Occupation: Farmer
Date of Birth: 1968

Religion: Muslim
Income: < 75¢/day

Dadah is a mother of three from Sarimukti, a Sundanese village in the highlands of West Java. She and her husband are farm workers on a state-owned plantation that dates back to Dutch colonial days. They are practicing Muslims and active members of the Pasundan Farmers’ Union, which lobbies for both land re-distribution among farmers and children's education. She was 32 years old during her Global Lives Project shoot in 2008. View Flickr Album

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Occupation: Student
Date of Birth: 2000

Religion: Muslim
Income: $2-3/day

Born from a Lebanese mother and a Palestinian father, Jamila Jad inherited the nationality of her father. She is one of 400,000 officially registered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Jamila was born and raised in Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, where she attends public school and dreams of becoming a doctor. The oldest of four children, Jamila shoulders many responsibilities at home. Her father has been fighting Hepatitis C, and her mother works a cleaning job to keep the family afloat. At the time of her Global Lives Project shoot in 2009, Jamila was nine years old.

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Occupation: Beekeeper
Date of Birth: 1952

Religion: Orthodox Agnostic
Income: $2-3/day

Dušan Lazić turned to beekeeping in 2004 after having difficulty finding work as an engineer. He lives in Vojka, Serbia. Born in 1942, he has experienced firsthand many of the tumultuous events that have shaped modern East European history, including the rise and fall of communism, the Yugoslav wars, and Serbian independence. In the evenings, Dušan sings and plays percussion with his friends in a pop-rock cover band called Time Machine. Contextual Essay View Flickr Album

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Occupation: Student
Date of Birth: 2004

Religion: Christian
Income: 75¢-$1/day

Zhanna Dosmailova has grown up in an orphanage, though she is not an orphan herself. Her mother is the orphanage's director, and her father is its driver and maintenance manager. They live in Vannovka, in Southern Kazakhstan, near the Tien Shan mountains. Five-year-old Zhanna and her two older brothers often play Wii and other games with the orphans, many of whom are Russian. She begins school in 2010.

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Occupation: Convenience store manager
Date of Birth: 1973

Religion: Non-religious
Income: $7.5-13/day

Kai Liu grew up in a small village in rural Sichuan, China. After marrying Delian, they migrated to Anren— a “national key town,” 25 miles from the city of Chengdu—where they found work and lodging managing a convenience store. They have one daughter, and much of their resources are devoted to providing for her education. Kai works a second job as a purchasing officer at Anren middle school where he manages the procurement of food for the school's 2600 students. He was 37 years old during his 2008 Global Lives Project shoot. This video was produced by Ya-Hsuan Huang, Yi Han, Nobuhiro Awata, Irene Herrera, Bastien Robilliard, Hiroko Sumikura, Fang Liang, David Evan Harris, Chieko Kato, Major Tian, and Christina Liu. View Flickr Album

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Occupation: College student and future systems engineer
Date of Birth: 1982

Religion: Buddhist
Income: $13-30/day

Rumi Nagashima was born in 1984 in Higashi-Koganei, a suburb of Tokyo, Japan. At the time of the Global Lives Project shoot, she was about to graduate from Atomi University with a degree in Management Studies, and had a job lined-up with Fujitsu as a systems engineer. Due to an accident in 2005, she lost the use of her right leg. Although Rumi can walk, she still uses a wheelchair to travel long distances. She has served as a Girl Scout mentor and has also lobbied towards the development of barrier-free cities that increase accessibility for the physically challenged.

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Occupation: Tour guide and postcard salesman
Date of Birth: 1991

Religion: Hindu
Income: $1.50-2/day

Despite leaving school at age twelve due to financial constraints, Muttu Kumar speaks Hindi, Kannada, English, and a fair bit of French. These skills are central to his work as a tour guide and postcard salesman in Hampi, India — where the architectural achievements of the Vijaynagar Empire have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Muttu was 18 years old at the time of his Global Lives Project shoot. He works to support himself and his family, who live in a village two miles from the town. View Flickr Album

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Occupation: Student
Date of Birth: 1994

Religion: Christian
Income: < 75¢/day

Edith Kaphuka was a 13-year-old student at Domasi Mission Primary School in Zomba District, Malawi during her Global Lives Project shoot in 2007. The oldest of four girls, Edith has many responsibilities at her home in Ngwale Village, such as fetching water, cleaning the dishes, and gardening. Her little sister, Memory, is her best friend; when the two are together, they are nearly inseparable. While Edith and her family are Yao, they more readily speak Chichewa, Malawi's national language. Produced by Jason J. Price and Ya-Hsuan Huang View Flickr Album

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Occupation: City Permit Inspector
Date of Birth: 1982

Religion: Non-religious
Income: $7.5-13/day

Israel, better known by his nickname “Rael” in Portuguese, was born and raised in the city of São Paulo. He is a musician and leads a hip hop group called “Pentagono” based in the southern periphery of the city. At eight years old, Rael was already a fan of break dance. He would dance with his brother in the city center and at school talent shows. His father is also a musician and influenced Rael’s tastes strongly, although he continues to believe that hip hop is not actually music. He prefers traditional Brazilian “Forro” and “Sertaneja” music, two styles popular in the far off Brazilian northeast, where he was born. Since the beginning of 2006, Rael has been working as a City Permit Inspector, working to prevent illegal street commerce in public right-of-ways. Rael also enjoys playing soccer with friends and going out with his girlfriend. View Flickr Album

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Occupation: Cable Car Operator
Date of Birth: 1943

Religion: Non-religious
Income: > $30/day

James Bullock was born in North Carolina, but grew up in Virginia. Both his parents were factory workers. James moved to San Diego in 1968 to serve as a medic in the Marine Corps. He then shifted to San Francisco in 1971, where he married his wife Nina, a construction forewoman. James has worked in public transportation for more than 30 years, and for more than 25 years as a cable car gripman. Videotaped in 2004, he was the first Global Lives subject. About the Crew  

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