Sister Cyril's Compassionate Vision
As principal of Loreto School in Calcutta, Irish Catholic nun Sister Cyril has worked some real-world miracles. Her school serves 1500 female students, of which 721 are so poor that they need food, medicines, and even money to meet the rent. By bringing children together like this, she is showing a way for middle class schools to integrate the poor living around them into their educational mainst... posted on Aug 07 2011, 7,887 reads

The 'Before I Die' Project
Artist Candy Chang had an idea to turn an abandoned property in New Orleans into a sort of collective performance art piece in which all are invited to participate, simply by declaring what is important to them. Participants are invited to complete the sentence "Before I die I want to ..." Chang has provided chalk, a large-scale blackboard, and the necessary permits. A thought-provoking piece of p... posted on Aug 06 2011, 16,128 reads

Kind Kids
Every parent wants to raise a kind, helpful child. But how? A recent study in Germany suggests that it might be easier than we think. According to the study's authors, humans have a strong predisposition toward altruism, evident from the time they're toddlers. The researchers found that it was surprisingly simple to motivate young kids to act on their altruistic instincts. When toddlers were subtl... posted on Aug 04 2011, 13,107 reads

Sidewalks: The Way They See It
Every Tuesday volunteers serve more than 100 Chicago homeless people with food from fine dining restuarants -- all with dignity and grace. Here they are not faceless and referred to as "Guests," and sometimes even as "Artists:" for the last eight years, some of them have received inexpensive disposable cameras and have gone about the adventure of capturing their lives. This work culminates with a ... posted on Jul 31 2011, 3,576 reads

Lighting the Way in Slums
Plastic bottles jut from the roofs in a Manila slum neighborhood. But these bottles have an important purpose: they contain bleach and water and are placed snugly into a purpose-built hole in the roof. Designed by students at MIT, they reflect sunlight, spreading 360 degrees of 55-watt-light through the room beneath. Using the simplest of technologies, these bottles brighten dim and dreary shantie... posted on Jul 30 2011, 4,744 reads

Pick Up Artists Across America
When most people see a fast-food bag fluttering on the corner of the highway, they probably shake their heads and keep on driving. The Pick Up Artists aren't most people. These four young environmentalists are driving across America, conducting roadside cleanups and spreading the word about reducing waste. After just three months on the road, the Pick Up America project has already collected more ... posted on Jul 23 2011, 9,731 reads

Fostering Virtue
"How can we foster more virtue in our societies?" A question sparked for researcher Kentaro Toyama by a one-time interaction with a rickshaw driver in India. This reflective piece goes on to propose ideas for fostering virtue in three areas: Education, Measurement, and Mentoring. And of course, the question "How can I foster more virtue in myself?" comes up as well. There we're left with the intr... posted on Jul 18 2011, 12,900 reads

29 Lessons From Travelling the World
"Eight years. That's 416 weeks, or almost 3,000 days. This is the amount of time that I have not had a fixed home; moving to a new country, culture and language every few months and taking absolutely everything I own with me. In 2003, on the week of my 21st birthday, I left Ireland for good. I had graduated university a few days before, and knew that I'd only be coming back "home" for visits. But ... posted on Jul 17 2011, 62,749 reads

Sometimes It Just Takes a Penny
In this real-life kindness story, a man inspires generosity in a homeless woman after being approached by her for money. Having just heard good news in a friend's life, he offers to buy food for her and shares his inspiration with the homeless lady: "Something nice happened to my friend recently, after a lot of struggles. When you came in, I thought that I should keep that chain of goodness going ... posted on Jun 23 2011, 3,073 reads

A School for the Homeless In Las Vegas
Principal Sherrie Gahn knew she had a problem that a traditional public school could not fix. Inside Whitney Elementary School in East Las Vegas, nearly 85 percent of the children are homeless. That's 518 kids out of 610. "When I saw the children eating ketchup for lunch, and wanting to take it home," she says, "it just crushed me," says Gahn. So she came up with a plan involving the kids, their p... posted on Jun 18 2011, 6,303 reads