When pending or actual war invades the headlines of our news outlets and personal attention, we sometimes forget one of war’s worst casualties; displaced civilians. In Libya alone, 75,000 people fled the country between February 19th and March 11th.  Tens of thousands waited and continue to wait at...

The Invisible Girls #5 (Editor’s Note: This is our fifth and final excerpt from Sarah Thebarge’s new writing project, The Invisible Girls.) The next time I went, I took more groceries and some children’s books.  I knocked on the door, but no one answered.  The house was silent.  I sat...

The Invisible Girls #4 (Editor’s Note: This is our fourth excerpt from Sarah Thebarge’s new writing project, The Invisible Girls.) On my next day off I went to the grocery store and got some fruit and vegetables and non-perishables. I also wanted to make them a meal, since the sight of...

The Invisible Girls #3 (Editor’s Note: Part Three of our ongoing series from Sarah Thebarge’s new project, The Invisible Girls.) A few days later, I found myself sitting in my car in my driveway, unsure of whether I should follow through on my crazy plan to show up at their door, unannounced. ...

The Invisible Girls #2 (Editor’s Note: Part Two of our ongoing series from Sarah Thebarge’s new project, The Invisible Girls.) A few weeks ago, I broke my no-eye-contact rule.  I was riding the MAX towards downtown when I noticed an African woman in Muslim dress with two little children...

The Invisible Girls #1 A few months ago, I was riding the MAX train from the Portland suburbs to downtown when I saw a little Somali girl falling asleep while she was standing up.  I reached out my arms to her, and she crawled into my lap and fell asleep.  And that began a relationship with her...

Kidnapped from her home by the Burmese army at age 14, Hlawn Tha Chum watched helplessly while soldiers beat her older brother, Lian, as a means of coercing her into joining their ranks. Later that night, after their guard fell into a drunken stupor, Chum and Lian were able to flee under cover of darkness,...

In light of the new immigration laws signed into effect in Arizona, now might be the perfect time to question the direction politics are taking with regard to foreigners in our land.  Arizona’s bill allows police to question and arrest people without warrant if there is “reasonable suspicion”...