It’s always with great surprise that I listen to people defending patriarchy. Even though most women would object to being denied access to professional spheres and having their opinions shut down because of their gender, most still happily go along with the idea that women, because of our physiological, psychological, or ‘God given’ differences with men, are the inferior gender. There are a lot of day to day conversations that I can bring up to explain my point, but it’s...

Your name: Miss. Beryl Birgitta Payet Your age: 26 Years old Where are you originally from and where do you currently live? I'm originally from La Digue Island which is Seychelles' Fourth Largest Island. I am currently residing at Pointe Larue, a district of Seychelles' main island - Mahé. According to your business card – what is your job title? I'm a Senior Engineer of the Radio Communications Section at the Department of ICT (Seychelles' Broadcasting and...

My name is Vishalatchi Arunagiri and I was diagnosed with Schizophrenia two years ago. I did not realize that I had this mental illness and at first could not accept it. Is this reality or fantasy? I was experiencing intense delusions that felt so real, it were not possible that it was a fantasy. But now, I have come a long way and can tell the differences between reality and fantasy and I want to share some of my experiences. This story is not a story about my struggles or a debat...

Five-million-citizens confirmed their will to participate in the election process. Five months till the end of the year… the deadline set by the national constitutional assembly to organize both parliamentary and presidential elections. And after the adoption of the 2014 constitution, the 5th fundamental laws of the country’s history, Tunisians have been asking several questions: Should I register to vote in the upcoming election? Or maybe I have to boycott the whole proc...

The title is one of my favourite quotes from the short book “We should all be feminists” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie which is a modified version of a talk she delivered in December 2012 at TEDxEuston, a yearly conference focused on Africa. I chose to recommend this “book” because despite its length, it forced me to take a deeper look at my own life and experiences. Just like her friend Louis in the book, my thinking was “I don’t see what you mean by things being diffe...

Hey everyone! I've been debating for a couple of months now on whether or not I want to participate in this online community. There was no particular reason why, I just didn't if I was ready to take a leap into the unknown. As you can tell, I ended up taking the leap, and I'll just have to see where I land. I can't tell you exactly what this blog is going to be about, because honestly I do not know. I am just going to see where the wind takes me. Okay so I am currently a freshm...

The International Aids Conference AIDS2014 has come and gone, but we have learnt from this conference is something we all should individually define in our own ways. For many this conference was the one for the youth, and for others it was the one we finally have a clear roadmap to ending Aids. But for young MSMs*, transgenders and adolescent MSMs it was the one where our issues weren't that important for discussion. During this conference there were several panels of discuss...

The month of June was the month when the world saw gasoline being poured onto the Arab-Israeli conflict of 10 decades--ceasing the optimistic idea of peace within this region that followed the cease-fires a few years back. The world watched as the fire grew. The world watched as the fire consumed thousands of people into this hatred. The world watched as Israel and Palestine played a intense game of dodgeball. But in place of those rubbery colorful round balls, their balls cons...

I regret not having written this sooner while the event was still fresh in my mind, but better late than never. On the 12th of July, I went to ‘Beyond Binary’, a talk hosted by national trans ally campaign, I Am You. This was my first exposure to the Malaysian trans community. I went with a friend and her friend. None of us knew anyone else there, not personally. Most of those in attendance seemed to know one another, though, which was overwhelming in the beginning. The eve...