All People Making a Difference
- Standards for humanitarian aid to be unified, simplified
The Sphere Project, which produces a popular humanitarian handbook, is working with two other key international organizations on a new standard that will unify and simplify the maze of existing international aid guidelines.
- Difference MakerSri Lestari travels by motorcycle to bring an empowering message to disabled people
Traveling by modified motorcycle Sri Lestari rides around Indonesia giving disabled people new hope.
- Ghana's vulnerable till their own garden
A handful of disabled residents in Dazuuri, Ghana, have begun growing their own dry-season vegetable garden, adopting water-saving techniques to make it productive.
- How laundry detergent became a catalyst for green innovation
Adam Lowry, co-founder of Method, a company that has pioneered environmentally friendly cleaning products, tells how his small firm is nudging large corporations toward sustainability.
- Well-designed $20,000 houses for the poor? Rural Studio makes them
20K Houses, a visionary project of the architects at Rural Studio in Alabama, designs and builds innovative $20,000 houses.
- US artist, Syrian children beautify a refugee camp
A mural painting project at the Zaatari refugee camp gives a moment of color and self-expression to kids who have had their lives shattered by Syria's war.
- Pivot TV wants its audience to 'do something'
The new cable channel will offer entertainment that aims to amuse and to inspire social change. "TakePart Live," for example, is devoted to "decoding" the news, including online involvement by viewers.
- An 'explosion of human talent' will feed a growing world population
CNN host and bestselling author Fareed Zakaria says the world faces 'enormous challenges, but they are not going to be challenges of decay, but of growth and abundance.'
- In Uganda, better nutrition through school gardens
The Forum for Sustainable Agriculture in Africa found that some 59 percent of primary school students in Uganda went without food during the day. School gardens both feed students and prepare them for careers in agriculture.
- Difference MakerDallas Jessup made 'Just Yell Fire' to teach young women to defend themselves
Dallas Jessup was just a teenager when she made the video 'Just Yell Fire.' Today she's continuing that mission to help girls and young women stay safe.
- Indian villagers reap the rewards of restoring common land
The Foundation for Ecological Security works with 1.7 million rural Indians to manage their commons sustainably through democratic community institutions, boosting incomes from farming, herding, and forest activities.
- How (and why) Africa should solve its own problems
Africa cannot rely on outside people to come and feed our poor or treat our sick, says African businessman and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim. The key is good governance, in both the public and private sectors.
- Bringing home the blues, connecting kids to a proud heritage
The Alabama Blues Project takes blues music to schoolchildren who may not know that it’s part of their own history.
- Afghan women write powerful poetry – even amid war
The Afghan Women’s Writing Project collects oral stories from illiterate Afghan women and promotes political writing by women in digital, print, and radio forms.
- Difference MakerJean Paul Samputu practices forgiveness – even for his father's killer
Award-winning musician Jean Paul Samputu lost his family during the genocide in Rwanda. But he overcame rage and resentment by learning to forgive.
- Online course lets students give money away
The Giving With Purpose online course lets people give away money from the sister of billionaire Warren Buffett while learning strategies from him and others that they can use to make sure their own donations are effective.
- Obama, George H.W. Bush celebrate the 5,000th 'point of light'
Mr. Obama will ask federal agencies how they can make better use of volunteers. 'We are a people that serve,' he says while paying 'tribute to the extraordinary example set by President Bush.'
- In a Mexican border town, a friend in the fight against AIDS
Rosember López Samayoa helps those in Chiapas, Mexico, who bear a double stigma: migrants who also are LGBT.
- Operation Jersey Shore Vacation offers an oceanside respite to US military families
A tiny New Jersey charity provides a place for military families to vacation along with gift cards for groceries, free meals, and island outings.
- Reduce, reuse, recycle – and repair: New York's Pop-Up Repair shop
New York City’s Pop-Up Repair shop was an experiment aimed at learning how break the cycle of use-and-discard goods.