u/d_mansi

So many people become caregivers in the middle of a crisis. You don't necessarily feel prepared or powerful, you just have to figure things out as you go.

And somehow, you do.

For those who are or have been caregivers: what keeps you going on the difficult days? What helps you feel like you still have some agency when so much feels out of your control?

Sunita Das and her husband borrowed ₹300,000 from Bandhan Bank, a financial services company that provides microfinance and claims to empower women through small loans, to open a bicycle repair shop in 2024. 

When the business failed due to low earnings, she borrowed ₹215,000 a few months later in 2024 from Axis Bank's microfinancing unit to keep up with repayments. She now owes both lenders close to ₹245,000 ($2,545).

“When I could pay the installments, there was no problem. But when I cannot, they speak to me very badly. They insult my children. They have no respect for a woman.”

Read how microfinance is pushing thousands of women into endless cycles of debt in West Bengal: https://www.fullerproject.org/editions/cost-of-living/microfinance-women-debt-economy-west-bengal-india-lenders-bandhan-bank/

"I lived under the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in Kabul for two weeks, and this is a summary of my personal experience...

During these two weeks of living under the Taliban, we were overtaken by an overwhelming fear. It was so intense that none of us dared report on what was actually happening. I felt suffocated. Not only had I lost my right to work and walk around the city freely, but I had to make sure we were not publishing anything in Rukhshana that would catch the attention of the Taliban.

During those two weeks, I only took a taxi twice. Each time I needed to leave home, it was difficult finding clothes that fit the Taliban’s standard of “Islamic Sharia”. For the first time ever, my parents and siblings were thinking about my clothes, asking, “What is suitable for Zahra now?”

In the 28 years of my life, I never once thought of buying those long black robes, that’s why I didn’t have one at home.

The presence of women in public places and on the streets was almost nonexistent. Until the morning of 15th of August 2021, the city was full of women in colorful dresses. They added so much life to the city, but suddenly they were nowhere, the city had been emptied out. I saw a few women outside with a mahram (male relative escort). It was as though I had traveled back in time, to the 1990s when the Taliban last ruled, banning women from public events."

Zahra Joya is a journalist from Afghanistan, now exiled in London, and is the founder and editor in chief of Rukhshana Media, one of Afghanistan's first news agencies dedicated to women's stories and the author of The Vanishing girl of Kabul.

This is her personal account of the two weeks she spent living under Taliban rule after the fall of Kabul.

Full account here: https://www.fullerproject.org/afghan-journalist-escape-taliban/

Bangkok’s street food vendors feed millions every day, but rising costs are making it increasingly difficult for them to keep their businesses going.

At Moo Baan Nak Kila market, 160 of 180 vendors are women. Many are already balancing long working hours with unpaid care responsibilities at home.

Since January, ingredients cost has risen from 4,000 baht to 7,000 baht, with pork up 25% and chicken up 30%. For vendors who often operate on very thin margins, absorbing those increases isn't easy.

Some are working longer hours. Others are turning to loans, including high-interest informal lending that can trap them in debt.

How are Bangkok's street vendors navigating rising costs?

For those living in Bangkok: have you noticed food prices affecting street vendors or your favourite local stalls? How are vendors you know coping?

This is the story of a woman who travelled to Georgia to become a surrogate. 

For years, the country has marketed itself as a safe, legal destination for reproductive tourism. But recent scandals and a landmark legal case have exposed serious cracks in the industry's oversight.

On 30 June 2026, The Tbilisi City Court sentenced two founders of Kinderly Georgia to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of embezzling funds from surrogate mothers and biological parents.

This is the reality for the women at the centre of this industry.