Stories about 7 Billion Actions from October, 2011
East Timor: Investing in Creativity and Culture
Barcelona artist David Palazón ended up in East Timor as a break from his career. Now he is coordinating a project to research Timorese culture in hopes of creating a school for the creative industries, to stimulate jobs in the non-oil economy, small businesses, and tourism.
Egypt: A Class Project That Became One of Egypt's Biggest Charities
From a class discussion after a lecture at Cairo University, to the building one of the biggest charity and volunteer organizations in Egypt. Here's the story of how university professor Sherif Abdel-Azim helped create Resala.
United Kingdom: At Age 77, a Life of Inspiration
Julie Kertesz started blogging and photographing at the age of 70. Now at 77, she has become a role-model to people of all ages who desire to lead full and active lives of learning and doing. Paula Góes reports.
Mozambique: Uniting Small Farmers for a Better Tomorrow
Mr. Júlio dos Santos Pêssego is one of the principal leaders of the "peasant movement" in Niassa province in Mozambique. He helps organize community groups that work to defend land rights, increase food production and bring prosperity to farming families.
Armenia: Newfound Support for Domestic Violence Victims
Domestic violence has long been a taboo subject in Armenian circles. But when 20-year-old mother Zaruhi Petrosyan was brutally beaten to death by her husband and mother-in-law last October, the case mobilized individuals and organizations in confronting this issue which affects over a quarter of women in Armenia.
Malawi: A Growing City and its Pay-to-Cross Footbridges
Hand-made wooden bridges now connect two popular markets on each side of a river in Malawi's capital Lilongwe, providing a local solution to both joblessness and growing urbanization for the young men who build them.
Brazil: Creating Opportunities for Life After Jail
While serving time in jail, Ronaldo Monteiro kickstarted a project with fellow detainees and turned his life around. Years later, released on parole, Monteiro now coordinates an NGO that offers opportunities of social reintegration for young offenders, detainees and former detainees in Brazil.
Worldwide: Dialogue and Peace Through Sport
Joël Bouzou, a bronze medalist during the 1984 Olympic Games and World Champion of modern penthathlon in 1987, is the founder and president of Peace and Sport, an NGO created in 2007 whose motto is "Building sustainable peace through sport".
China: “Do you have memories from before you were kidnapped?”
A new crowd-funded documentary, Living with Dead Hearts, tells the story of the thousands of children in China who are victims of kidnapping. Through interviews with both parents and formerly kidnapped children, the filmmakers hope to give a human face to this serious problem.
