All People Making a Difference
In Kenya, solar lights are a homework helperSolar panels installed at schools in remote areas off the electric grid allow students to stay past dark and hit the books.
A different way to enjoy the World Cup: stay in a slumTravelers arriving in Rio de Janeiro for soccer's World Cup (June 12-July 13) can rent a room or apartment in the city's safe and vibrant favela (slum) communities.
New ways to make dirty water cleanTraditional desalination has meant turning seawater into drinking water. But new technologies not only improve desalination but open up ways to use agricultural water and industrial effluent too.
Difference MakerAmy Laura Cahn helps gardens blossom from weed-choked lots in PhiladelphiaShe advises residents on how to obtain title to a vacant property and defends grass-roots garden projects threatened by development.
These rock climbers prove a disability doesn鈥檛 define themThe Adaptive Climbing Group, rock climbers with physical or other issues, visits the Brooklyn Boulders gym in New York to train and overcome limitations.
Pakistan's 'Burka Avenger' uses books, pens to right wrongsA children's cartoon TV series, in which a female superhero dons a burka to fight injustice, has won a prestigious Peabody Award.
Difference MakerUrsula Cats puts the concept 'educate one, empower thousands' to workThe We Women Foundation provides women in Myanmar (formerly Burma) with access to higher education. The goal: become leaders in their communities.
Globetops gives old laptops a new home 鈥� and a new purposeBecky Morrison founded Globetops to send donated laptops to worthwhile applicants throughout the world. The computers change lives 鈥� and reduce the E-waste in landfills.
Elderly find a haven from abuse 鈥� and a sense of belongingA shelter in New York takes in the elderly who've experienced financial, psychological, or physical harm and provides medical care, counseling, and legal assistance.
When Hezekiah Eibert put down roots he found a passion for helping othersThe oldest son in a military family, he had bounced around the globe. But he found a home 鈥� and a desire to serve others 鈥� in a college town in Indiana.
Girls Inc. helps girls 'be all that you can be'The nonprofit group Girls Inc. is celebrating 150 years of helping young women reach their goals.
Difference MakerMallika Dutt found help in her work to end violence against women. She recruited men.Breakthrough, the human rights organization she created, calls on people, particularly boys and men, to stop domestic violence wherever they see it.
3-D printed buildings emerge from recycled trashA Chinese company has built 10 structures in 24 hours using 3-D printing, concrete, and repurposed industrial construction waste.
How focusing on profit can help the poorWater technology company Xylem makes a profit on its foot-operated irrigation pumps for poor farmers. But those profits allow it to stay around to service its products and develop new ones.
The Gardeneers: Two Chicago teachers on a missionMay Tsupros and Adam Zmick provide expertise, creative lesson聽plans, and help throughout the growing season to keep school gardens thrive as learning opportunities.
From deployed to employed: Nick Swaggert guides vets to civilian jobsGenesis10, a consulting firm, acts as a 'translator' between veterans and corporations, showing how military experience is great training for a wide variety of positions.
Brown at 60: a civil rights landmarkThe Supreme Court's 1954 ruling Brown v. Board of Education overturned the idea of 'separate but equal' and became 'the opening salvo' of the civil rights movement, says African-American legal scholar Sherrilyn Ifill.
Difference MakerThomas H. Culhane teaches people to build fuel sources 鈥� powered by garbageHomemade biodigesters turn human and food waste into biogas, which can be used to heat water, cook food, or produce electricity.
Rani Hong was a victim of child trafficking. Now she鈥檚 a leader in the fight to end it.Kidnapped from India to Canada, she was beaten, starved, and caged until a kind foster mother saved her. Now she's a UN special adviser on human rights.
This fifth-grader raised $200,000 to clean up the Gulf oil spillThree young activists have found creative ways to tackle issues from climate change to voting rights.