Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Digital Debris: How an App Is Changing the Trajectory of Athens' Litter Abatement

    Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful uses the Marine Debris Tracker app to motivate locals to reduce and clean up litter. The app collects information from locals about the type and location of litter they see to inform what abatement efforts are needed there.

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  • This library lets you borrow people instead of books. It just may help bridge our bitter divisions

    Human Library is a nonprofit learning platform that allows people to borrow “human books” instead of books. Each person represents a group that faces prejudice or stigmas because of their lifestyle, ethnicity, beliefs, or disability. The group has held in-person and online events in over 80 countries where participants can ask difficult questions that they might feel embarrassed to ask otherwise. The experiences encourage empathy and are nonpartisan. The library has over 1,000 “human books” who speak over 50 languages and has provided speakers for major corporations conducting diversity trainings.

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  • Nigeria is struggling to end open defecation, but a grassroots campaign is trying to change that

    Open Defecation Free Nigeria works to stop people from disposing of human waste in public areas by building public toilets. The organization has built 66 so far and manages a group of volunteers who educate residents about the dangers of public defecation. Encouraging behavioral change is key to ending the practice of open defecation. Fundraising and the sale of private household toilets funds the public toilets, which are tailored to the needs of a community. Most contain a biodigester system that turns waste to liquid or compost manure, which can last for decades and is easy for communities to maintain.

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  • Switching to Good Health: Nigeria's Mama Put Turns to LPGAs Use

    Gas To Health Initiative (GTHI) raises awareness about the dangers of certain cooking methods like kerosene and firewood, due to the air pollution it causes indoors. The organization advocates the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas for cooking and works with food vendors that produce food to make the switch. GTHI works with over 600 vendors, providing a required handling safety workshop and teaching the health and financial benefits of making the switch. Then, it provides the vendors with gas cylinders, industrial single/double burners, and all other equipment needed for safe use.

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  • Rwanda Strives To Stamp Out Killer Malaria Using Drones

    A pilot program is using drones to spray anti-Malaria pesticides in high-incidence regions. The spraying drones have a 10-liter on-board tank that holds a biological insecticide, which uses bacteria that impacts larval stages of certain insects, including mosquitoes. The operator flown drone has a battery powered spray pump that releases the spray and the downward thrust of the propellers pushes it to the ground. The fixed-wing drone takes off vertically and flies horizontally for 50 minutes and 80 miles. Estimates show a drastic decline of malaria cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the sprayed areas.

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  • How one town put politics aside to save itself from fire

    The Ashland Watershed Protection Project is a collaboration between the community, the Forest Service, and environmental activists. The community leads the process, with input from local Native American leaders, to clear brush and cut down trees for fire maintenance while minimizing forest destruction and preventing logging companies from profiting. Instead, a is in charge of determining which areas, trees, and brush should be cleared for fire safety.

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  • Doctor's orders: 'Nature prescriptions' see rise amid pandemic

    Park Rx America is an online platform that helps the growing number of medical professionals who write nature prescriptions for their patients. The database contains thousands of parks and public lands, which prescribers can filter by activity, distance from a patient's home, and other amenities like whether there is a playground for kids. Growing numbers of doctors are prescribing outdoor activities as a treatment for conditions like obesity and anxiety. Writing out actual prescriptions with specific directions about where to go, what to do, and how often to go increases the likelihood of success.

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  • Surviving in One of the World's Deadliest Places for Trans People

    Mexico’s first official shelter for former trans sex workers, Casa Hogar Paola Buenrostro, provides residents with tools trans women cannot typically access such as health care, education, and job training.

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  • A radical plan to treat Covid's mental health fallout

    “Social prescribing” is an increasingly popular approach to healthcare that addresses “social determinants” of health with non-pharmaceutical prescriptions for patients in the form of activities in their local community, such as exercise classes, gardening projects, and even help to get a job or housing. Pilots across the United Kingdom have shown the emotional and physical benefits to patients and the NHS England has committed to increasing the practice nationwide. It relies on decades of research showing people’s sense of self-worth and meaning in their lives play a big role in their physical health.

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  • Nonprofit Esperanza Threads helping refugees and immigrants stitch together their American dream

    Esperanza Threads provides sewing training to refugees and immigrants so that they can find sustainable jobs and provide for their families. The students learn to make t-shirts, bags, and baby products, which are sold on the organization’s website. To emulate an actual job experience, the two-month long program pays the trainees a stipend for their time and their work. The group partners with resettlement agencies, shelters, rehabilitation facilities, and churches to reach new clients. The training has also had the effect of increasing hope and building self-esteem among the participants.

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