"I can see again," shouted a newspaper headline describing Cuba's new "Operation Miracle." The brainchild of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban President Fidel Castro, this extraordinary humanitarian program has restored sight to 100,000 patients from poor villages of Central and South America. It offers free treatment while delivering successful eye operations. (Scotsman)
Havana’s Operation Miracle Helps the Blind See Again
This Bicycle Can Charge a Cellphone
Motorola Inc. will release a new, bicycle-powered cellphone charger aimed at Third World residents who lack regular household power supplies. (Canada.com)
Pastor Answers Prayer by Donating his Kidney
Harold Bricker’s rare O-positive blood type made an organ donation nearly impossible. Yet, when he finally released his anxiety about waiting with 60,000 other patients for a new kidney, and "turned it over to the Lord," he received what his prayers had not until then provided. Without even publicizing his plight, he was approached by a local pastor… (photo and story in The Record Herald)
4 Contest Winners from GNN!
We surged past the 1,000 mark for registered users and now announce our four winners. I welcome all who joined the network and urge you to use your features as members, leaving comments for the stories that move you — or disturb you… Congratulations to Christopher Powers of Minneapolis, Minnesota, who was our 1000th member! Also winners were Bob Dean of Biloxi, Mississippi, Rose Zealous of Los Angeles, California, and Sandy Sanderson of Canada. WooHoo!… (Read more for details)
Canada Court Says Child Can Have 2 Moms, 1 Dad
Interesting news to me, and, it seems, good news for a 5-year-old Canadian boy who will benefit from a judge’s ruling that says he can legally have two mothers and a father. (Reuters)
Guinea Pig Saves Choking Dog at Shelter
"Snowball, an albino Guinea pig at the Humane Society shelter of Harrisburg, is being called a hero in the rescue of a choking pit bull-mix puppy." In Harrisburg, PA, a “resident” guinea pig at the West Shore shelter of the Humane Society saved the life of a choking puppy by alerting staff members. They heard frantic squealing and shuffling from the cage of Snowball, an albino guinea pig that shared a hallway with Bianca, a deaf white pit bull mixed puppy. When staff arrived, they discovered that Bianca had tried to escape her crate by wedging her head through the door. When she became caught, she started choking and struggling to remain conscious.
Bianca was quickly released from the crate door and is now fine. “The dog got lots of hugs, gave us lots of kisses, and the hero enjoyed two carrots,” said Claudi Luci, an HSHA volunteer.
Sharpshooter Frees Trapped Eagle with One Shot
Biologists who gathered on the shore with binoculars could see the reason for the eagle hanging from a tree and over a cliff. Its talon was stuck in a knothole…. (AP)
Woman Nursing Abused Lions Back to Health
This AP story features a photo of a huge lion planting a big kiss onto the lips of a Columbian woman who rescued him from abuse and continues caring for him alongside a menagerie of other animals at her Villa Lorena shelter for injured and mistreated animals in Chile. (read the story)
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The True Angel of Africa
Sonia Waters has “a salutary lesson for anyone who has felt helpless in the face of extreme poverty and deprivation, who feels the problem is simply too big and any one individual too small to change anything…”
Sonia’s “kitchen table charity” has raised funds from family and friends to provide a poor village in Malawi with a primary school (equipped with books, pencils, and a daily meal for all pupils); a new kindergarten and playground; a village vegetable garden, a goat-keeping enterprise and a women’s co-operative. (UK Daily Express)
Alpha Achievers Celebrate Decade of Success for Young Black Men
Alpha Achievers are celebrating 10 years of encouraging academic excellence among ethnic minority male high school students in Howard County, Maryland. The program was started by the historically black fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, whose efforts have led to reductions in school drop out rates and teenage pregnancy among black youth…
The Baltimore Sun reports:
“It took some time to change the mindset that it wasn’t cool to do well in school,” said an assistant principal at Oakland Mills High School. “Now we have men of color striving to get into the Alpha Achievers.”
The school’s 100 Alpha Achievers are bonded by community service, a code of conduct, a consistent grade point average of 3.0 and above, taking honors, Advanced Placement and gifted-and-talented courses, and social events:
The group’s annual calendar — in which members pose in tuxedos — has become a tradition, with proceeds paying for college scholarships, field trips and operating costs. (Baltimore Sun)
US Congress Tackles Earmark Spending
Within hours of being sworn in, the new leadership in the US House of Representatives tackled one of the biggest ethics concerns in Congress, earmarks. The pet projects and tax breaks for favored corporations can no longer be snuck into spending bills without a congressman’s name attached. A good way to set higher standards in government. (MCT News Service)
NYC Subway Hero Pulls Youth Under the Train to Save Their Lives
A NYC man’s quick-thinking saved a teen and himself as he dove onto the tracks of an oncoming subway train to rescue the boy who’d fallen ill from the platform. Wesley Autrey became America’s most famous hero of 2007, a few days after the year began, by pulling himself and the boy into the center trough which gave them just enough clearance to avoid the train.
(WATCH the Video below…)
SHARE the inspiring hero story…
Dwindling White Congregation Gives Church to Blacks
A "dying" Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala, which had dwindled to about 40 elderly white people, decided to give their church and everything in it — including the cemetery and the 9-foot-Steinway concert grand piano — to a thriving predominantly black Baptist congregation started in 2003 that had no building to call its own. (Religion News Service) Thanks to SG for the suggestion! (John Malcomson sent another link with a photo of the two pastors! Alabama Baptist)
Firefighters Save Exhausted Horse From Mud Pit
"A frightened horse was comforted by firefighters in Oregon who administered oxygen and used portable lamps to warm the shivering animal as they fashioned a sling and used manpower to pull her from a mudhole." (story includes multiple photos and video: KOMO)
Zoo Animals Enjoy Feast of Christmas Trees
Leftover Christmas trees are fed to elephants, camels, deer, and sheep in a traditional New Year feast at Germany’s Dresden Zoo. This AP photo of a baby elephant eating its Christmas tree is sweet…
Worldwide Air Crashes in 2006 Lowest in 53 Years
Air travel is getting safer as the number of plane crashes worldwide fell to its lowest level in 53 years during 2006. Even while air travel increased by 4 percent over the previous year, 22 fewer commercial flights ended in disaster.
Octogenarian Chorus Rocks the House With Remakes of Classic Rock Tunes
Imagine an elderly choral group of singers aged 73-100.
Now imagine that group belting out songs by the Rolling Stones, The Clash or Talking Heads. Meet The American Young @ Heart Chorus.
It was started in 1982 by seniors in a home for the aged in Northampton, Massachusetts, and included elders who’d lived through both World Wars.
Performing live on stage, their version of Cold Play’s Fix You is extremely touching.
See all their videos at YouTube, and visit their website: The American Young @ Heart Chorus.
10 Tons of Fishing Gear Cleaned From Channel Islands Waters
Lost and abandoned underwater fishing gear can be dangerous to wildlife as well as people. Derelict nets in particular can entrap fish, sharks and marine mammals, but also divers. That’s why locals are cheering the new University of California at Davis program that scooped up nearly 10 tons of lost and abandoned fishing gear from the waters around the Channel Islands in their first year of operating. Scuba divers removed hundreds of commercial lobster traps, fishing rods, sport traps, and a huge tangle of fishing net covering 5,000 square feet of sea floor…
14-Year-Old Becomes Youngest to Sail Solo Across the Atlantic
“A British 14-year-old has arrived in Antigua to become the youngest person to sail the Atlantic single-handed” after departing Gibralter six weeks ago. (BBC) He’s raising money for charity with his voyage and so far has raised £1,000 for BBC Children In Need and £600 for Royal Yachting Association Sailability. Read entries from his journal at the Daily Mail (thanks to William Robertson for this link) and check out Mike’s Web site here. Congrats!
Scientists Find Way to Slash Cost of Drugs
Calling for ‘ethical pharmaceuticals,’ two professors have "devised a way to invent new medicines and get them to market at a fraction of the cost charged by big drug companies," enabling use in poor countries to cure infectious diseases and potentially slashing government expenditures on medicine. By altering the molecular structure of an existing, expensive drug they turn it technically into a new medicine, not under patent control, that can be made and sold cheaply. (Guardian)