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Punjabi weddings turn slim

Sunaina Kumar

May 13, 2019 |

Firstpost |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Punjab

With the support of the Samaj committee, a local NGO, more and more Punjabi communities are downsizing their weddings. The events are traditionally expensive affairs, signifying pride and status, but for many, they are an expense that has led to debt, and even suicide. The committee reaches out to villages and families, suggesting they skip the dowry, and once one family does it, others follow suit.

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Busting the myth that depression doesn't affect people in poor countries

Tina Rosenberg

April 30, 2019 |

The Guardian |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Zimbabwe

Depression and anxiety impact people across socioeconomic levels and geographic boundaries, despite being thought of as mostly isolated to wealthier western regions. Because training mental health professionals can be costly, many countries outside of the west have turned to training lay people in counseling tactics and practices.

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This truck is making sure the homeless have clean clothes

Kumasi Aaron

April 24, 2019 |

KMGH-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Backed by $160,000 in philanthropic donations, two laundry trucks frequent 7-8 locations in Denver, Colorado to offer laundry services for people experiencing homelessness or extreme poverty. Clean clothes are vital to an individual's confidence and dignity, and can enable people to keep appointments, go to job interviews, or to just fight the stigma of homelessness. These trucks are part of a larger movement across the US to offer these mobile laundry services to those who need it most.

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Perfectly good food was going in the trash, so an Indiana school turned it into take-home meals for hungry kids

David Williams

April 03, 2019 |

CNN |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Elkhart, Indiana

A community organization in Indiana called Cultivate "rescues" food from local caterers, hospitals, casinos, and businesses to then be packaged into take-home meals for students at Woodland Elementary School that come from food-insecure homes. Cultivate is in its second year of existence, has three staff and 400 volunteers, and hopes to expand beyond their pilot program to reach all 21 schools in the district.

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The happiness movement: How cities around the world are pursuing joy by fostering social change

Charles Montgomery Tristan Cleveland

March 22, 2019 |

National Post |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia

Cities around the world take an unconventional yet effective approach to combat poverty: measuring happiness. Cities like Vancouver, British Columbia have found success in building personal relationships among the economically disadvantaged members of the society, which leads to a more productive and satisfying work life.

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'If everybody just cleaned up a little bit': City workers fan out, clean up in East Camden

Phaedra Trethan

March 22, 2019 |

Courier Post |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Camden, New Jersey

In East Camden, New Jersey, neighbors encouraged each other as well as city officials to take ownership over the cleanliness - or lack their of - of the streets and homes in their community. In response, neighbors and city workers worked together to clean up trash in a two-block radius, report pot holes and abandoned cars, and set expectations for the community and relevant government agencies to take care of their surroundings.

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Cities without sewers

Chelsea Wald

February 28, 2019 |

Rethink |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Haiti, Cap-Haïtien

A nonprofit in Haiti called SOIL with a business arm called EkoLakay is bringing back the old-fashioned idea of a container-based sanitation system. Customers rent toilets with containers in them, use them, and return them to EkoLakay to then be converted into highly nutritious compost. Piloted in 2011, the program has been successful serving more than 1,000 households (growing by 40 every month) with a staff of 58 mostly local workers. They attribute their success to using "applied resilience thinking", having many actors at different levels, and constantly adapting to new solutions and knowledge.

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When public restrooms fail, rent them out as churches?

Anthony Langat

February 14, 2019 |

Devex |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Kibera, Nairobi

On World Toilet Day in 2014, the Kenyan government promised to build 180 public toilets in an ambitious move to combat the issue of public sanitation. The program went well once the keys were handed off to the National Youth Service of Kenya as a means of income, but issues quickly arose that could not be resolved because of a lack of further funds. The youth has since transformed their toilets into a rental space for local churches, such as Christ Miracle Church for All Nations in Laini Saba.

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Punjab's marginalised communities struggle for their right to cultivate common lands

Kundan Pandey

February 07, 2019 |

Down To Earth |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Punjab

Balad Kalan’s Scheduled Castes, popularly called Dalits, collectively bid to win the rights to fertile common lands that big landlords had taken control of. Each family contributed what they could and, after protests due to the lack of transparency in the bidding process, won 53 hectares, or one-third of the common land, which was distributed among 145 families. Fifty other villages have since won collective land rights by replicating the joint bidding process. An 11-member cooperative manages the land in each village, which is distributed to families in proportion to their monetary contribution.

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When It's Hard to Make Ends Meet, Can Smart Apps Help?

Tina Rosenberg

February 04, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Elsie, Michigan

Smartphone technology levels the playing field for low-income people, utilizing services that manage SNAP food-assistance budgets, pay parking tickets on time, payday loans, and more. Applications like Fresh EBT work with families to create budgets to better manage their monthly income.

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