Trailblazers : In the Footsteps of Eleven Human Rights Defenders

Trailblazers, a sequel to Nine Lives, is an odyssey that takes you around the world, presenting stories of eleven human rights defenders whose lives reflect Gandhi’s notion that "you must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Nations, like individuals, have their whims and peculiarities. But what if the cost of those whims becomes unbearable? The testimonies in this book have one thing in common: the local illustrates the global. The Inuit story illustrates global warming. The Sahrawi story illustrates that totalitarianism is alive and well. The Ecuadorian story illustrates why corporate social responsibility must be taken seriously – all the way to the courthouse. In the end, the truth will come out. Sometimes, the last straw is nothing other than yourself.

Arne Peter Braaksma is the author of Nine Lives: Making the Impossible Possible. He has worked as an editor in Britain and as a communication adviser and corporate journalist in the Netherlands, focusing on human rights, the environment and (corporate) social responsibility.