All Perspectives
How (and why) Africa should solve its own problemsAfrica 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 heritageThe Alabama Blues Project takes blues music to schoolchildren who may not know that it鈥檚 part of their own history.- Readers RespondReaders Write: New economy fuels green energy, entrepreneurship; Pray in secretLetters to the Editor for the July 22, 2013 weekly print issue:The destructive extractive economy is indeed changing, as is the expectation of what constitutes a truly satisfying standard of living.聽Bozeman, Mont. epitomizes a new economy with a respect for environmental conservation.In the debate of prayer in school, it's worth remembering that聽Jesus said to pray in private and silently, not publicly.
Afghan women write powerful poetry 鈥� even amid warThe Afghan Women鈥檚 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 鈥� even for his father's killerAward-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 awayThe 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 AIDSRosember L贸pez 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 familiesA 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 鈥� and repair: New York's Pop-Up Repair shopNew York City鈥檚 Pop-Up Repair shop was an experiment aimed at learning how break the cycle of use-and-discard goods.
Difference MakerColin Flahive opened a restaurant in China that's a beacon of enlightened managementCaring for his employees led him to undertake an ever-wider range of nonprofit and humanitarian efforts across the province.
Planting mangrove trees pays off for coastal communities in KenyaMembers of the Dabaso Creek Conservation Group have planted an estimated 10 million mangrove trees. The forests, in turn, have provided for the community, bringing in birders and other tourists and becoming a habitat for crabs and fish to harvest.
Cleaning up the global aquarium tradeAbout 30 million fish and other creatures are caught annually to supply the home aquarium market, taking a toll on some reef ecosystems. But conservationists are working to improve the industry by ending destructive practices and encouraging aquaculture.
New generation activists build bridgesA traditional organizing approach makes opponents into 'enemies,' but a new crop of union and other activists is using love and empathy to create alliances and new possibilities.- Readers RespondReaders Write: Teaching isn't one directional; Steve Jobs' misunderstood graduation speechLetters to the Editor for the July 8, 2013 weekly print edition:Articles on the transformation of higher learning too often mis-portray professors as performing static, scripted lectures. Rather, teaching is dynamic communication.Steve Jobs's 2005 message to Stanford graduates wasn't about the pursuit of selfish interest over service to mankind. Rather, using your unique gifts will naturally encompass service to the world.
Marga Fripp empowers women immigrants in the USHer group Empowered Women International gives a voice to the Washington D.C. area鈥檚 immigrant and refugee women, enabling them to pursue their dreams of becoming a part of their new community.
From the EditorsThe making of AmericansThe "melting pot" has been glorified, vilified, and dismissed as obsolete. But both census data and the stories of millions of individual immigrants indicate that the not-always-easy process of assimilation is alive and well.
Bank Andara, a bank for banks in Indonesia, grows micro businesses 鈥� and turns a profitBank Andara has partnered with 737 microfinance institutions in Indonesia, reaching nearly 1.2 million low-income clients with 鈥榦ne stop鈥� shopping for all their banking needs.
Solar kits bring clean light to Kenya's poorBuyers make payments securely from home using their mobile phones, which also can be kept charged with the solar kit.
How better-trained farmers slow Brazil's deforestationImazon helps farmers formalize their land titles and trains them in improved farming techniques, like rotating crops and limiting overgrazing, to make their land more productive and reduce the need to cut down more rainforest.
