Soul Highway

Toast to a fearless Filipina

I met Noraida Abdullah Karim, an unassuming social worker from Maguindano who has been named as this year’s “Voice of Courage” awardee by the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children. She received the award in New York City on May 10 and came to DC on May 15 for a speaking engagement at the Library of Congress. Noraida’s coy smile and soft voice will leave you the impression of a self-effacing Maguindanaoan woman – and mother – who has dedicated her life to community work. But there is more to Noraida than that. I will be writing an article soon about this woman who grew up in war-torn Mindanao, who as a young girl knew life as constant running from armed skirmishes between the military and separatist groups, but who struggled to get an education and give back to Mindanao’s poor and displaced.