No one will argue hard against preserving the Amazon. The region is acknowledged as comprising the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world. Yet deforestation and environmental damage are extensive, due to farming practices, livestock pasture clearing and settlements. Many efforts have been put into place to save the Amazon rainforest, but much remains […]

With a view to providing positive role models for children in the Islamic world, Naif Al Mutawa created the Teshkeel Media Group and THE 99, comic book heroes working together to improve the world. The idea behind these children’s adventures is to “tell universally relevant stories” that promote “diversity, multiculturalism, personal responsibility and personal accountability”, […]

Is there ever any good news from slums? Yes! In Rio’s famed favelas, law enforcement efforts are cleaning out the drug gangs, police officers occasionally take part in the outdoor activities of residents and children play in the streets in what used to be extremely dangerous neighborhoods. It’s been two and a half years since “police pacification units” […]

Learn about a paint that is self-cleaning — it simply doesn’t get dirty. It’s a biomimicry product, meaning its design is inspired by nature. In this case it is based on the phenomenon of water beading on a lotus leaf. The water turns into beads that slide down the leaf walls, which reduces the spread of algae, […]

Quite a bit has been written about this young lady in the past few weeks, but she’s definitely worth mentioning again, for her positive attitude. Samantha Kittle has a brain tumor and she has decided to tell the world about the experience in her blog, www.alieofthemind.com/As described in the Guardian on 26 April, “Moving, graphic, […]

Rachel Lloyd is most certainly an inspiration, as described by Nicholas D. Kristof in his International Herald Tribune article of 25 April entitled, “American girls on the streets.” Her book, Girls Like Us, is a first-hand account of her life as a teenage prostitute, the object of human traffickers and a victim of the sex trade. […]

Job Factory provides job training to unemployed teenagers and young people in Basel, Switzerland and helps them find work, giving them hope and a second chance. No matter why the youths are jobless, so they do not begin their career on welfare, Job Factory offers six-month internships to approximately 300 young adults each year, in such areas […]

According to Hagar International‘s website, this social business’s purpose is, “singular; we restore broken lives. We welcome the toughest of human conditions. We stay focused on the individual. And we do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to restore life in all its fullness.” Hagar International’s areas of impact are Afghanistan, Cambodia and […]

Wanda Landowska (1879-1959) was a Polish musician who restored the popularity of the harpsichord in the early 20th century. As a child in Poland, Wanda excelled at the piano, which she studied at the Warsaw Conservatory. She also studied composition in Berlin and later taught in Paris. In 1925 Wanda Landowska set up the École de Musique Ancienne […]

“Access to information, light and basic energy in a humanitarian crisis can be just as essential as food, water, medical supplies and shelter.” Thus starts Social Entrepreneur Kristine Pearson‘s blog post on the World Economic Forum’s Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship blog.  Kristine is Chief Executive of Lifeline Energy, whose mission is to improve “the […]