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

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  • In rural India, MIT grads aim to improve access to sanitary pads for women

    February 23, 2017 |

    NBC News |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: India, Dumandih, Jharkhand

    For women in rural parts of India, it is common to not be taught about the role menstruation plays due to the stigma that surrounds the topic. To bring both a better understanding and better hygienic practices to these areas, a startup has started using "locally-sourced banana fiber to create biodegradable sanitary napkins, which degrade faster if buried and don’t have to be burned" with the goal of increasing access.

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  • Can the Humble Menstrual Cup Free Women from the Tyranny of Big Tampon?

    February 22, 2017 |

    Bright Magazine |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States

    While the menstrual cup is one of the most efficient, cost-effective and environmentally-friendly ways women can cope with their periods, it is rarely used due to the stigma surrounding the cup. Leaders at Sustainable Cycles, a nonprofit, are working to de-stigmatize the menstrual cup and promote both personal and global health.

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  • The Sun Water Solution

    February 12, 2017 |

    BBC |

    Radio |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: Uganda, Makindye, Kampala

    Professor Kevin McGuigan in Dublin has proven that simply leaving contaminated water in a plastic bottle out in the sun for several hours is effective in killing off harmful bacteria like e-coli and provide a simple solution for clean water. But his efforts to bring this simple method of solar disinfection to rural communities in Africa - where disease and death from waterborne bacteria is especially prevalent - have hit a number of sociological and cultural roadblocks.

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  • Urban forests increasingly central to planning in poor and rich countries alike

    January 30, 2017 |

    Citiscope |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Canada, Vancouver

    Implementing and maintaining healthy urban forests is becoming more popular throughout communities internationally. Results from cities that have moved in this direction not only include an improvement to community and environmental health but also come with an economic valuation in the form of pollution removal, carbon sequestration and stormwater alleviation.

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  • Almost all girls were cut in her Ethiopian village. Not anymore, thanks to her.

    January 26, 2017 |

    The Christian Science Monitor |

    Multi-Media |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: Ethiopia, Addis Ababa

    When Bogaletch Gebre was a girl she underwent a dangerous procedure, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The practice requires the removal of all, or part of the clitoris. It can lead to scarring, bleeding, and sometimes even death. When she grew up and learned the harmful effects of the procedure, she and her sister decided to create a non profit to end the practice. “Today, KMG is credited with virtually eliminating FGM in Kembata, a region of 680,000.” What’s worked so well for the non profit? Community conversations. “Community conversations can work anywhere where human beings live together,” Gebre says. “

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  • After Flint, are schools being more vigilant about tainted water?

    January 06, 2017 |

    The Christian Science Monitor |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, Flint, Michigan

    For most states in the U.S. water testing is voluntary which fails to ensure healthy drinking water. The Flint, Mich., water crisis is leading a number of states to test their school facilities for lead in the water and post the results online.

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  • Sex ed may be a class, but experts say the best education begins at home

    January 05, 2017 |

    Deseret News |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

    Polls suggest that teenagers’ attitudes and beliefs about sex come mainly from their parents, but parents rarely feel like experts talking about sex. “Talk, the New Sex Ed,” is a non-profit in Pittsburgh which works with parents in an after-school setting, giving them a conversational framework to talk about sex with their children.

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  • Attitudes Toward Female Genital Mutilation Changing in Ethiopia

    January 05, 2017 |

    Voice of America (VOA) |

    Multi-Media |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: Ethiopia

    An estimated 200 million woman have undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a procedure which can lead to “hemorrhaging, scarring, infections and psychological trauma.” However, one nonprofit, called KMG, has made giant strides in their community and reduced the practice from 97 percent to five percent. How do you change FGM? You talk. “We don’t dictate, we just discuss,” said the founder.

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  • Cloud Catchers In Peru

    January 01, 2017 |

    BBC |

    Radio |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: Peru, Villa Lordes, Lima Metropolitan Area

    Abel Cruz "catches" clouds on his fog net farm to help provide free water for his community in a slum on the outskirts of Lima, where access to water is very limited and costly. While this solution may never compete with large scale and traditional technologies, many argue there is enormous potential for this simple concept in certain, rural areas of the world.

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  • We finally have an effective Ebola vaccine. The war on the disease is about to change.

    December 22, 2016 |

    Vox |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Guinea

    In Guinea, scientists were ready to test a new vaccine but due to the decline of cases of ebola there were too few cases to run a meaningful traditional randomized study. Using ring vaccination, a public health method used to eradicate smallpox in the 1970s, the scientists were able to test the vaccine which is now considered a safe and 100% effective vaccine.

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