Gidu Sriram

Equal Parts Optimism, Realism

Hard work and a clear sense of who he is have created a lifetime full of satisfaction for Balasubramaniyan Iyer, who says, “(For me) every day is an auspicious day.”

John Rudoff

Manifesting the American Dream

Dollars would line the streets of America. It’s what all the Hollywood movies promised. Lazeni Koulibali believed he would stay in America for a short time,

John Rudoff

Conquering a Life of Uncertainty

Daniel Franco Núñez’s earliest memory is being smuggled across the border into the US in his grandfather’s arms. Núñez was born in Guadalajara, Mexico In 1985.

John Rudoff

Helping Others as a Lifelong Mission

Just days after the terrorist attacks on New York City of Sept. 11, 2001, Hazar Jaber’s landlord gave her one week to leave the Boston apartment

John Rudoff

Sparking the Fires of Knowledge

When he listens to African music, Zanda Pemba feels refreshed in his love for the art form. He connects with the raw instrumentals whenever he tires of 

John Rudoff

Keep Knocking on Doors

Even while battling kidney disease and working at McDonalds to pay her way through college, Marissa de los Angeles Roxinny Salgado Garcia

Sankar Raman

Tending a Garden and Her Dreams

Salsabel Al Masri’s garden was the center of her world. She and her five brothers spent every day after school chasing each other among the olive, orange, apple,

Sankar Raman

From Conflict to Confidence

At just six years old, Heriberto Bolanos raised his hand to cross the border from Mexico into the United States under the powerful jets

Sankar Raman

A Whirlwind of Unsettlement

This is a story of a man whose determination, courage, ability to deal with unexpected adversity, and willingness to take risks brought him from war-torn Iraq 

Yukiyo Kawano

Reconstructing How the Eyes See

Yukiyo Kawano’s art is all about space and the embodiment of intention, and how her worldview changes as she does.  Kawano was born in Hiroshima, Japan in 1974.

©2014 Jeffrey Ball

A Doctor with No Cure for His Country

The rigid, highly competitive public education system of Syria sent Hisham Amin Bismar into engineering. Leaving his country and then watching it

Gidu Sriram

A Social Media Post’s Resonance

Three pizzas from Dominos—that’s what Aishwarya Sreenivasan expected to donate to hospital workers fighting Covid-19. In late March, the Portland mother of two

Sankar Raman

Leaving a Land of Chaos

Toys are everywhere in the small apartment in Vancouver, Washington. A sheet of paper posted at a child’s eye level shows the first, impressive attempts of a