Sankar Raman

There Is More Than One Way

“I’ve never been a person who had a plan about what they’d be doing in 10 years,” says Susheela Jayapal, Multnomah County’s District 2 Commissioner. “I just do

Sankar Raman

Doing Everything With Her Own Hands

Ayan Salat can teach you all about scorpions. She can make fluffy injera bread and cook meals for an entire household. Ayan could ghost-write your next

Sankar Raman

From Fist Fighting to Mediating

Bernal Cruz had just been suspended from high school for taking part in a fist fight when one of the school counselors stopped him and said, “I think you would

Sankar Raman

Bending Toward Justice

When she started watching Perry Mason at age five, Jeanice Chieng was already intrigued by how the law could be used to fight injustice.

Jim Lommasson

Diaspora, Baghdad, Iraq

Dr. Baher Butti: Brother in law: Seattle Washington USA. Sister: Budapest Hungary. Brother: In Jordan….no maybe Dubai/UAE. Brother: Brighten England. G.B. 

Jim Lommasson

Domino Set, Baghdad, Iraq

Othman Al Ani: I brought this domino set with me from Baghdad because it reminds me of the great times I spent with my friends. I chose this from all […]

Sankar Raman

We Are an Asset to Our Society

It’s a long way from Mexico City to the Revolución Coffee House in Portland, Oregon. But Maria Garcia — business owner, mother, activist, advocate —

Sankar Raman

A Heart in the Right Place

Ever since grade school, Abel Getachew has known what he wanted to do with his life—heart surgery for those in need. “When I was in elementary school,

Sankar Raman

Fighting for a Better Life

Life in calm Clackamas, Oregon, where Hamada Haaji Chamada lives with his family is very different from the war-torn city of Mogadishu, Somalia,

A Resilient Daughter of the Arab Spring

When Rama Yousef was born in the Syrian capital of Damascus in 1999, her father cursed and cried tears of frustration. She was his fourth child and not the son […]

Sankar Raman

She is a Girl-Power Grandma

When Michael, age 9, was asked to identify the girl-power women in his life, his first choice was his surrogate grandmother. Vera Moroz, 76, was an immigrant

Kim Oanh Nguyen

Building a Home and a New Life

Neither Govinda nor Januka ever expected to own a house. Govinda Dhimal and his wife Januka Bokhrel both grew up in refugee camps in Nepal.

Sankar Raman

Desert to Oregon, a Paintbrush in Hand

Hussein Al-Baiaty was about as far away as anyone could be when terrorists crashed two airplanes into New York’s World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Sankar Raman

I Had to Earn my Way

Dr. Rahel Nardos’ credentials as an M.D. from Yale are not enough for some people, who question her status as a medical professional 

Sankar Raman

Broken Glass to Breakout Senior

In 2013, when a bomb exploded and shattered all the windows of 15-year-old Sara Mohamed’s classroom in Damascus, Syria, she better understood