Irom Sharmila Chanu (born March 14, 1972), also known as the "Iron Lady of Manipur" or "Menghoubi" ("the fair one"), is a civil rights activist, political activist, and poet from the Indian state of Manipur.

Since November 2000, she has been on hunger strike to demand that the Indian government repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA), which she blames for violence in Manipur and other parts of India's northeast.

It is 2004.  You’ll find me sitting in a one room metal shack owned by a woman named Zolecka Ntuli in a township outside of Cape Town.

I’d gone to South Africa on a personal journey to learn more about HIV/AIDS.

I spent a month crisscrossing the country, interviewing social workers, health care workers, NGOs, social entrepreneurs, academics, business leaders and individuals.

By Patti Macaulay

My Mom was an amazing woman. She left her home and family in Antigonish, Nova Scotia when she was only 18, and went to Montreal, Quebec to be a nurse.

In those days, it was unusual for a young woman, especially one who had been brought up on a farm, to go so far away at such a young age. But my Mom was a courageous woman, she wasn't easily frightened or intimidated.