I Live Here is not a normal book.
This is a collection of four booklets, one each on Ingushetia, the Burma-Thai border, Ciudad Juarez, and Malawi. Each booklet is a collection of journal entries, Photographs, Drawings, short stories written by local people, and graphic novels.
The result is an intense, personal, and jarring journey through these very different places in the world. We follow Mia Kirshner, as she confronts bravery and misery in these places, as she questions herself and her reason for being in these places, and we get to know a great deal about what it is like to survive in a place where human rights are challenged at a very basic level.
This is Kirshner's first book, but she plans to do more. She has also started a foundation, which plans to teach creative writing workshops in some of the places where she traveled. Check out her interactive website for more, and look for the project on facebook. They also have a blog.
Ingushetia
Update: In summer of 2008, HRW researchers in Ingushetia have documented the same "dirty war" tactics practiced in Chechnya are now spreading to Ingushetia. To read the entire report, click here. Russian authorities are still cracking down: recently, a human rights journalist died in police custody after being shot as he arrived in the region, according to the BBC.
Burma
The most recent HRW report on Burma was on a constitutional referendum held by the military junta. The presentation of HRW Defender Bo Kyi mentioned the sanctions on Burmese gems, which is supported by HRW, because the trade in these 'blood gems' is a primary source of funding for the oppressive regime. Directly related to the reading we are doing on the refugee camps and minority groups in Burma, HRW has recently called on the Thai government to stop forced returns of civilian Burmese minorities to Burma, where violence continues. According to the HRW report, because of a slow-down in the registration process in Thailand, there are at least 20,000 people in Thai refugee camps who were not yet registered as refugees and therefore do not qualify for food or shelter, and are not protected by the United Nations under international law.
Ciudad Juarez
The failure to protect women from violence is only one part of the complicity of the Mexican government in the human rights problem in the border areas of Mexico. For updated information, check out this interactive map.
HRW has been documenting problems for maquiladora workers (primarily women work in these factories) for years. The most recent report by HRW found some hope in the decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City, but poor women who cannot afford to travel to Mexico City need the same protection, as well as better civil protection and fair employment protection. If you would like to read more, I recommend the Daughters of Juarez by Teresa Rodriguez.
