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"All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us that we are more alike than we are unalike." -- Maya Angelou
Hello everyone and Happy New Year! Our human heart reminds us how alike we are. When a family from South Korea finds themselves stranded in the snow in upstate New York, another family reaches out to help. When a man in Senegal returns home to find a huge loss of trees in his home village, he pulls together the community with a vision to plant 5 million trees. When a couple notices waste from technology, they work with others to reduce it and build a circular economy with second-hand tech. Our hearts know ... and many people in our world are contributing every day to the strengthening of our human heart, and going out of their way to make life beautiful for others. They remind us, anything is possible. Wishing you a wonderful 2023!
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Andreea Popa | Unsplash
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South Korean tourists on their way to Niagara Falls got stuck in the snow during a blizzard. When they knocked on a nearby home to ask for shovels, they were invited in. The homeowners knew this was not a "normal blizzard" and instead of sending them back out, invited the tourists to stay until they would get picked up. For two days, the couple, who are fans of the South Korean cuisine, and the group of tourists talked, watched TV, and cooked South Korean meals together, waiting out the storm until rescuers arrived.
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Curioso Photography | Unsplash
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After working in Europe for a few years, Adama Diémé returned home to Senegal. When he noticed how few trees where left in the villages where there had been hundreds in his youth, he was shocked. Many of the trees have been cut down to build houses or to make charcoal, but no one plants new trees. Adama has now made it his mission to plant 5 million new trees over 5 years. He has started raising money and has been working hard to engage communities across the region. He has taught women in the communities skills to become small-scale farmers. They learned how to plant seeds and how to grow the crops, and are now selling their produce at local markets. Up to 12 kinds of trees are being planted - the varieties depend on the needs of the community and the terrain. "The trees, they are our hope for life."
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Music Magpie
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"It's more important than ever in a cost-of-living and climate crisis to reuse things as much as we can", says Anna Cargan, 35, who lives with her husband and three young children in the UK. "I'd love to see a world where we all see second-hand as first choice." Her tactics this year include buying second-hand tech, including used phones from Music Magpie, which refurbishes about 400,000 tech items a year in two workshops in the UK and one in the US. "The circular economy is at the heart of what we do - reducing e-waste while saving consumers money," says chief sustainability officer Sam Vesey. Businesses are refurbishing second hand electronics as varied as commercial exercise machines and refurbished phones, says this BBC story.
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Brian Yurasits | Unsplash
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Yasmin Schepens, David Papineau, and Isabella Bertold have two things in common: they all live in British Columbia and they all regularly pick up garbage when they are out and about. For Yasmin, it started when she noticed garbage at her favorite beach and cleaned it up. David, a runner, began noticing dumped masks on the sidewalk and started to pick them up. And Isabella, an Olympian in sailing, realized she needed to do her part to fight water pollution. Part of that is picking up garbage. They simply cannot see it and ignore it any longer. "If we commit to doing it and show how we are fitting it into our lives, hopefully, we can sort of influence and encourage some of our fans and followers to do the same."
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Bianca Ackermann | Unsplash
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Mr. Beaky is a budgie, a bird that happens to speak some Aboriginal languages and is the subject of a new book that speaks about what it means to be an Aboriginal person in Australia. Mr. Beaky's human companion is Cassie Leatham; she got him from a pet shop a few years ago and he just started picking up phrases of Indigenous languages she used around her home. Mr. Beaky's message has been very resonant with some fair-skinned Aboriginal children because he is a bit like them. In the wild, budgies are green and yellow while pet budgies can be many colors including blue, white, and lilac. So, like the children, he stands out among his peers. "The message that Mr. Beaky has given them is to stand proud, to stand strong, be confident in yourself and in your skin and it doesn't matter if you don't feel like you're fitting in; you do," said Leatham.
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