According to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, renewable power generation in the U.K. rose 28 percent in 2013 as more wind farms and solar plants came online. (Bloomberg)
U.K. Renewable Electricity Generation Rose 28 Percent in 2013
12 Million More Kids in School is Ethiopian Success
The number of children attending primary school in Ethiopia has skyrocketed since 1994 when just 3 million pupils were being educated. By 2008, primary enrollment had risen to 15.5 million – an increase of over 500%.
“Benefiting from sustained growth, the Ethiopian government, in partnership with donors, has invested heavily in improving access to education,” according to a report funded by the Gates Foundation. “Key measures have included abolishing school fees, increasing expenditure on school construction and maintenance, and hiring and training thousands of new teachers.”
(READ the story from Ethiopian Time)
Photo from Ethipia’s Rift Valley, USAID
‘Soup Ladies’ Cook Up Comfort for Landslide Search Crews
Few things offer as much comfort as a home-cooked meal.
A big-hearted restaurant owner known as “Momma” leads a group in Arlington, Washington called the Soup Ladies. They are feeding hot meals to search and rescue workers at the site of a tragic mudslide 70 miles away in Oso.
They’ve been doing it for ten years now, serving food to responders wherever disaster strikes — Hurricane Katrina, the tornado in Joplin, Missouri, and Superstorm Sandy. This time, the tragedy struck in their own back yards.
Other people near Oso, are also doing what they can to help. Boy Scouts organizing a food drive for families left homeless, and a high school that made 1300 lunches for search teams.
(WATCH the Making a Difference video from NBC News)
Media Helps Mom Give Lonely Autistic Boy a Memorable Birthday
11 year old Jeaden had one wish — to have a birthday party with lots of people.
Because he struggles socially, with mild autism and sensory processing, his birthdays have sometimes been a disappointment with only family members showing up.
For his twelfth birthday his mom was determined to give him a childhood party to remember. With the help of local media, who spread the word, businesses that donated, and a Facebook page she set up, the gathering, held at a local roller rink in Prince George, B.C., was a huge success.
The town rallied. The boy’s mom, Jolene, said about 200 people showed up. A bakery made a huge cake and Walmart donated drinks. The PG Rollergirls decorated the rink, and a girl’s softball club stayed to clean up. Hasbro toys heard that the boy loved Nerf battles and asked if they could send 9 huge Nerf guns.
“I’d heard about it on the radio and it just tugged my heart,” said Lisa Mayhew, who brought her whole family to the party. “I felt this was something I’d like to bring my kids to.”
People who heard about the story but couldn’t attend sent cards — some all the way from the Czech Republic. He was sent a local team jersey, and an autographed picture of a Canucks hockey star.
–READ the story from CBC
-More photos on Facebook
Thanks to Craig Withers for submitting the link!
Town Rallies to Keep Animals From Starving at Ukrainian Zoo
Thousands of people in Ukraine lined up to bring fresh food for the animals and money for the operation of the Kharkiv Zoo when its officials declared an emergency after government funds had dried up.
Two days after the announcement, the zoo announced that it had received 77,603 visitors over three days. From families to business people, friends of the zoo brought vegetables, fruit, bread and money – lots of it. $124,159 was earned through ticket sales and donations during that weekend.
“We sincerely thank everyone who helped the zoo during these difficult days,” said the zoo in a statement. “To our call of ‘Save the Kharkov Zoo!’ it seems like the entire city responded. This weekend our zoo saw huge lines for tickets, tons of food, and lots of positive emotions. Your help and support for our neighbors on planet Earth revealed the compassion, kindness, and love that will always be part of humanity.”
The zoo, which opened more than a century ago, also received support from caring people outside of Kharkov and the Ukraine. Moved by the plight of the elephant living there, Kate Woolf, the founder of the Lotus Elephant Sanctuary, set up an online fundraiser at GoFundMe for international supporters, and it raised $5,000 in five days. An expat American living in Kharkov first blogged about the problem, and later set up a Facebook page to spur donations and let people know what is happening. Get Katherine‘s updates at Facebook.com/KharkivZooFriends.
Watch the Zoo’s video below…
(Enable the translate feature on YouTube to hear the zoo’s words in language other than Russian)
Water, Wildlife Surge Back into Once-parched Colorado River Delta
Osvel Hinojosa knew that an infusion of water would bring the Colorado River delta back to life. But in just a few days, a U.S.-Mexican experiment to revive the delta environment has exceeded his expectations.
The water is running deeper, faster and wider than anticipated in a channel that was once bone-dry. Hinojosa has spotted hawks, egrets and ospreys flying above the newly flowing water. He’s even seen beavers.
“It’s just amazing to see that we can recover the river and see it alive again,” said Hinojosa, water and wetlands program director at Pronatura Noroeste, a Mexican water conservation group.
The release of water is historic because the river itself hasn’t seen its delta or reached the sea for half a century.
(READ the story from the LA Times)
Goodyear ‘Highway Hero’ Risked Life at Burning Tanker Wreck
A truck driver who rescued another trucker who had fallen from a burning tanker truck that was hanging over the side of a freeway overpass has been named the 31st Goodyear Highway Hero.
Chosen from four finalists, Ivan Vasovic of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., accepted the 31st Goodyear North America Highway Hero Award Thursday during the Mid-America Trucking Show.
Vasovic was in his truck in Los Angeles, Calif., last October when he witnessed a double tanker truck hit the concrete divider of a freeway overpass, careen off a wall and slam into a guard rail. Its tanks, which were full of diesel, ripped open and the truck came to a stop with its tractor and first tanker hanging over the side of the overpass.
The truck’s driver was trapped inside when the diesel ignited. The driver, now on fire, kicked out a window, slid down the truck and fell to the ground, breaking an arm and leg. By that point, the suspended truck was engulfed in flames with black clouds of smoke billowing from it.
“Ivan’s quick thinking and brave actions saved a fellow truck driver from a life-threatening situation,” said Gary Medalis, marketing director, Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems. “He literally put himself in harm’s way to save another person’s life. Ivan’s decision to interject himself into this deadly scenario is a powerful example of the selflessness exhibited by professional truck drivers. He has earned the right to be called a Highway Hero.”
As the 31st Goodyear Highway Hero Award winner, Vasovic receives a special Highway Hero ring, a $5,000 prize and other items.
Vasovic and three other truck drivers were selected as finalists for the 31st Goodyear Highway Hero Award. Other finalists include:
Brian Dunn, a driver from Knoxville, Tenn. Dunn was driving down a highway in Oklahoma when he saw a car crash through a guard rail and land on its roof in the middle of the road. He ran to the car as its engine caught fire. Running back to his truck to grab his fire extinguisher, Dunn heard a child crying. He spotted a two-year-old boy who was trapped in the back seat of the burning car. Braving the flames, Dunn yanked on the car’s door until it gave way, allowing him to rescue the child, whom he then handed to bystanders. Dunn ran back to his car for his fire extinguisher while other bystanders tried to rescue the boy’s mother, who had driven the car. They later learned that she died as a result of the crash.
Tim Horton, a driver from Sheridan, Ark. Horton was driving outside Tuscaloosa, Ala., when a small car passed his truck, lost control and drove into a 35-foot-deep ravine, landing upside down in a creek bed. The car’s driver, a teenager, was trapped inside the car and had suffered a large cut on his head. Horton flagged down the driver of another vehicle, who happened to be a volunteer firefighter. The two men made their way down the steep, brush-covered embankment. They found the teenager alive, but bleeding heavily. Horton cut the teenager’s seat belt and pulled him from the car. After Horton and the volunteer firefighter stabilized the teenager’s condition, Horton called for additional help. It took 10 men using a 50-foot fire ladder to transport the teenager to a waiting ambulance.
Scott Rosenberg, a driver from Isanti, Minn. Rosenberg had just completed a delivery in Stillwater, Minn., when he spotted a pickup truck that was upside down in a pond with steam rising from it. At the time, Rosenberg was driving a trailer with a boom crane used for loading heavy concrete products. Acting quickly, he positioned his crane in place, hoping to flip the pickup over and back onto its wheels. In the meantime, two other men had reached the pickup and were trying to pry its doors open, to no avail. Using his crane, Rosenberg turned the pickup right-side up. Its driver, a college student who had fallen asleep at the wheel, was still alive. Police then arrived and pulled him from the vehicle.
“Each of our Highway Hero Award finalists is a hero in his own right,” said Medalis. “We are honored to recognize these selfless individuals for their acts of courage and compassion. They truly are a credit to their profession.”
Established in 1983, the Goodyear Highway Hero Award honors professional truck drivers who put themselves in harm’s way to help others as they travel the highways and roads of North America. The Highway Hero Award is one of several Goodyear awards, such as Goodyear’s “Put More Good on the Road” Award, that recognizes deserving individuals for their selfless deeds.
RELATED: Truckers Who Saved Others are Finalists for Highway Hero Award
Greece Is Pulling Off an Amazing Recovery
On the week of their nation’s Independence Day, Greece has a reason to celebrate with its friends once again. Just like in the 1820s, when British, French, and Russian naval forces arrived to help Greece overthrow the Ottoman Empire, which had ruled there since 1453, the inexpensive loans offered by the European Union in the 21st century rescued Athens from financial catastrophe to preserve that hard-fought independence.
Just two years ago, Greece was on the ropes. Today, investors are increasingly confident of the nation’s ability to pay its debts. Rarely has a country repaired its image with creditors so quickly.
In the short run, cheap loans from foreign lenders gave them the time needed to adjust their spending to the point that now, they are expected to return to economic growth this year.
(READ the story from Bloomberg News)
Thanks to Harley Hahn for submitting the link.
Photo by Rob and Lisa Meehan-CC
Long-Lost Renoir Returned to Baltimore Museum
A tiny Renoir painting has returned home to a gallery in the Baltimore Museum of Art nearly 63 years after it was stolen and then kept mysteriously hidden for decades until it resurfaced in 2012.
Museum officials were thrilled and a little teary-eyed when it was returned to its rightful home.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s painting “On the Shore of the Seine,” from about 1879, will be unveiled Sunday as the centerpiece of a new exhibition, “The Renoir Returns.”
“It’s a moment we’ve been looking forward to,” said museum director Doreen Bolger. “I always believed in my heart that it would come back … It’s what we’re about: preserving works of art.”
(READ the story from ABC News)
Deaf Woman Shocked to Hear for the First Time (Video)
A 39-year-old woman in the UK burst into sobs when hearing someone speak for the first time.
Joanne Milne, from Gateshead, was born deaf and began going blind in her 20s, but thanks to cochlear implants received at Midlands Implant Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, she can now live a more full life.
“Hearing things for the first time is so, so emotional, from the ping of a light switch to running water. I can’t stop crying.
Mother’s Invention Helps Disabled Son and Countless Others to ‘Walk’
A revolutionary harness designed by a mother to give her wheelchair-bound son a chance to walk has parents cheering.
Debby Elnatan, whose son Rotem has cerebral palsy, said the idea for a support harness came from her own “pain and desperation”, but will go on to make lives easier for countless families across the world struggling with disability.
It was designed to enable Rotem to stand upright and, by attaching it to herself, Ms Elnatan and her son could take steps together.
The mom is from Israel, but a Northern Irish company agreed to manufacture a commercial version in 2014. Called the Upsee, it can facilitate gradual weight-bearing, standing and walking with the assistance of an adult.
The mobility harness for children with motor impairments is selling on Amazon.com for $625.
– WATCH the videos below
– READ the story in the Independent
Thanks to Sue Leland-Mckenzie for submitting the link on our Facebook Page!
Amazing Woman Given $50K for Her Anti-Mayhem Work With DC Kids
Hannah Hawkins, founder of the Children of Mine Youth Center, gives kids of all ages a safe place to learn and play, fenced off from the mean streets of Washington D.C. Those streets are where, in the ’70s, her husband was robbed and murdered. As a widow with five children, Hannah decided to dedicate her life to making a positive change in her community.
“I had to do something about this mayhem in the streets,” she told 5-hour ENERGY Helps.
Alumni of the Children of Mine Youth Center have gone on to successful careers like law enforcement, engineering, and politics. The Center also provides kids with nutritious meals, clothing, tutoring, and counseling.
Produced by journalists that were hired to find inspiring stories by the energy drink company, the video below illustrates the good work Hannah and her volunteers are doing every day and talks to some of the Center’s alumni.
“Why only pay celebrities or athletes?” asked the founder of 5-hour ENERGY, Manoj Bhargava. “Why not give it to the real heroes?”
“We want to share our success with those who are struggling with difficult situations,” it says on the company’s website.
Channing Tatum Sends Teen With Cancer a Video Kiss
High school senior Alisa Finely from Kansas was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer.
Finey created a bucket list and her #1 wish was to kiss actor Channing Tatum.
The Hollywood star found out about it and posted a video he recorded especially for her on his phone. He also recorded a scene for her on the red carpet at the Vanity Fair post-Oscar party where he sang a quick verse of Happy along with his wife, changing the lyrics to add Alisa’s name.
India and Southeast Asia Are Now Officially Polio-Free
Older Americans remember when, in the 1940s and 50’s, polio crippled about 35,000 people each year. After Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine, the devastating disease, which is caused by a virus and usually spreads via infected food or water, was eradicated in the US. In fact, over the last half century, polio has been eliminated in a majority of the world.
But in 1988, a collaboration of organizations — UNICEF, Rotary International, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization (WHO) — formed the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, to promote vaccinations that will, once and for all, eradicate polio from the Earth.
They thought India would be the greatest challenge because historically it was the largest reservoir of the disease with up to 100,000 paralytic polio cases occurring each year between 1978 and 1995. It has also been one of the main sources of polio importation for other countries.
But today leaders of the monumental effort formally announced the end of polio in India. Further, they proclaimed the entire Southeast Asian region, home to a quarter of the world’s population, to be entirely polio-free.
Aussie Chocolate Maker Helps 50 Different Families Longing to Be Reunited
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the chocolate TimTam, Arnotts is reuniting Australian family members who are longing to be together, whether living across the country or overseas. In a campaign called 50 Qantas Trips in 50 Days, aging parents have gotten to spend time with their adult children, brothers and sisters have embraced after years of being apart.
With 10 international flights and 40 within Australia being given away, one lucky winner per day since February 28 has received two nights in a hotel room along with a ticket to see their loved one. They also win a suitcase full of of Arnott Tim Tam biscuits to enjoy with their families, to help evoke memories of the old days.
Victoria also lives in Winton. Raising a family along with her husband is wonderful, but she is so far from her sister in England. Tim Tam surprised Victoria, not only bringing her sister, but her mom and dad and second sister too. On top of that, her husband’s best friend from Canada emerged out of the same plane — an incredible surprise for him too.
Watch the beautiful reunions below.
The contest will take its final entries before May 15. See more stories and enter to win at TimTam50.com.
Thanks to Oli Andrews for sending the story link!
Soft Landing: Skateboarders Add Floating Ramp to Lake Tahoe (WATCH)
How do skateboarders learn to do those aerial flips without breaking their backs? Well, now they can use the ramp built by Bob Burnquist that floats in Lake Tahoe.
The wooden ramp owned by the Brazil-born professional skater based in San Diego offers an ultra soft landing — the water.
The ramp weighs 7,300 pounds and took 300 man hours to build.
– WATCH the video from Visit California
– READ the story in the Daily Mail
NYC Couple Engaged in Grandfather’s First Cab
After four years of dating, John Tracy made it his mission to track down the same taxi cab that his fiancé’s grandfather drove for 40 years so he could ask for her hand inside its cab.
Lesley Frankel has looked for the cab, number 8D99, her entire life while on the streets of New York City.
How 6,000 Used Cds Were Turned into Beautiful Art
In a clever community art project, 128 volunteers attached 6,000 discarded CDs to a giant fishing net and then stretched it like a translucent veil between the pillars of a public park in Varna, Bulgaria, on the Black Sea.
For the project, dubbed Mirror Culture, architect Borislav Ignatov asked for donations of the “abundance of CDs laying forgotten in people’s closets” and soon gathered the 6,000 used in the project.
(READ more and SEE the photos at Slate)
Bond Between Michigan State Star and Little Girl With Cancer Is Bigger Than Basketball
The NCAA tournament is always filled with heart-warming stories. Perhaps the sweetest one involves Michigan State’s star forward and an 8-year-old girl named Lacey Holsworth who found out in 2011 that she had neuroblastoma.
She’d been in the hospital for a month when the Michigan State team came for a visit. She immediately forged a bond with Adreian Payne the 6’10” senior with a big smile.
50-cent Paper Microscope Could Save Millions of Lives
Stanford bioengineering professor Manu Prakash was worried that because the developing world could not afford microscopes, they were prescribing malaria pills without identifying specific strains, and unwittingly boosting the resistance of some of the bugs. So he set out to make the best possible disease-detection instrument he could and make it cheap enough to distribute almost for free.
He and his students came up with an origami-like folded cardboard device called the “Foldscope”. It can be produced with just 50 cents for materials and is so durable that it can be stomped on and dropped into a bucket of water, and it still works.