliament elections and the departure of the PSD leader, Liviu Dragnea, who was jailed on May 27 and is expected to serve a three-and-a-half-year sentence for corruption.

Despite small steps in the right direction, however, citizens remain on high alert. “There are many other dangers,” Bianca Toma of the Romanian Centre for European Policies told The Guardian. “There are still things to be undone and it’s a matter of fact, not just [making] statements.” And in Sibiu, the ongoing protests have had little impact on the PSD, whose workers drew the blinds when sit-ins began and issued a statement accusing the activists of “aggressive” behavior. Still, like clockwork, citizens will keep turning out in the streets, and the watchful eyes will keep gazing from Sibiu’s rooftops, waiting for a day when Romanians at home and abroad can live without fear of corruption.







TALYA PHELPS hails from the wilds of upstate New York, but dreams of exploring the globe. As former editor-in-chief at the student newspaper of her alma mater, Vassar College, and the daughter of a journalist, she hopes to follow her passion for writing and editing for many years to come. Contact her if you're looking for a spirited debate on the merits of the em dash vs. the hyphen.










7 Social-Action Documentaries Available Now on Netflix

These films will inspire you to make a difference.

Netflix Logo. Photo by Bago Games CC 2.0

Netflix is known for their new original television series, as well as old favorites. But Netflix also has an excellent collection of documentaries. Here are seven documentaries featured on Netflix that will inspire you to do more good. 

  1. Dirty Money 

This six, one-hour-long episode series exposes con-artists, cheaters, and schemers who are motivated by greed. Episodes focus on topics from Donald Trump’s shady business empire to a car company who cheats on emissions tests to save money. Through firsthand accounts with perpetrators and the victims, the he docu-series aims to expose the corruption in our economy. 

2. Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things

Minimalism sheds light on the way our society rapidly consumes, and how this consumption is dangerous to our mental health and our environment. This documentary delves into the lives of people who have gotten rid of their excess belongings, and committed to a life of minimalism. 

3. What the Health 

What the Health exposes the corruption in the healthcare industry as a result of the government and big business. The film wants us to ask why healthcare costs so much and is so inaccessible, costing people their lives. 

4. Rotten 

This six part documentary series aims to make the public aware of the crisis in the global food industry. The film encourages people to pay more attention to the source of the food they buy as they might have been frozen multiple times, or contain many additives. Since food has become treated like a commodity, fraud has increased and farming has decreased. 

5. Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons 

Investigative journalists voluntarily become inmates the worlds’ brutalist prisons in order to expose the poor conditions that prisoners face. One of the journalists served years in prison for a crime that he did not commit, so the docuseries is even more emotionally charged.

6. The White Helmets

The White Helmets follows the first responders who rescue people from the rubble after bombings in Syria. The Academy Award nominated documentary short shows real life heroes, who are guided by their motto that “To save a life is to save all of humanity.” 

7. Period. End of Sentence.  

This Academy Award winning documentary short about how women in India achieve financial independence, and counter stigma about menstruation, by creating low-costs sanitary napkins on a machine in their village. 

These documentaries and documentary series come in all lengths, and span a range of topics. They are guaranteed to educate and inspire you on your next Netflix binge!





ELIANA DOFT loves to write, travel, and volunteer. She is especially excited by opportunities to combine these three passions through writing about social action travel experiences. She is an avid reader, a licensed scuba diver, and a self-proclaimed cold brew connoisseur. 



Life on the Margins

During the northern summer of 2001 thousands of Chinese security personnel, backed by an army of labourers armed with sledgehammers, massed at the entry of the Larung Gar Tibetan Buddhist Institute. In this almost impossibly remote place, sitting high on the Tibetan Plateau, 9,000 monks and nuns had found a home, defying decades of China’s aggressive atheist policies to learn from its charismatic and avowedly apolitical founder, Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok.  

PRC authorities had long been skittish about the institute’s remarkable growth, and particularly alarmed by its growing appeal to ordinary Han Chinese. By 2001 over 1,000 Han also called Larung Gar home.
 

The Larung Gar Five Sciences Buddhist Institute.

Both Larung Gar and Yarchen Gar (gar translates as camp) have remained largely hidden from the outside world, as much because of their inaccessible geography as the tight controls on freedom of movement put in place by the Chinese government. Both sit at elevations of over 4,000 metres, sunk deep into hidden valleys of the Hengduan mountain range, which cuts across China’s south-western Sichuan province.
 

Yarchen Gar sits hard against the border of the TAR and is home to roughly 9,000 nuns. 
 

Both Yarchen and Larung Gar are part of what is known as the Garzê Semi Autonomous Prefecture, where 77 percent of the inhabitants — some 800,000 people — claim ethnic Tibetan heritage. As is the case in the similarly named Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), the people’s future has long been out of their own hands.

In theory, to move around Garzê as a foreigner, one only needs a Chinese tourist visa and bucket loads of time, patience and fortitude. This is in stark contrast to the neighbouring TAR, at the border of the lands known to the wider world as ‘Tibet’. Visitors to the TAR are required to first negotiate a complex and shifting permit process, before joining an organised and highly controlled tour of the region.
 

Nuns at a ceremony at Yarchen Gar in which almost the entire population of the camp leaves for a month of meditation in the surrounding hills. 

Yet Garzê and nearby Qinghai are also restive. Tibetans here have openly protested against Chinese control, most notably as part of a violent uprising in 2008. Referred to by the Chinese as the 3-14 riots, unrest had spread from the TAR into Sichuan. This unrest effectively slammed the door shut to the region’s hidden treasures until 2013. Today, despite relative calm, nuns and monks continue to take the extreme measure of self-immolation in towns and villages. Reports of random arrests and the disappearance of accused activists are common. Recently Garzê has been open, yet regulations can change overnight and information is scarce. 
 

The narrow, winding alleyways of Larung Gar.

During China’s breakneck boom the mountainous Garzê region represents ground zero in the great ‘go west’ campaign — viewed by the People’s Republic as integral to the rapid growth of the Chinese economy. 

The wealth of natural resources found here, as well as the nation-building railway into Tibet (completed in 2006) have been the catalyst for extraordinary development. In the regional town of Sertar, which sits astride the Larung Gar complex, the reality of the security situation quickly hits home. I was challenged in the main square and taken to police headquarters to sign in and face a barrage of questions.

Mercifully, one officer spoke English and took my story of being a history teacher at face value. This would be just one of my almost daily encounters with the local police force over the coming weeks.

The main street through Yarchen Gar

Monks debating at Larung Gar.

During the following days I was left free to explore the vast warren of huts, temples and study houses that surround the complex. One morning I witnessed a loud monks’ debate; where the men and boys almost come to blows over competing theological arguments.

The monks and nuns live their lives separated by the main road which slices Larung Gar camp down the middle. I found both groups to be generally welcoming and curious, and the tinderbox atmosphere and police presence of Sertar is replaced by the constant hum of worship, with the sound of prayer and Tibetan horns a constant.
 

Monks in study and debate at Larung Gar. 

Many Chinese tourists visit Larung too. The biggest draw for them turns out to be the opportunity to witness a traditional Tibetan ‘Sky Burial’. At 1pm every day, the Rogyapa (“body breaker”) arrives to dismember recent human remains, which are then fed to aggressive flocks of resident vultures on a hillside set back from the complex.

Macabre to some, this ancient ritual is both a practical way of disposing of human remains whilst also adhering to jhator, the principle of kindness to all living things, which includes feeding these huge carrion creatures. Few of traditional these sky burial locations remain operational, mainly due to religious marginalisation, urbanisation and the decimation of vulture populations.
 

The vultures who are fed during the traditional ‘Sky Burial’ on the hillside above Larung Gar. 

The institute at Larung Gar currently attracts followers of Tibetan Buddhism from all over China. Its regrowth after the 2001 evictions was swift; students began to illegally return and rebuild almost immediately. After Jigme’s death in 2004, countless followers made a pilgrimage to Larung Gar to pay homage to their spiritual master. Many stayed and contributed to the already rapid regrowth of the population. Today, Larung Gar is home to an estimated population of 50,000 people.
 

Gar camp from above, on rare clear day.

Yarchen Gar, founded in 1985 hard against the border of the TAR, has deplorable living conditions. Without even basic sanitation, every corner of the complex is permeated by a breathtakingly toxic smell.  Around 9,000 nuns live in ramshackle huts on an island, while the more solidly built monks’ quarters sit more favourably on the surrounding hills. Monsoon rains bring regular flooding; on my visit ankle-deep raw sewage flowed into the streets on more than one occasion. 

Rains in Yarchen Gar flood the streets with raw sewage.

No electricity runs to the island where the nuns live. Cholera and typhoid outbreaks are a daily threat. In winter, the temperatures plunge to a life-threatening minus 25 degrees. Yet this does not deter the nuns. Winter meditation sessions, referred to as the “direct crossing”, can last for days, with nothing more than a blanket to shield worshippers from the cold.
 

Sunrise at Yarchen

 The reward for this remarkable display of self-deprivation is the chance to learn first-hand from some of the most revered figures in Tibetan Buddhism. The current leader in residence is Asong Tulku. ‘Tulku’ is a title given to a person who has reached the highest level of spiritual enlightenment, and Asong is considered a living Buddha by his followers. To assist in his teaching at Yarchen, Asong is aided by senior nuns, called khenmos. Many nuns begin their life here at the age of just six.
 

Worshippers inside one of the temples at Yarchen Gar.

The bridge over to the island where the nun’s live.

Not only do the nuns dedicate themselves fully to their studies, they are also responsible for almost all physical labour at Yarchen, constructing houses, unloading trucks or building roads. The monks, who rarely participate in physical labour here, seem to have it easy in comparison.
 

Building a basic meditation hut on the hills overlooking the nun’s encampment.

The nuns carry out most of the hard physical labour at Yarchen. 
 

Despite the challenging living conditions, vast amounts of money are being funnelled into gigantic, ornate temples and monuments in the heart of the camp, while the surrounding slums continue to crumble.

Han Chinese money has poured into this region, with relatively wealthy converts to Tibetan Buddhism bringing much needed funds to the camps. These wealthy benefactors, hoping to improve their karma for the next business deal, or through a “cover all bases” spiritual mentality, have sparked a huge construction boom on the far western Chinese frontier.

A young nun exits an area reserved for eating and socialising in the centre of Yarchen. 

During my time in Yarchen I had several memorable brushes with the revered leader, Asong Tulku. As he piloted his gleaming white Lexus around the slum, our paths would meet on my early morning photo shoots. Watching people fall into the putrid mud at his feet wherever he walked, all rushing to pay tribute with cash and gifts, I found myself wondering if the money for the Lexus couldn’t be better spent elsewhere.
 

Asong Tulku is considered a living Buddha by his followers

The abrupt change from the monsoon season to the biting cold of winter was a fortuitous time to be visiting Yarchen. A ceremony in which almost the entire population of nuns empty from the confines of their island home for a month of meditation in the hills was due to take place. For days, preparations for this ritual, translating roughly to the “circle of life”, had provided a preview of what was to come.
 

Young monks taking a break from daily classes at Yarchen.

Basic supplies were taken by foot to a hidden nook outside the complex, the location of which was strictly off limits to outsiders. When the fortuitous day finally arrived, the sight of 9,000 nuns in their bright red robes streaming into the hills was a privilege to see.
 

The nuns of Yarchen Gar prepare to walk into the hills for a month of meditation.

At the entrance to the valley I reached a sign hammered into the ground, with a message written in bold letters, announcing that any man who followed the nuns on their trek would return blind. With this, I knew that my luck had held out for long enough; it was time to go.
 

Larung Gar camp by night. 

By rights Larung Gar and Yarchen Gar shouldn’t exist, and at different times the authorities have tried to sweep them away. Draconian restrictions on the freedom of movement and religious practices in the TAR itself means that nothing exists there to rival these two sites.

Quite possibly, the future leadership of Tibetan Buddhism rests not within the more recognisable white-washed walls of Lhasa’s hillside fortresses, or within the Dalai Lama’s inner circle, but within China itself.
 

Star trails arching over Yarchen Gar.

 

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAPTIA.

 

BROOK MITCHELL

Brook Mitchell is a photographer + writer with Getty & The Sydney Morning Herald.