“Frontier midwives” provide maternity care at the US-Mexico border
Two midwives in Tijuana are being the change they want to see in the world. Ximena Rojas and Bianca Mercado teamed up to start Parteras Fronterizas, an organization that serves pregnant women and new mothers whose needs aren’t being met by Mexico’s healthcare system. They provide maternity care both for Mexican women and for Haitian women, many of whom left Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Despite language barriers the “frontier midwives” are committed. They are offering their patients an alternative to avoid costly clinics and public hospitals – and the dehumanizing treatment that pregnant women often receive there.
Drought-induced blackouts sweep across Malawi
Demand for electricity in Malawi is quickly outpacing supply. With 98 percent of the southern African country running on hydropower, Malawi is taking another hit from climate change. Severe drought over the last two years left the Shire River, a major source of hydropower, at dangerously low water levels. For three weeks now the river has generated only half of its normal output of electricity.
People in Malawi are now in their fourth month of living with power rations.
Knowing that climate change often hits smallholder farmers hardest, ActionAid is supporting farmers in Malawi to protect their livelihoods from negative climate impacts like drought.
A top-selling magazine for Southeast Asian writers stays under the radar
The Mekong Review is just a couple years old, but it’s got big plans for the future. The literary magazine can be found in bookstores across Southeast Asia and in Australia, where its founder, editor and publisher Minh Bui Jones resides. Named for the great river that flows through Southeast Asia, the literary quarterly features the voices of writers whose thoughts aren’t always welcome in their own countries.
Jones sees the magazine as a platform to connect shared narratives across Southeast Asia – and to share them with people who might not have heard them. People in places like Australia, where he and his family relocated to in the 1970s as refugees from Vietnam.