All News - Page 634 of 1725 - Good News Network
Home Blog Page 634

Eye Drops Shown to Temporarily Reverse Far-Sightedness in Adults Could Replace Reading Glasses

By
Good News Network
-
By Lars Andreas, CC license

Reading glasses could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a new eye drop solution that can help treat far-sightedness.

Earlier this month, Israeli-based Orasis Pharmaceuticals announced that its CSF-1 corrective eye drop successfully met the primary endpoint in a Phase 2b clinical study in temporarily reversing presbyopia, a very common condition that gradually causes far-sightedness in older adults.

According to the company, CSF-1 successfully demonstrated statistically significant improvement in distance-correction. Not only that, the drops also demonstrated an exceptional safety and tolerability profile.

“The successful completion of the Phase 2b study is a significant milestone for Orasis. We are encouraged by these results and CSF-1’s potential to improve the quality of life for people with presbyopia,” said Orasis CEO Elad Kedar. “CSF-1 can potentially alleviate the burden of reading glasses and offer a meaningful solution for billions of people living with age-related farsightedness worldwide.”

RELATED: Wrinkles May Soon Be a Thing of the Past Thanks to New Skin Cell Discovery

The Phase 2b study was a multi-center, double-masked clinical trial that evaluated the efficacy and safety of the drops in 166 participants across several research centers in the US. The study was conducted on 166 individuals across a number of US medical facilities.

Kedar told Forbes that the drops, which are made out of chemicals that are already found in common eye medications, were shown to immediately reverse farsightedness for a number of hours.

“We now have all relevant preparations in order to start phase 3 as soon as possible,” explained Kedar. “Results have been consistent. We are really excited about the next steps and working to get the full product on the market as soon as possible.”

Help Your Friends See This Good News By Sharing It To Social Media – File photo by Lars Andreas, CC

25 Years After Woman Gave Favorite Childhood Book to Charity, She is Reunited With It in a Museum

By
Good News Network
-
SWNS

It has been 25 years since Zoe Andrews gave away her favorite childhood book to charity—so imagine her surprise when she recently found the very same copy in a museum shop.

Even though Zoe and her sister Hannah loved Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “The Secret Garden” as children, they eventually outgrew the classic novel and gave it to an Oxfam charity shop, leaving Hannah’s name in “hieroglyphics” on the front cover.

The book was then forgotten for about a quarter of a century until Zoe saw a copy of it in the second-hand store at the The Museum of English Rural Life in Reading, England.

Upon picking up and opening the book, Zoe recognized her childhood doodles within the pages and realized it was her own long-lost copy.

MORE: Simple Mistake in the Kitchen Turns into Sweet Success for a Homeless Veteran

The museum had purchased the family’s copy of the book in order to re-sell it, which Zoe promptly bought back for 50 pence.

“I thought ‘oh wow, I had this book,’” recalls Zoe. “As I held it, I just felt like it was my old copy. It’s hard to explain—and probably sounds a bit naff—but it just did.

“I was on my own but I said to myself ‘if this is my copy, it will have some writing on the inside.’ I was thinking this as I turned the page to see my old handwriting, Hannah’s name, and a bunch of symbols which I recognized as being from my hieroglyphic obsession.

SWNS

“I stood there dumbfounded. I texted my mother immediately. I thought ‘well, I have to buy it—it’s meant to be.’

“It’s a very bizarre feeling to find something you loved as a child and to think of its journey,” she continued. “How many other children owned and read that book? Did they ever wonder who Hannah was?

LOOK: After Exhausting Day of Hard Work, Two Friends Find Fridge Full of Cold Beers in the Middle of a Field

“Well, she’s my little sister. I say little, she’s 33 and I’m 35 now. We read these books in the late 1980s and early 1990s but they brought great joy.

“I always loved the story and when I reflect on it now it really is a fantastic story about strength and well-being.”

Zoe and Hannah Andrews –SWNS

The story sparked a cheery response on social media, with others sharing similar tales.

“The reaction through the museum’s Twitter page has been incredible,” says Zoe. “It has been so lovely to see the reaction of people and so many other stories where old books, possessions have turned up years later. I love the serendipity of it.

“After three weeks of feeling very under the weather, it was a perfect pick me up. And now it’s back on my book shelf, where it will stay.”

LOOK: Nine Years After Mother’s Death, Man Has Amazing Encounter With Yellow Butterfly Right When He Needed It

Danielle Eade, who works at the museum, told BBC: “Zoe almost didn’t tell us the story behind it.

“When she did, I couldn’t let her leave without finding out more and asking her for a photo. It was such a lovely and heart-warming tale.”

SWNS

Help Your Friends Read This Story By Sharing It To Social Media…

“Being Optimistic is like a muscle that gets stronger with use.” – Robin Roberts

By
Good News Network
-
David Poe, CC license

Quote of the Day: “Being Optimistic is like a muscle that gets stronger with use.” – Robin Roberts

Photo: by David Poe – CC license on Flickr, cropped

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

 

NFL Football Star Pays For 500 Mammograms to Honor His Mother

By
Good News Network
-
DeAngelo Williams Foundation

Former NFL running back DeAngelo Williams has paid for over 500 mammograms for women—because, to him, the issue is personal.

He always wore the color pink in his hair, which flowed out from his helmet, during his later years as a player for the Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Pink is not a color—it’s a culture to me.”

He created the DeAngelo Williams Foundation in honor of his mother, Sandra Hill, who died of breast cancer in 2006. All four of her sisters then died from the same disease—all before the age of 50.

He originally chose to pay for 53 mammograms because his mom died at age 53. He called the project #53StrongforSandra.” Since then, they have paid for 500 mammogram screenings for under-insured women in four states—North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Arkansas, all states he has football ties in.

The foundation eventually hopes to host a free mammogram screening event in all 50 states.

DeAngelo Williams Foundation

They also help pay for any treatments or follow-up appointments for the patients after their mammograms.

RELATED: NFL Player Makes Good on His Promise to Return Home and Take Special Needs Girl to Prom

“To be able to help all these women is amazing, he told TODAY. “This can be life-changing for these women (and) we are enabling them to get this care that no one should ever be denied or not have access to.”

He opened his heart during a public service announcement that aired on TV during NFL games for breast cancer month, saying simply, and with pink tips on his hair:

“To all the survivors and the ones that are going through it, we love you. You’re not alone.”

MORE: Strangers Write 125,000 Loving Letters to Breast Cancer Patients – How You Can Join Their Mission

SHARE the NFL Player’s Love on Social Media and tag #53StrongforSandra…

People With Diabetes May One Day Be Monitoring Glucose With an Earring

By
Good News Network
-

For millions of diabetics, a life without needles or the need to check blood sugar levels throughout the day would be a beacon of freedom unimagined. A project called Continuity might one day break that bondage.

A continuous glucose monitoring and delivery system, Continuity just became a finalist for the international Dyson Award, which uncovers the most exciting designs from recent engineering students that solve a specific problem.

Developed by Frederique Sunstrum, a PhD honors student in industrial design at the University of New South Wales, Continuity’s innovation is all about the seamless connectivity between its many functions. She combined three separate technologies: a wearable chrome “earring” glucose sensor with vibration alert; wireless connectivity that allows data to be sent to cell phones and to a doctor; and an insulin-mist pump, much like an inhaler.

Once this system were to go into production and become available, diabetics wouldn’t have to worry about their blood glucose, or pause their activities to check levels. It uses a continuous glucose monitoring technology (being developed by GlucoWise) that would allow the user to continue with their daily activities and be notified about fluctuations—even during sleep. If levels varied enough to warrant an alert, the earring would vibrate, getting the wearer’s attention, and also send an alert to the app and wake up the wearer that way, too.

RELATED: ‘For the First Time’, Researchers Use Healthy Stem Cells for Future Type 1 Diabetes Cure

The low-energy wireless bluetooth technology incorporated into the system via an app would be able to send regular blood sugar data to a doctor—so, no taking notes with pen and paper or risking error. It can also alert family members in real time, in the case of a dangerous event.

Perhaps the most exciting feature of the Continuity system is the oral insulin spray, invented by Generex, inside a pump designed by Sunstrum. It administers a spray mist directly into the mouth, delivering units of insulin with every pump, according to a digital display. The medicine is then absorbed through the mucosal lining—so, no more injections.

Imagine an asthma inhaler, and you’ll see just how portable and easy it would be to administer insulin. One could use it while walking around, without attracting any attention. However, the pump can only be used by the person it’s prescribed for, as it features a slide-lock to open, and a fingerprint-activated solenoid to spray. The actual glucose canister containing the ingredient is replaceable when empty.

MORE: 8-Year Study Shows That Simple Treatment Can Reverse Type 1 Diabetes to Almost Undetectable Levels!

Because of its non-invasive combination of methods for both the monitoring of glucose levels and its delivery system, Continuity was a Gold Winner in the Australian Good Design Awards.

Instead of stopping to check blood sugar manually up to 12 times per day, this system could bring new freedom to some of the 415 million people worldwide who suffer from diabetes by way of its continual solution to a 24/7 problem.

We think that’s super sweet. (Watch the video below for a demonstration…)

Tell Your Friends on Social Media…

Check Out This Young Woman’s Insane Cliff Diving Skills

By
Good News Network
-

A talented diver was filmed jumping from dizzying cliff heights in stunning locations all over the world.

Ellie Smart, 23, from Kansas City, is a professional high diver and the youngest currently representing the United States in international competitions.

So far, Ellie has earned a bronze World Cup medal and is a permanent diver on the 2019 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.

In a compilation of videos filmed by boyfriend Owen Weymouth, Ellie is seen jumping from vertiginous heights in amazing locations around the world.

(WATCH the video below – and follow her on Instagram at @ellietsmart)

Be Sure And Share the Adventures With Daring Friends on Social Media…

The Largest Trash Collectors in the U.S. Have Stopped Shipping Waste to Poor Countries

By
Good News Network
-

America’s largest trash hauler, Waste Management, Inc, has announced that they are no longer exporting plastic waste outside of North America.

Due to China’s ban on imports of mixed plastic and mixed paper in 2017, and realizing that smaller countries do not have the capacity to handle such a vast volume of the stuff, Waste Management has inaugurated a new policy that no longer allows the shipping of discarded plastic to countries outside North America.

The company reports that it now sells 77% of its recyclables (paper and plastic) to domestic markets, and says, “Plastic exports have dwindled to zero in 2019. No plastics collected on our residential routes… are sent outside of North America.”

The company further states that “where there is no market, we are disposing of this material responsibly.”

RELATED: Ocean Cleanup Makes History by Successfully Collecting First Plastic From Great Pacific Garbage Patch

In an August 2019 press release, WM said, “The company is working to help establish responsible domestic markets for recycling and beneficial use of these materials.”

According to The Last Beach Cleanup—in a partnership with Greenpeace and the Plastic Pollution Coalition which tracks company policies— other major waste-hauling companies in the U.S. have also ended the practice of shipping plastic abroad. These include Casella Waste Systems, Republic Services, and Waste Connections—along with Advanced Disposal Services, the fourth largest in the U.S., which was bought by Waste Management.

MORE: This Revolutionary Blast Furnace Vaporizes Trash and Turns It into Clean Energy (Without Any Emissions)

Greenpeace responded to the announcement by saying the companies all made “the right call.”

DIVERT This Story to Your Social Media Feed, and Recycle Some Good News! – Photo by Clyde Robinson, CC license

Chandeliers Transformed When Shot From Below in These Enchanting Photos

By
Good News Network
-

How one views common everyday objects can be a window into how you can experience the beauty of life—either with boredom and blandness, or wonder and creativity.

 

John Bodnar has been a CNN news cameraman for more than 25 years – and though he is often assigned to cover unexciting political press conferences, he has a knack for finding the magnificence in his surroundings. Over the course of his career in Washington, DC, he has taken time to look up, and capture over 50 photos of chandeliers from directly underneath their lights.

 

Some of the photos in the series are from hotel lobbies or train stations he encounters during his travel trips to cover the president, but many are captured within government buildings around Capitol Hill (like the one below).

 

Bodnar, who hails from Pennsylvania, is living a life far removed from his grandparents who went to work in the coal mines immediately after getting off the boat, and illumination was as fancy as a lantern in your hand.

 

SEE More Chandeliers on the Next Page…

“Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don’t have something better.” – C. JoyBell C.

By
Good News Network
-

Quote of the Day: “Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don’t have something better.” – C. JoyBell C.

Photo: by Janne Räkköläinen – CC license on Flickr, cropped

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

 

In World First, Tiger Will Be Given Prosthetic Limb to Live Out His Life Pain-Free

By
Good News Network
-

Within the next few weeks, a rescued tiger that was severely injured in a poacher’s trap will be given new life as the first big cat ever to be fitted with a prosthetic limb.

Sahebrao, a 7-9 year-old male tiger in India, underwent a 40-minute operation earlier this month in preparation for the historic fitting.

The majestic animal was rescued in India from a poacher’s trap in 2012 and was living at the Gorewada Rescue Centre in Nagpur. Soon after, Sahebrao developed gangrene and a part of his injured front leg had to be amputated. For the last six years, Sahebrao has been limping in increasing pain, until this year when it began crying out with every step.

The tiger was adopted by Sushrut Babhulkar, a Nagpur-based orthopaedic surgeon, who has been investigating the possibility of an artificial limb—and he teamed up with experts, including Dr. Peter Giannoudis from the University of Leeds in the UK.

RELATED: Nepal Set to Become First Country That Doubles Its Wild Tiger Population

Prof. Giannoudis who specializes in fractures and bone regeneration, is advising the team.

Dr Babhulkar said, “The surgery will give 99% relief from pain to the tiger, and fitting artificial limb is the next step.”

The surgeon told the Indian Express newspaper, “I wish to see him walk normally, like a human being getting a prosthetic leg, for the rest of his life.”

WATCH: Tiger Family Poses For Amazing Selfies Before Knocking Out Camera’s Memory Card

The artificial limb is reportedly being created in consultation from IIT Mumbai, and AO Foundation, Germany, which has expertise in fracture fixation of humans and animals.

(File photo of tiger by Chester Zoo, CC license)

Be Sure and SHARE the Compassion on Social Media…

Fire House Adopts Great Way to Nurture Future Firefighters – By Letting Kids Douse a ‘Blaze’

By
Good News Network
-

It’s fire prevention month and this firehouse in Virginia has come up with a creative way to get kids interested in a firefighting career to ensure the future protection of their community.

A recent addition to their public education program in Martinsville, Virginia is their “fire house” which allows young children to experience putting out a fire.

The idea was borrowed from another department with their permission and built by Lt. Todd Owen (pictured far left).

The idea became a great addition for schools whose classrooms visit to tour the fire station.

All photos by Martinsville Fire & EMS – used with permission

Chief Ted Anderson and Capt. Tim Jamison loved the idea for the project and let Owen create the ‘house’ at which the children could aim a fire hose.

The house was tested by an honorary firefighter, young Quinn Gravely, who highly approved.

“We have some future firefighters in the making!” wrote the team on Facebook.

SHARE the Idea With Your Local Firehouse on Social Media…

Young Hotel Employee Surprised With New Car After Working Solo For 36 Hours During Flood

By
Good News Network
-

The 21-year-old who made headlines around the world for single-handedly running a hotel and caring for its 90 guests trapped along with him during a flood was rewarded in big way by the city of Beaumont, Texas.

Homewood Suites employee Satchel Smith was honored with a proclamation for his heroics during tropical storm Imelda, which included answering phones, cooking, doing dishes, and washing laundry, during a solo shift that lasted over 32 hours.

The young man, who said he was “just doing his job,” also lost his car in the flooding—but, after his marathon of good work, city officials surprised him with a new one, a 2013 Honda Hybrid, during an event.

“I mean it was a bit unexpected—overwhelming!” he told KFDM News. “I mean I don’t expect anything for what I did.”

“I’m truly thankful.”

And, too, so are the guests he catered to, including Angela Chandler, who said Smith handled the situation “with grace, kindness, and a beautiful smile on his face.”

(WATCH the report from KBMT News) – Featured screenshot image from KFDM video

RELATED: Homeless Man Gets Huge Reward for Standing Guard Over Stranger’s Money in the Rain

SERVE This to Show There Are Real Rewards to Doing GOOD – SHARE it on Social Media…

Photographer Captures Incredible Video of Thousands of Ray Fish Flying Through a Mexico Sea

By
Good News Network
-

These jaw-dropping images show a sea filled with thousands of mobula ray fish appearing like large winged birds.

Ocean photographer Nadia Aly spent four hours swimming above the huge shoal in Baja California, Mexico.

Mobula rays, which are closely related to sharks and come from the same family as some manta rays, are normally shy and difficult to film.

“It is very rare to get an encounter like this, with this many rays, in near perfect visibility,” said Nadia.

The 35-year-old from Mountain View, California, estimates that there were over 10,000 rays.

“They were not as skittish as they normally are.”

All photos by Nadia Aly – SWNS

Species of this genus are often collectively referred to as ‘devil rays’ or simply ‘flying rays’, due to their propensity for breaching the water, sometimes in a spectacular manner.

Known to local fisherman as ‘flying tortillas’, they gather in their thousands before launching themselves out of the ocean.

Nadia Aly – SWNS

They use their wing-like pectoral fins to reach heights of over two meters before belly-flopping back down into the sea to join the school.

(WATCH the beautiful undersea life of these fantastic creatures)

JUMP at the Chance to Share This With Your Friends on Social…

“Morning to night I am never done with looking. I mean… standing around as though with your arms open.” – Mary Oliver

By
Good News Network
-

Quote of the Day: “Morning to night I am never done with looking. I mean… standing around as though with your arms open.” – Mary Oliver

Photo: by kadorin – CC license on Flickr, cropped

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

 

Soccer Team is Winning Hearts After They Stopped Championship Play to Help Opponent Fix Her Hijab in Privacy

By
Good News Network
-

A team of female soccer players are winning hearts across social media after they were captured on video rushing to the rescue of their opponent during a moment of vulnerability.

The touching scene took place in Jordan earlier this month at the WAFF Women’s Club Championship.

The Shabab al Ordon soccer club had been playing against the Arab Orthodox Club when one of the rival team’s players felt her hijab begin to slip off during playing.

Rather than take advantage of the woman’s wardrobe malfunction, the Shabab players quickly stopped playing so they could huddle around the Arab player and keep her hidden while she fixed her hijab.

The Shabab players went on to win the championship anyway.

But after their act of kindness was shared on Twitter, they won many more accolades for sportsmanship from millions of new fans on social media.

(WATCH the heartwarming video below)

Score Big With Your Friends By Sharing The Inspiring Story To Social Media…

This Ingenious Solution was Designed Specifically to Help People During Their Epileptic Seizures

By
Jennifer Zolper
-

The short list for the prestigious International James Dyson Award has finally been announced, and a critical safety tool for managing seizures has risen into the top 20: Cocoon, a self-deploying, portable safe space for people affected by epilepsy.

The Dyson award invites entries that solve a specific problem—and this particular innovator is intimately aware of the need for this solution because she has the condition herself.

Seizures are a part of life for the 50 million people worldwide that are epileptic, and they have a risk of death 3-6 times greater than the average population.

Many can sense the seizures’s onset, giving them time to find a safe place to lie down. Doctors can only hope they are with a friend or caregiver who can time the seizure, call for an ambulance if it lasts longer than five minutes, and be there to reorient them as the condition subsides.

Uma Smith, the mastermind behind Cocoon says, “I was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 11. Since then, I’ve been hospitalized four times—three of them while I was away from a safe space and caretakers.”

RELATED: Blind Man Develops Smart Cane That Uses Google Maps and Sensors to Identify One’s Surroundings

Seizure-sensors and protective headgear do exist, but nothing so far has combined all the safety elements into a single device. This new product has all of those requirements, plus more. It integrates soft protection that stays on the head and helps the seizing person stay on their side, plus clear instructions that automatically unfurl for strangers who may want to help, including the person’s name and emergency contact phone numbers.

But what if the person is alone? In this circumstance, Cocoon features GPS to help caregivers find the person, seizure sensors, a timer, automated messaging to alert an emergency contact, and after 3 minutes of seizing, a 911 call for an ambulance. If the seizure ends early, the sensors will detect it and call off the emergency measures automatically.

WATCH: Thanks to Student’s Hunch, Seniors With Dementia Are ‘Coming Alive’ Again With the ‘Magic’ of Virtual Reality

The Cocoon rolls up and becomes a portable pillow and is compact enough to slide into a tote bag, giving those with epilepsy a new sense of freedom to explore and be out on their own.

The Brooklyn-based industrial designer who invented the device, is also a sculptor and photographer and has designed other innovations combining form and function. Information about her works, including the Cocoon, can be found on her website.

Be Sure And Share The Ingenious News With Your Friends On Social Media…

Why 68 Percent of Americans Feel Good About Eating Alone

By
Good News Network
-

Does “dinner for two” sometimes mean “you and your device”?

Being alone doesn’t necessarily mean being lonely: even when you’re dining alone, you’re often in the company of your phone—which means you’re in touch with friends and family, with the tap of a screen.

A new survey of 2,000 Americans found that the average adult eats alone during 7.4 meals each week. However, many say it can be a good thing. In fact, the survey revealed that 68 percent of Americans look forward to eating a meal alone.

The top reason Americans eat alone? It’s more relaxing, says 50 percent of respondents. Busy schedules (44 percent) and saving money (38 percent) round out the top three answers.

The new study, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of The U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, revealed that busy schedules are challenging for Americans in general, and it impacts mealtime is no exception.

The average American says they rush through four meals a week due to lack of time, with two meals being eaten on their feet and/or on the go.

Technology may be changing how we perceive our alone time—and dining beside your phone could be just as good as eating with a friend.

At least half of respondents will partake in some “eat and scroll” for six meals every week, but, two in three (66 percent) say they don’t feel like they’re eating alone when they’re scrolling through their phone.

RELATED: How to Feel Healthy and Less Lonely by Spending Time Alone

Keeping our relationships strong doesn’t always require being together physically (though the average person in the poll ate with another person six times a week—one shy of their “solo meals” tally). According to the poll, three in four respondents (76 percent) feel that engaging with their friends and family on social media platforms helps them feel more connected.

“Today, ‘togetherness’ is more of a feeling than a physical state, and people get creative to stay connected,” said a spokesperson for The Highbush Blueberry Council. “The joy of being together – however you manage it – never changes.”

TOP 5 REASONS AMERICANS EAT ALONE
1. I can relax more                                                           50%
2. I’m busy/rushed                                                            44%
3. Want to save money                                                    38%
4. My friends are all busy                                                 37%
5. Allows me to catch up on my TV shows                      31%

INVITE Someone To Dinner While Sharing This on Social Media…

Teen Buys School Bus So He Can Fill It With Supplies and Drive It Down to Mexican Village as a Donation

By
McKinley Corbley
-

This determined high school student bought an old school bus, so he could use it to help even more children get a better education.

Back when Dylan Ence was just a freshman student at Dixie High School, he and his family visited the Mexican village of Patamban Michoacan so they provide the local schools with supplies and sports equipment.

Though Dylan is now a senior at the school in St. George, Utah, he’s never forgotten about the poverty he witnessed during that fateful trip four years ago—and he is now planning a return trip to the village to do more.

During his stay at the village, the compassionate teen learned that many of the local children would sleep at their local school so they didn’t have to make the miles-long trek to and from classes every day.

MORE: 11-Year-old Crocheting Prodigy is Raising Thousands of Dollars for Orphans–One Stitch at a Time

Dylan decided to buy a school bus at a local Minnesota auction with the intention of driving it all the way down to the village and donating it to the school.

Photos by Dylan Ence

Not only that, he has spent the last four years collecting donated backpacks, socks, gas money, and school supplies for the Mexican village.

He hopes to fill the bus with as many donations as possible before he and his family journey south from Utah on December 20 to the village 1,700 miles away.

Dylan set up a donation page with a goal of raising $5,000, and has raised $3,705, so far. To help him reach his goal, go to supportful.com/dylansschoolbus

He is currently in the process of getting insurance and travel papers from the Mexican government to get his bus and supplies safely across the border.

Drive This Good News Story Over To Your Friends By Sharing It To Social Media…

“There never was a good war or bad peace.” – Benjamin Franklin, 1773

By
Good News Network
-

Quote of the Day: “There never was a good war or bad peace.” – Benjamin Franklin, 1773

Photo: by Alice Popkorn – CC license on Flickr, cropped

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

 

Last Performing Circus Elephant of Chile is Rescued and Moved to New Sanctuary to Live Out Her Golden Years

By
Good News Network
-
Photo by the Global Sanctuary for Elephants

After 50 years of loneliness working for the circus, Ramba the Asian elephant is finally making the 2,551-mile journey to her new forever home in Brazil.

Escorted by elephant welfare experts and several dedicated volunteers, Ramba caught a flight out of Santiago, Chile, on October 16th.

After flying over the Andes Mountains, she landed safely in Campinas, Brazil. From there Ramba continues on for a 3-day drive before reaching the 2,800-acre Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, located in the Brazilian municipality of Chapada dos Guimarães.

These are the final steps of a journey that began over 7 years ago. In 2012, Ecopolis—a Chilean animal welfare group—contacted the Global Elephant Sanctuary (GSE) to help rescue Ramba from her abusive circus owners.

After years of neglect, Ecopolis had successfully petitioned the Chilean government to confiscate Ramba, which officially ended the practice of performing circus elephants throughout Chile.

CHECK OUT: India Gets Its First Ever Hospital for Abused Elephants – and They’ve Already Treated Dozens

Thanks to internationally renowned elephant experts Scott Blais and Kat Blais, Ramba was successfully transported to a roadside zoo in Chile as a temporary facility pending eventual relocation to an elephant sanctuary—because with no elephant sanctuary in all of South America, one had to be built for her.

With more than 6,000 captive elephants around the globe, fewer than 250 have been offered life in sanctuaries.

However, there is a swell of support growing in the United States and abroad from individuals who care deeply about the long-term health and welfare of captive elephants. In South America, 5 countries passed national bans to prohibit the use of performing elephants. While these progressive efforts are commendable, without an appropriate alternative, elephants have been left to live out a life of neglect and minimal care in rural farms or in improvised, small enclosures in zoos with little or no expertise with elephants.

MORE: Denmark Buys Country’s Last Remaining Circus Elephants for $1.6 Million So They Can Retire

South America is not alone in this struggle to find progressive alternatives for elephant care, as several independent efforts around the globe to establish elephant sanctuaries have stagnated at the conceptual phase, while elephants continue to endure unintended neglect.

According to GSE president Scott Blais, “We know that sanctuary life can make a profound difference to the health and well-being of captive elephants. Our objective is to develop an international collaboration to ensure a safe, secure and humane future for captive elephants through the creation of spacious, holistic, natural habitat elephant sanctuaries.”

WATCH: Orphaned Elephant Returns to Human Rescuers So She Can Introduce Them to Her Newborn Calf

Ramba has lived in isolation for most of her life. Upon entering Sanctuary she will be greeted by Rana, who arrived last December after years in isolation, and Maia, who arrived in October 2016 with her friend Guida. Maia and Guida were also confiscated from the circus and lived for 5 years in chains on a private farm waiting for sanctuary.

Now after years of struggles, we received word that Ramba’s transport permits were approved. Thanks to dozens of caring individuals working tirelessly for years, and hundreds of donors who supported her care, after 7 years, the pieces have finally fallen into place.

“Ramba needs a quiet place, one where she feels safe and is not on display, where she is surrounded by others of her kind who truly understand her and can help her to open her heart fully—she needs sanctuary,” says Blais.

(WATCH the video below)

Be Sure And Share The Inspiring Story With Your Friends On Social Media…

1...633634635...1,725Page 634 of 1,725
© Copyright 1997–2026 GNN, LLC