About Me

I'm a New York City-based journalist, photographer and audio producer covering Latin American politics for Americas Society/Council of the Americas. Before that, I was a reporting/production intern at WNIN's bilingual podcast ¿Qué Pasa, Midwest? and I got my M.S. in journalism from Columbia University in August 2021.

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Print Reporting

Life in Uzbekistan’s Queer Diaspora

His fingers still bear the scars.

It’s been almost two years since Shohijahon Toirov’s own mother tried to kill him with a knife. He resisted and survived, but his right index and middle fingers got caught.

Toirov, now 21, grew up in Kattakurgan, a conservative town in Uzbekistan between the ancient Silk Road cities of Bukhara and Samarkand. He’s since extricated himself from the country he loves but it’s taken shrewdness, resilience and hardship.

Toirov’s upbringing was blighted by distress.

Ecuadorians in New York Hope for Change as Tight Election Enters Second Round

For Miguel Balboa, calling home is no spontaneous affair. It can’t be.

The Queens resident must agree on a time with his parents and siblings for them to head to an internet cafe in Cuenca, Ecuador. Since buying a phone there is too expensive, and sending one from New York means high fees and taxes, his family is left with no alternative.

Balboa hopes to help improve the state of these issues endemic to rural Ecuador — high costs, transnational shipping fees and lack of reliable internet access — when he heads to the polls Sunday.

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