Sewing For Hope In The Favela
Maria Teresa Leal founded Coopa-Roca, a sewing cooperative located in Rocinha, the largest favela (slum) in Rio de Janeiro, in 1981. Leal has a college degree in social science and a license to teach elementary school. It is unusual for a middle-class or wealthy Brazilian to set foot in a favela. But when Leal visited the favela with her housekeeper, who lived there, she saw that many poor women i... posted on Aug 24 2007, 2,153 reads

Walking Across America
32 years ago Peter Jenkins began his first epic journey across the country. He started that trip as a disenchanted young man, so upset by war, politics, and the troubled state of race relations that he was ready to abandon America. An older friend urged him to give the country a closer look. So he began walking in October 1973, starting in Alfred, 300 miles northwest of Manhattan, accompanied by h... posted on Aug 23 2007, 2,359 reads

The Boy Who Built Windmills
William Kamkwamba left school at 14 as his family was unable to pay the school fees, but that didn't stop him from doing something remarkable. Armed only with his intelligence, a book on electricity, some plastic piping and found objects, Kamkwamba built his first windmill, which generated enough power to run a light in his room. His second windmill used a bicycle to increase efficiency; it was ab... posted on Aug 20 2007, 3,786 reads

Barrio De Paz: Peace Town
"Everything in society tells us to distrust others. I think it's the other way around. We need to profoundly trust in those around us, in their potential and in who they are," the grandmotherly Nelsa Curbelo Cora says. In 1999, she walked into the violence infested city of Guayaquil, Ecuador to BE peace. Through her grassroot work, today, Guayaquil's most dangerous gangs have disarmed, agreed to a... posted on Aug 19 2007, 2,048 reads

Harvard Professor Resolves Ethiopian Crisis
As the gray-haired man strode into the posh restaurant in Ethiopia, patrons stood up and applauded. Professor Ephraim Isaac, a retired Ethiopian Harvard scholar had just helped resolve his country's two-year political crisis using traditional Ethiopian problem-solving methods. Just weeks ago, 35 opposition members had been sentenced to life in prison, despite widespread pressure from human rights ... posted on Aug 15 2007, 1,756 reads

A Gardener's Gift
“A few casual remarks first brought the little city park to my attention. I’d meant to check it out, but now several weeks had passed and I still hadn’t made the trip over to San Francisco. The day I found it, after poring over a city map with a magnifying glass, the sky was overcast. My first glimpse into the park revealed a crowd of wooden sculptures integrated into the landscaping. Making... posted on Aug 10 2007, 2,493 reads

A Symphony Conductor Gives Back
Meet Luis Szaran, a famous musician and social entrepreneur who has dedicated himself to helping redeem the lives of poor and neglected children through music. As the son of a Paraguayan farmer, and one of eight children, Szaran rose from humble beginnings to become the conductor of Paraguay's national symphony. With a lifelong passion for music and with a desire to give back, Szaran set up the So... posted on Aug 08 2007, 3,297 reads

The Rose Man
In Lake Placid, Florida, the local superhero is an 85-year-old retiree known simply as "The Rose Man." The Rose Man -- a.k.a. Willard Campbell -- started using his petal power 20 years ago: "The idea hit me -- Well, if I've got excess roses, why don't I take 'em and give 'em to the patients in the hospital?" Today, he not only brings free, weekly roses to just about every business in town, he bri... posted on Aug 07 2007, 2,835 reads

Teaching From Outer Space
It's a lesson that’s been taught for generations: All good things are worth the wait. Now, that lesson - one of many - is about to be delivered from 140 miles above Earth. "I want to go on the space shuttle," wrote schoolteacher Barbara Morgan to NASA in 1985,"I want to get some stardust on me." At age 55, after 22 years of training and waiting, in the wake of two shuttle catastrophes, Morgan is... posted on Aug 05 2007, 1,290 reads

Leprosy And A Mother's Love
On her first night in India, Becky Douglas lay awake thinking about beggars. As she tossed and turned that night, Douglas prayed. "'I'm just a housewife. Tell me what I should do.' And the thought came to me: 'You can at least look at them. You can at least acknowledge that they're suffering.' And the next day I did." Six years later, Douglas is a veteran activist fighting to end leprosy in India.... posted on Aug 01 2007, 3,011 reads