Today the Alexia Foundation announced the recipients of the 2014 Alexia Foundation Grants: Sebastián Liste for the professional grant and Mehran Hamrahi for the student grant.
Liste, who lives in Alicante, Spain, will receive the $20,000 professional grant for his project, “The New Culture of Violence in Latin America” which is an investigation of crime, punishment and security in Latin America. The Alexia Grant will allow Sebastián to produce the final coverage in his five year study of violence in the region by exploring the issue in Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, where communities have endured years of violence from drug wars, criminal gangs and the illegal trafficking of drugs, weapons and people. Sebastián’s work will raise awareness of the gravity of the current situation that impacts millions of citizens in the region and will impel political and media leaders to pay vital attention to this important issue.
Mehran Hamrahi of the Islamic Azad University of Ahvaz, Iran, receives the student grant for his project, “Iranian People, Ordinary or Criminals.” The work aims to portray the daily lives of Iranian youth who dream of living “a free life.” Iran is currently one of the youngest countries in the world, and Mehran’s project will give voice to this younger generation, which, deprived of basic human rights and social freedom, dreams of immigration and living in a free country abroad, Mehran writes in his proposal.
Learn about this year’s finalists including student grant second place winner Shahria Sharmin’s project “Call Me Heena,” which explores the different responses Bangladesh and India have to transgender identity, and Award of Excellence recipient Farzana Hossen’s project “Lingering Scars,” the story of women who are the victims of acid and kerosene burns in Bangladesh, on the Alexia Foundation website.