Dr. Lian Hmung Sakhong, a prominent Chin community leader and academic, was awarded the Martin Luther King Prize for 2007. The Martin Luther King Prize was established by a coalition of Swedish peace groups in honor of the late civil rights activist in 2003. Dr. Lian Hmung Sakhong is the third recipient of the prize since its inception, and was presented the award in a ceremony on January 15 at the Swedish Parliament. In addition to the honor of winning, the prize brings with it US $25,000.   more »

It would seem I've fallen a bit behind on journaling my trip to Malaysia. I'm going to consider it a positive that I was too busy actually doing things to write about them in a timely fashion, and just forge ahead as if I'm not a month behind. I'm not big on end of year retrospectives or new year's resolutions, anyway.

December 6th started with breakfast with Simon's wife - Simon was the coordinator at the CRC last year who I'd spent so much time with, and who's now in Australia. Last year I had ijagwe and coffee with him every morning, so the plan was to call him so we could chat over breakfast again. Unfortunately, his new job on a farm somewhere around Adelaide pre-empted our conversation.

After breakfast Goi and I went to visit the Chin Women's Organization. They have a set of flats on the other side of the city and run their own projects, providing a safe house for women and children when necessary, running a few classes taught by foreign volunteers for women and children, and a new handicraft project. When we arrived, Zi, the director, led us up to the second flat, where she lives with her husband, and where they had a table set up with their handicraft products so I could look through them and pick some to bring back with me. There was also a teenage boy and an older man sitting quietly against the opposite wall - I've gotten used to there always being random people about, so I don't really pay much attention.   more »