Many of the 400 tourists left stranded in the island community of Coron in the Philippines have offered to help pack relief supplies, rather than simply waiting around for the airport to reopen following Typhoon Haiyan.
The Philippines News Agency said the mayor thanked the tourists who flocked to the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council Command Center to help pack relief goods slated for delivery to hundreds of residents.
From a beauty who battled breast cancer to an orphan breaking racial and religious barriers, some Miss Universe contestants brought with them heart-wrenching — yet inspiring — stories. They are among the 86 women from around the world who competed for the 2013 crown in Moscow Saturday.
For Miss Bulgaria, Veneta Krasteva (right), the road to Moscow has been a difficult one. Just over two years ago, at the age of 18, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Miss Bulgaria isn’t the only one who has faced adversity. Titi Yitayish Ayanaw, Miss Israel, is an Ethiopian-born orphan who moved to the country when she was only 12 years old.
As for other history-makers, 25-year-old Moe Set Wine is the first Miss Universe contestant to represent the historically war-torn nation of Myanmar in 53 years.
(READ the full story from TODAY)
A teenager brought his classmates to tears at a school assembly that was later broadcast by a documentary in Britain.
“Educating Yorkshire” placed cameras and videographers around the school, which captured powerful moments for the short TV series.
Musharaf Asgar endured years of bullying due to his stammering. But, one day a teacher tried the remedy that was hailed in “The King’s Speech” film.
Once the boy put on headphones playing music in his ears, his stammer subsided dramatically. The excitement of the breakthrough and the subsquent speech before the school was all filmed for the show.
(WATCH the video below)
Little Emmileah Anderson was so shocked to hear that some children don’t get any gifts, she decided she didn’t want any either.
So the six-year-old schoolgirl penned a touching letter to Santa, requesting that her toys be given to “the children that don’t have any”.
She hasn’t stopped there, and has decided that she also wants to raise as much money as possible for charity this festive season.
– READ the story from the Surrey Mirror
– Visit her Facebook fundraising page
The cellphone has become more of a tool and less of a toy, especially among the poor, and those trying to help them, in emerging markets. It helps deliver, via text message, water, energy, financial services, health care and even education.
More than 2.5 billion have no access to toilets. Yet according to the International Telecommunications Union, 96 percent of the world is connected via cellphone — which is why it has become a means of doing good.
(READ the article in the NY Times)
Taryn Thompson was astonished and grateful when strangers helped find her lost family heirloom. It was a special ring that her grandmother Louise Thompson left her after she passed away in 2007. As reported by WLEX 18 News, the western Kentucky student was attending a wedding in Lexington when she stopped into the Gratz Park Inn to freshen up.
That’s when she must have lost the ring… but, no one at the hotel could find it.
Roger Wilday, 68, was walking German Shepherd Jade in Stechford when she inexplicably raced to bushes, then lay down next to what looked like a discarded carrier bag – and refused to return to him.
As the senior moved closer he realized what the loyal family pet had discovered — and would not leave alone — a newborn baby, who has now been named after her four-legged rescuer, Jade.
The Birmingham Mail reported Roger saying, ‘‘I walked over and saw a carrier bag – then I saw it move. I thought it was a bag of kittens, but then I saw her little arms and a head, and the baby started to cry.’’
(READ the full story in the Birmingham Mail)
The Brookfield Zoo in Chicago welcomed the birth of a female western lowland gorilla. The infant, born to 18-year-old Koola, was born on November 4, weighing almost 5 pounds.
The two can be seen on exhibit in Tropic World: Africa, along with Koola’s daughter Kamba, 9; Koola’s mother Binti, 25; and JoJo, 33, the sire of the infant.
See more pictures of momma and baby at the the Brookfield Zoo FB Photo page.
(WATCH a video from the zoo below)
The World Bank on Wednesday said its private sector arm issued about $165 million in ‘women’s bonds’ in the first such sale by the development lender specifically aimed at raising money for businesses owned or run by women in emerging markets.
Bonds tied to social or environmental targets are part of a new trend in social finance, according to Reuters.
This follows the World Bank’s sale of several billion dollars in “green bonds” over the past five years, whose proceeds go to help countries cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.
(READ the story from Reuters)
Never underestimate the power of a makeover.
This homeless veteran held a negative self-image of himself and suffered from alcoholism.
Watch the transformation after he gets a haircut, shave and new clothes from the Degage Ministries. He suddenly can see some potential in his life — and now he is making the changes needed to get back on track.
The video was released along with an online fundraising campaign that has raised more than $8,800 dollars of its ten thousand dollar goal.
WATCH the video below… Click for information about donating to the Degage Ministries.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the defeated M23 rebel group, whose bloody insurgency displaced 800,000 people, announced it is ending its attacks, laying down its arms and signing a peace deal with the government on Monday. – Reuters
She may be attuned to the importance of the mind-body connection because moments before surgery to remove her breasts, an Ob/Gyn and mother of two, spread joy in the operation room by playing music and busting a move to Beyonce’s “Get Me Bodied” alongside her surgical team.
Along with the video, shot on Nov. 5 at Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco, Deborah Cohan asked friends and family to make their own dance videos and send them to her for viewing during her recovery.
(Deb might get a lot of videos because 3.4 million viewers have already seen her “dance party” on YouTube.)
She wrote on her CaringBridge blog: “Nothing brings me greater joy than catalyzing others to dance, move, and be in their bodies.
WATCH the video below…
After nearly 350,000 people signed a food blogger’s petition calling on Kraft to remove artificial yellow dyes from its Macaroni and Cheese, the company has announced it will remove the dyes from three kinds of Mac and Cheese targeted to children.
Kraft already eliminated these dyes in Europe due to public concern about possible effects on children’s health.
Stocks rose Friday after the release of a surprisingly strong monthly jobs report.
The U.S. economy added a better-than-expected 204,000 jobs in October despite a federal government shutdown that was expected to limit payroll growth. Despite the gains, the unemployment rate edged up to 7.3% from 7.2%.
In addition, numbers for the prior two months — Aug and Sept — were revised up by a total 60,000 jobs.
(READ the story from USA Today)
Pope Francis’ embrace of a severely disfigured man has touched world.
The Pontiff stopped to pray and lay his hands on a man whose skin was covered in painful tumors.
The ailing man gently buried his head in the Pope’s chest, on Wednesday at the end of the general audience, which had about 50,000 attendees.
Because Starbucks values the skills and talents of men and women in the U.S. military, it has announced a strategic plan to hire at least 10,000 veterans and active-duty spouses over the next five years.
In addition, a store in Lakewood, WA and a store in San Antonio, TX will begin sharing a portion of each transaction with non-profit programs Operation GoodJobs and Vested in Vets as part of a commitment to establish five such stores in joint base communities around the United States.
A Wisconsin couple on vacation huddled together for days eating what food they’d brought in the car after they became trapped in deep snow on a closed pass near Yellowstone Park in Wyoming.
Fearing her life might be over, Kris Wathke used notebook paper stowed in her purse to write letters to all her loved ones telling them how much they meant to her.
The couple ran the car every four hours in frigid temperatures to get warm while preserving the battery and save gas.
Fortunately, on their sixth day, rancher Troy Barnett, whose wife read on Facebook that the couple was missing, decided to board his snowmobile and look for them.
(WATCH the video or READ the full story from ABC News via Yahoo)
It’s one of America’s great recycling success stories: Every year, hundreds of thousands of discarded Christmas trees are collected and reused.
Many are picked up curbside by local garbage collection services and turned into mulch. Some are placed on beaches to shore up dunes and sunk in lakes as fish habitats. They’ve even been milled into lumber for use in building homes.
If you buy a cut Christmas tree this season, please recycle it for its many benefits…
(READ the full AP story at El Paso Inc.)
A group of Marines on their way home from Afghanistan got something they didn’t expect after spending five days getting on and off planes on their way to San Diego: cheers from a crowd of police officers, a fire truck water salute and first-class plane tickets.
The 13 Marines found themselves treated like heroes Monday night at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Beyond the spirited welcome at the terminal, American Airlines had six empty seats in first class for the next flight to San Diego. That gesture was followed by seven first-class passengers who jumped out of their seats for the other Marines so they could all sit together.
“They were just so thankful,” said Linda Kozma, an American Airlines employee who helped arrange the upgrade of their tickets to first class.
(READ the story from Fox News-Chicago)
The Vatican has launched its own cricket club — a move aimed at forging ties with teams of other faiths.
Rome’s Capannelle Cricket Club is hosting training matches that will lead to the creation of the Vatican team, the St. Peter’s Cricket Club.
Today, the Vatican says, cricket is one of the world’s most popular sports, with a mass following in Asia and Oceania.
(LISTEN to the audio or READ the story at NPR)
