The Brief

Arjun Malaviya is an overachiever and a planner. So, when he told his parents that he wanted to save up for a solo gap year to travel the world, they weren't all that surprised.

Now, at 19 years old, he's got five completely full passports and a slew of remarkable life experiences under his belt. Malaviya told NPR that he's the youngest solo traveler to visit 100 countries.

"I was 17 years and 228 days old when I reached my 100th country," he said, adding that he celebrated the milestone in Nadi, Fiji, by visiting the colorful Sri Siva Subramaniya, one of the largest Hindu temples in the Southern Hemisphere. Another superlative: Malaviya said, based on his research, he's also "the youngest person to visit every country in Oceania." (NPR has not independently verified these claims.)

Arjun Malaviya enjoying the milky way limestone mud bath in the rock islands of Palau.

(

Arjun Malaviya

/

Arjun Malaviya

)

The intrepid teen said he's hot on the heels of Lexie Alford, who holds the Guinness World Record for being the youngest person to visit every sovereign country in the world. By the age of 18, Alford had only visited about 70 nations.

Malaviya set out on his expedition on his 17th birthday in July 2023. Over 13 months, with occasional trips back home — Westlake Village in Southern California — he sojourned through some of the world's most populated cities and its most remote islands. He spent time in Bali's rice paddies, sipped tea with a Taliban guard in Afghanistan and bathed under the green skies of the aurora borealis in Norway.

All the while, Malaviya said he had one goal: to meet the locals and make a genuine connection. He preferred visiting small villages rather than glitzy locales, wanting to see how people truly live.

"The big thing that I took away is that people are more similar than different," he said.

Arjun Malaviya befriended a group of Taliban members in Kabul, Afghanistan. "Everyone treated me with so much kindness," he told NPR.

(

Arjun Malaviya

/

Arjun Malaviya

)

"Even if it's in Afghanistan and you're sitting down and talking to a religiously devout Muslim goat herder, you'll see that he still has a lot of the same desires and life that someone here might have; A better life for his kids, a consistent job and education for his kids and the ability to explore within his own country and just take vacations."

Building up confidence and life skills, from Seoul to Kabul

Malaviya launched his grand tour in Seoul, South Korea: From all he'd read, the country would be a safe and tourist-friendly launching pad with outstanding public transportation systems. He moved on to other Asian countries including Japan, Myanmar and India.

His lodgings included a mix of Airbnbs, hostels, hotels and family friends' homes. He traveled light, outfitted with an iPhone, a small gym bag and a standard-sized backpack. And though Malaviya is fluent in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and has studied Japanese, Malaviya said Google Translate proved to be one of his most valuable tools. Using the app on his phone, he said he was able to engage in deep conversations with strangers. It especially came in handy in places like Afghanistan, Venezuela and Syria, where people opened up to him about what everyday life looked like under authoritarian regimes.

He said they impressed upon him the idea that, while news coverage may dwell on the economic and humanitarian hardships of a place, there is still a lot of beauty and cultural richness that can be taken in by visitors if they give it a chance.

"As a tourist when you go to a lot of these places you don't feel all of the negatives that the government imposes on the people who live there," he said. " So, just because we say that a government is bad, that doesn't need to dissuade you from visiting that country as a tourist."

In Damascus, Syria, which was still under Bashar al-Assad's dictatorship when Malaviya visited, he said he met with an impassioned bed-and-breakfast owner who spoke openly about his wish for Assad to be overthrown so more people like him could take in the wonders of his country.

Other highlights included a free Madonna concert on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, where Malaviya said he happily lost himself amid the enormous crowd of fans who showed up. On the Korean peninsula, he fulfilled "a lifelong dream" of visiting the DMZ, the demilitarized zone that separates South Korea from North Korea. He also got to bathe in the milky mud baths in Palau, an island in Micronesia.

Arjun Malaviya visited several of the most popular sights during his stop in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, including Christ the Redeemer.

(

Arjun Malaviya

/

Arjun Malaviya

)

The islands of Oceania as whole, Malaviya said, contained some of the most breathtaking and pristine landscapes he's ever seen. However, he said his trip to the island nation of Nauru — the third-smallest country in the world and one of the least-visited countries on Earth – was slightly depressing. "It was sad for me to see how much the country is struggling," he said, referring to the small republic's reliance on foreign aid to sustain its economy.

Arjun Malaviya travelled to Odessa, Ukraine in November 2023. He told NPR the city was attacked by Russian bombs shortly after arriving, forcing him to run to in a nearby bomb shelter.

(

Arjun Malaviya

/

Arjun Malaviya

)

The most harrowing stop came in November 2023 as the war between Ukraine and Russia raged.

"I was in Moldova and someone told me Odessa was just four hours away. I thought that would make a great day trip since, from what I'd read, most of the fighting was taking place in Kyiv and Lviv. But I get there and we start getting bombarded with [Russian] bombs," he said.

He scrambled to find cover in a nearby bomb shelter before fleeing back to Moldova, but not before taking a selfie.

The final region he toured was the Middle East, including Iraq and Iran, "which I actually loved," he said. Malaviya explained he'd waited to visit this part of the world "because I felt like it was a build up where I had to use all my skills that I had gained in the first 10 months of travel."

Arjun Malaviya pictured with an Iraqi guard. Iraq was one of the last countries visited by Malaviya during his 13-month long odyssey.

(

Arjun Malaviya

/

Arjun Malaviya

)

The opposite of helicopter parenting

So how does a teenager persuade his parents to embark on such a daunting adventure? Research — lots and lots of research, Malaviya's mother, Anita Venkataraman, told NPR.

Arjun Malaviya told NPR he was blown away by the beauty of the Bolivia's salt flats. "The moisture on the surface of the salt flats causes a beautiful reflection to show," he explained.

(

Arjun Malaviya

/

Arjun Malaviya

)

"When he started speaking to us about what he planned to do and how we planned to execute it, it became quite clear that he had put more thought into it than the casual tidbits we had heard from him," Venkataraman recalled.

The pitch was straightforward: He'd start off in easily navigated counties where communication home would be most reliable. He'd check in every two days. He wouldn't stay out past 10 p.m. if he could help it. And he'd finance the entire trip on his own.

Malaviya was just 15 years old when he initially proposed the idea in 2022. And despite some trepidation, both of his parents agreed to the odyssey within a couple of weeks. It took him two years of working a series of odd jobs — tennis lessons, a minimum-wage administrative assistant job and working at his parents' software company — to raise the funds to set off on his journey, he said.

"That was one of the things I made clear to my parents. That I wanted to pay for the entire thing on my own. I didn't want to ask them for any money," he said. (All in all, Malaviya said he spent $22,500 on the entire voyage.)

Venkataraman said the isolation of the COVID pandemic is what really ignited her son's wanderlust. In her view, Malaviya has always been an intuitively curious and independent person who craved social interaction. Being cooped up for much of his adolescence was frustrating for him, she said. But he took advantage of the situation, graduating a year early from high school in 2023 and getting a two-year head start on university by completing all of his general education coursework at a local community college.

Arjun Malaviya, pictured inside of Saddam Hussein's Babylon Palace in Iraq.

(

Arjun Malaviya

/

Arjun Malaviya

)

"I think as parents, a lot of times we don't want our kids to even fail. We just want them to be successful," she said. "But I do think there's a lot that kids learn from failing at things. Doing things, taking a chance and then failing, but then picking themselves up and going for it."

Venkataraman described her son as responsible and knowledgeable about the various visa and documentation requirements for different countries. That's why it was easy for her to be his "cheerleader, offering "support with a little bit of caution."

That support did not waiver, even when Malaviya called to notify his parents that he'd been "sort of kidnapped" in Myanmar. A stranger had offered to show the boy around the town and offered him a home-cooked meal, but then refused to let him leave his house until Malaviya forked over $100.

"It was scary of course," his mother said, but she and Malaviya put the incident in a more comprehensive context. "I understand that there are people with so little, that they resort to things that perhaps if they had some, they wouldn't, normally resort to," she said. Plus, she added, the experience made Malaviya even more careful and aware of his surroundings.

Arjun Malaviya on a boat ride with local children in Papua New Guinea.

(

Arjun Malaviya

/

Arjun Malaviya

)

Encouraging other young people to take up travel

Malaviya is currently a junior at University of California in Santa Barbara, studying engineering. Although he's not traveling at the moment, he's still committed to meeting people from backgrounds different from his own — on and off campus. And he's planning future trips to squeeze in during vacations. He's now up to 118 countries.

He hopes to be an inspiration to other curious young people who may be apprehensive or fearful about being on their own in a new place where they may not speak the language. Malaviya has a mantra for that: "Get comfortable with being uncomfortable."
Copyright 2025 NPR

The unions representing Los Angeles Unified teachers and support staff have given the district until April 14 to reach a deal amid stalled contract negotiations over pay and benefits. A strike could still be averted if the unions reach a deal with the district before the unions' "red line."

The strike was announced at a rally Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles. A union spokesperson confirmed to LAist that a strike would be open-ended.

Earlier this year, members of United Teachers Los Angeles and SEIU Local 99 voted overwhelmingly to give their leaders the power to call a strike. Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, which represents principals, is also negotiating with the district.

What happens now?

A strike would almost certainly shutter schools for about 400,000 students, as was the case during a three-day work stoppage in 2023. The unions are seeking increases in pay for their members. The district has said it cannot afford what the unions have proposed.

The unions are still working their way through the bargaining process, but have said the district's offers do not meet their demands. UTLA appealed to LAUSD’s board ahead of a committee meeting Tuesday.

“We can settle this contract before we have to go on strike if you all are active in that process,” Julie Van Winkle, UTLA's vice president said. “But if that doesn’t happen then we’re still ready to go because we need to be able to afford to live in our cities and we need our schools to have basic resources.”

Los Angeles Unified has maintained that it values employees, but needs to make tough financial decisions to reduce an ongoing budget deficit. This month, layoff notices were sent to more than 650 LAUSD employees, including hundreds of support staff.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

For 15 years, The Garage Board Shop in East L.A. has been a safe, welcoming place for students to go to do their homework, get tutoring, hang out with their friends and learn how to skate through its Skate 4 Education after-school program. 

But the program was put on pause Saturday after mounting issues, including a lapse from the initiative that has provided paid mentors and dwindling sales at the shop caused by immigration raids. Skate 4 Education founder Maria Patricia Ramblaz said she’s now looking for new funding sources to bring the after-school program back, but its future remains in limbo.

“Our best option to ensure the program continues for future generations is a momentary pause to not only find funding but also regroup as a team to see how we will work moving forward,” wrote Ramblaz, who runs The Garage Board Shop as well as The Urban Warehouse nonprofit organization, in a letter sent to partners, sponsors and community members Friday.

The abrupt closure of the program has left parents saddened and worried their children’s grades and personal development will also be affected.

Ramblaz, known by students as Ms. Patty, told Boyle Heights Beat that when she announced the news last week, the kids sprang into action to brainstorm ways to save the program. 

They planned to spread the word about the program by making TikTok videos and handing out flyers to their friends and teachers at school. One girl handed Ramblaz two folded dollar bills she had in her pocket that day, a gesture that Ramblaz said filled her heart with joy and sadness. 

“These kids should be the next governor, the next mayor, but because we’re cutting the education, I don’t think it’s gonna give us a chance to open more bridges for the kids,” Ramblaz said. 

A place for students to thrive 

When Rose Duran, 10, went home after learning the program would shut down, she surprised her parents with her idea to bring it back. 

“I don’t want a quinceañera anymore,” she told her mother, Itzel Tlapalco, asking to donate the money that her family has been saving for her huge, coming-of-age celebration for years. “I want to help Miss Patty.” 

Rose has been attending the Skate 4 Education after-school program since she was 7 years old, following in the footsteps of her older brother, who got involved after walking into the store to buy a skateboard with his parents over three years ago, Tlapalco said. 

Maria Patricia Ramblaz talks to Itzel Tlapalco and Guillermo Duran about the Skate 4 Education program being put on pause inside The Garage Board Shop on Thursday, March 12.

(

Laura Anaya-Morga

/

Boyle Heights Beat

)

Tlapalco and Guillermo Duran said their son was struggling in math at the time, and soon after starting, they saw significant improvement in his grades thanks to the tutoring and attentiveness of the mentors at the program. 

“It helped him a lot; he developed significantly at school, and he came here to learn even more,” Duran said in Spanish. They saw the same improvement when their daughter began participating, too. 

Tlapalco said she has tried to understand her daughter’s homework, but she can’t help as well as the mentors at The Garage Board Shop do. She’s now worried her grades will take a hit. 

Bernardo Lopez has been bringing his two daughters, Eliana and Emily, to the after-school program for over a year and said the girls offered to donate their birthday money to save it. They have also been spreading the word to their friends at school, Lopez said. 

The program has been a great way for his daughters to socialize with other children and stay off of their phones and tablets, he added. “That’s really important because they don’t have that anymore,” he said. 
”I feel like kids don’t have that anymore.” 

A plan to keep it going

The program began 15 years ago, when Ramblaz set out to create the type of education program that she needed when she was a young student growing up in Boyle Heights. 

Maria Patricia Ramblaz stands in the classroom located at the back of The Garage Skate Shop on Thursday, March 12.

(

Laura Anaya-Morga

/

Boyle Heights Beat

)

Over the years, with the help of grants from the county and organizations including L.A. Care, LA2050, Nike and Southern California Edison, Ramblaz was able to create a multifaceted program with paid mentors via America’s Job Center of California, offering students homework help and working with them on projects and activities. Through getting good grades and completing their assignments, students were rewarded with skate supplies at the shop, giving them a place where they could not only stay on track in school, but also spend time with friends and lean into their skating hobby. 

Ramblaz said that this school year, AJCC was only able to provide paid mentors through December, with a new cohort set to start in July. Normally, she’d cover the gap out-of-pocket, but over the last year, her business has faced rising costs and the lasting effects of immigration raids. 

Last June, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids hit her business hard. She went from making $400 a day on average to suddenly only making one or two sales per day in the weeks following the raids. Now, sales have steadily gone up, but it’s still not like before. Ramblaz said she’s had to take money out of her retirement fund to cover rent and bills at the shop.  

The raids also caused some families to stop bringing their kids to the after-school program out of fear. Attendance went from 12 to 15 students a day to 3 to 5. Parents pay a $50 donation per month to keep their children enrolled, so the drop in attendance has also caused the program to take a financial hit.

Her only option, she said, is to put the program on pause to continue seeking out other avenues for funding.

Ramblaz said she needs about $50,000 to guarantee that the program survives for the rest of the year. That money would cover mentors’ salaries and pay for school supplies, projects, activities and snacks for the students.

Ramblaz said she has submitted over 30 grant applications in the past few months. Some remain under review, and others have been denied. 

“It’s really depressing,” Ramblaz said. “This is my dream. This is my mission.”

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Labor rights icon César Chávez is accused of sexually assaulting fellow farmworker leader Dolores Huerta in the 1960s, according to a New York Times investigation released Wednesday. Chávez is also accused of sexually assaulting two underage girls in the 1970s, the report said.

Huerta, 95, said she was reluctant to share her story because of Chávez’s status and “for the last 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for,” she said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Just one day prior, the United Farm Workers union says it would not participate in any César Chávez Day activities March 31 after it learned of “troubling” allegations against Chávez, who co-founded the labor organization in 1962.

Huerta helped organize a labor strike in 1965 with organizers, including Chávez. She told the New York Times that Chávez raped her in 1966.

On Wednesday, she confirmed the reporting and reflected on her years of silence in a detailed statement.

Read the full statement in her own words:

“I am nearly 96 years old and for the last 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.

“I have encouraged people to always use their voice. Following the New York Times’ multi-year investigation into sexual misconduct by César Chávez, I can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences.

“As a young mother in the 1960s, I experienced two separate sexual encounters with César. The first time, I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to. The second time, I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.

“I had experienced abuse and sexual violence before, and I convinced myself these were incidents that I had to endure alone and in secret. Both sexual encounters with César led to pregnancies. I chose to keep my pregnancies secret, and after the children were born, I arranged for them to be raised by other families that could give them stable lives.

“Over the years, I have been fortunate to develop a deep relationship with these children, who are now close to my other children, their siblings. But even then, no one knew the full truth about how they were conceived until just a few weeks ago.

“I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work. The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights, and I wasn’t going to let César or anyone else get in the way. I channeled everything I had into advocating on behalf of millions of farmworkers and others who were suffering and deserved equal rights.

“I have never identified myself as a victim, but I now understand that I am a survivor — of violence, of sexual abuse, of domineering men who saw me, and other women, as property or things to control.

“I am telling my story because the New York Times has indicated that I was not the only one — there were others. Women are coming forward, sharing that they were sexually abused and assaulted by César when they were girls and teenagers.

“The knowledge that he hurt young girls sickens me. My heart aches for everyone who suffered alone and in silence for years. There are no words strong enough to condemn those deplorable actions that he did. César’s actions do not reflect the values of our community and our movement.

“The farmworker movement has always been bigger and far more important than any one individual. César's actions do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people. We must continue to engage and support our community, which needs advocacy and activism now more than ever.

“I will continue my commitments to workers, as well as my commitment to women’s rights, to make sure we have a voice and that our communities are treated with dignity and given the equity that they have so long been denied.

“I have kept this secret long enough. My silence ends here.”

While César Chávez became a labor icon because of his work to elevate farmworkers and improve labor conditions in California, he had a complicated legacy that included infidelity and backlash over his views on undocumented immigrants.

But now, that’s gotten worse.

A new investigation out Wednesday from the New York Times, with more than 60 interviews, has brought to light multiple allegations that Chávez used his powerful role to sexually abuse young women, including the co-founder of the United Farm Workers union, Dolores Huerta, and underage girls for years.

Before this bombshell dropped, many still regarded him as a hero who played a pivotal role in building Latino political power. In Los Angeles, we have streets named after him. Schools. Even a public holiday at the end of this month.

The revelation will have wide ramifications nationally, but in Southern California, his local legacy will need to be reckoned with over the coming weeks and months.

LA’s outsized role

 Fernando Guerra, professor of Chicana/Chicano studies at Loyola Marymount University, said the news came as a gut punch.

“It feels personal because of how much you incorporated what he stood for,” he told LAist. “ It speaks to the frailty of humans that even when they present themselves publicly in one way, how different they are privately.”

Chávez’s journey began with L.A. and political organizing at the Community Service Organization, or CSO. His job was to get low-income Latinos out to vote, which led to a national director role based in L.A. During this time, Chávez lived in Boyle Heights with his wife and kids.

He was also one of the catalysts for the Chicano movement in L.A., such as the East L.A. Walkouts and the Chicano moratorium marches.

“ It truly helped create a moment in Los Angeles where Latinos, Chicanos specifically and Mexican Americans, began to recognize that they could seek and mobilize for their rights.” Guerra said.

And when he left to organize farmworkers in the Central Valley, that led to the creation of the United Farm Workers union, which he co-founded with Huerta. The organization eventually bought him a house south of Koreatown to serve as a homebase for him to stay at and organize while in town.

His footprint here was undeniable, and many wanted this towering figure to be celebrated. So, we put his name on a lot of things, such as libraries, schools, university departments, parks and streets across L.A. County and beyond. And his likeness can be found here too — in murals, exhibits and statues.

Cesar Chavez Campesino Park in Santa Ana, CA.

(

Destiny Torres

/

LAist

)

A mural inside the Cesar Chavez building at Santa Ana College.

(

Destiny Torres

/

LAist

)

That will probably change soon, as local leaders already are calling for renaming. Some ideas being floated are to change the public holiday to Farmworker Day and the street to Dolores Huerta Avenue. Guerra said that’s the right move.

“ While César Chávez’s name and his legacy will be tainted forever, it does not negate the farmworker movement,” he said. “It does not negate the blood, sweat and tears of thousands of people … and the impact that it had on California.”

The community and family react

During AirTalk on LAist 89.3, listeners called and wrote in to share their perspective on the allegations, echoing what Guerra said.

 Jorge in Long Beach said that while the news is unfortunate, it’s an opportunity to honor the farmworker labor movement itself and to uplift other labor leaders, including the legacies of Dolores Huerta and Larry Itliong.

“I do not think the Filipino community receives enough credit for being at the forefront of the farmworker labor movement,” he wrote. “Chávez, or anyone else, must never, ever again be considered bigger than the movement or overshadow  others who served.”

Monica in Hawthorne said she’s a Mexican American who spent a lot of time learning about Chávez’s role in her community when she was in grade school. She was in tears hearing Huerta’s statement, which covered how Chávez raped her.

“I did projects on him every chance I could,” she wrote. “This is heartbreaking. My heart goes out to her, her family and all survivors.”

LAist reached out to the Chávez family for comment on the allegations. In a statement, they shared how they’re devastated and that the news is deeply painful for the family.

“We wish peace and healing to the survivors and commend their courage to come forward. As a family steeped in the values of equity and justice, we honor the voices of those who feel unheard and who report sexual abuse,” the statement read. “We carry our own memories of the person we knew. Someone whose life included work and contributions that matter deeply to many people.”

The family said it remains committed to farmworkers and the causes Chávez championed. They’re asking for understanding and privacy as they process this “difficult” information.