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This powerful documentary presents the stories for five courageous women; women who balance age-old traditions with new roles as creators of social change. They confront oppression and injustice, determined to create a better life for their children and their communities. For them, the personal and the political have become one. In their voices you will hear their passion and commitment. In their hearts you will see their will to create change. First, we meet Barbara Cummings, who as an aboriginal child was displaced from her family. Today this author ("Take This Child"), and recipient of the "Aboriginal of the Year" award, is an aboriginal rights' activist in Australia's Northern territory and played a crucial role in the establishment of Karu, the Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agency in Darwin. Next we meet Sandra Gonzalez, a union organizer in Guatemala. As a single mother, she has faced long working hours, low wages and sexual harassment; also during a labor strike she has even received death threats. Despite all of this, she and her co-workers hold steadfast and win the worker's rights they have been seeking. Next we meet Mara Kimele, whose family for three generations has made considerable contributions to Latvia theatre. Here she presents excerpts from her play, "The Book of Ruth," a parable showing the courage of Latvian women, who have had to face struggles with communism and capitalism. Next, we meet Tam Goosen, who grew up in the slums of Hong Kong, immigrated to Canada, where she experienced racism first-hand. Today she is an advocate for education and activist against racism, and inspiration to her daughter, who is carrying on her mother's activism. Lastly, we meet the internationally renowned lawyer and activist, Asma Jahangir, who was the founder of Pakistan's first all-women law firm. Though she faces death threats constantly, she continues to challenge human rights' abuses.
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