I consider it hell on earth. Literally. The smell, the smoke, the heat, the conditions. No human should have to live here, work here, grow up here, exist here, yet thousands do.

For almost a century now Jharia coal mines have been burning in the state of Jharkhand, India. It’s one of the largest coal mines [...]

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“Why can’t America buy me a new leg?” asked a 55-year-old former RLA (Royal Lao Army) soldier from Xieng Khoaung (Xiang Khuang, Phonsavan) Laos, as he grasped a set of parallel bars during an impromptu workout at the National Rehabilitation Center in Vientiane, Laos. “Oh I don’t know” replied [...]

 
Cambodia is still recovering from decades of a civil war which ended in 1998. Poverty is wide-spread and is the root cause of many social problems. Homeless children living on the streets of Siem Reap, Cambodia resort to solvent abuse to forget the pain of hunger and to escape from the harsh reality of street [...]

Dharavi’s tight and bustling alleys filled with machine shops, recycling plants, and makeshift homes house more than a million people on some of Mumbai’s most sought after land. This photo essay is a glimpse of the daily life of Dharavi’s residents.

I was fortunate enough to receive two assignments due to the recent “Slumdog Millionaire” hype [...]

The first case of HIV infection in Cambodia was reported in 1991 and this was followed by a rapid rise in transmission. Cambodia’s national HIV prevalence rate is now the highest in Asia.

In such an impoverished country, where most marriages are still arranged by the family and prostitution is widespread, this is hardly surprising. NGOs [...]

Leprosy in Nepal still affects thousands of people and is closely related to the widespread poverty the country faces. Insufficient diet, contaminated water and generally poor living conditions are among the contributing factors to it’s prevalence and new cases of leprosy emerge on a daily basis. To add insult to injury, the age-old social stigma [...]