Shabhajian's blog

Defiance is exciting, exhilarating

Shabhajian — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:22:02 +0000

A very dear and wise person once emailed me passionately expressing his views on our current social state;"I am bitter of a system which convinces its people, in the name of protecting ones family, to buy tanks like SUVs destroying the planet, and making orphans of another family in an accident. I am angry at a system which pays 11 cents an hour to a textile worker in Bangladesh, so I can buy my t-shirt for 5 bucks or get it free from organizations who run an event.

Leila's Story

Shabhajian — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:10:07 +0000

As many of you know I spent the last year in Iran working at Omid-e-Mehr
an organization who gives deserving young women a chance to a new
life. Bellow is the incredible story of one the young girls who has
changed my life.
At age 9, her family sold her to a man who forced her into prostitution.
At 18, she was arrested and sentenced to death for adultery, while her
pimp only paid a fine.

In Iran, women can drive, vote and own property. They also can be
legally independent from male relatives -- a status that is rare in the

The Glass House

Shabhajian — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:23:04 +0000

The fringes of Iranian society can be a lonely place, especially if you are a teenage girl with few resources to fall back on. The Glass House follows four girls striving to pull themselves out of the margins by attending a one-of-kind rehabilitation center Omid-e-Mehr in uptown Tehran.

Forget about the Iran that you’ve seen before.