Positive News
When we open newspapers or watch the news on television it is easy to feel overwhelmed and discouraged by the amount of negative news that is the media’s focus.
And yet, throughout the world, there are many “points of light” – people and organizations who labour hard and tirelessly to make this world one that is brighter, more equitable, and responsive to the needs of the most vulnerable among us. These are the types of inspiring stories this new section will include – they can’t help but bless!
In Morocco, women find a recipe for success and gainful employment
Nora Belahcen Fitzgerald born In Morocco of American parents, founded the Amal for the Culinary Arts association in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2012 as an NGO for give unemployed women hands-on experience at the association’s own restaurant, before finding them a job...
Flowers that bring a smile
Floral Angels, a charity re-purposing flower bouquets is helping to spread joy to others It was only when she read the letter from the women’s refuge that Frances Hunter fully realised the difference she and Floral Angels were making. “We had made up some posies and...
Musicians for World Harmony
Below is an excerpt from a recent feature in “Grateful Changemakers” of Gratefulness.org. We hope this short summary will encourage you to click on the link and read the entire inspiring story and, who knows, perhaps get involved....
The Science of Gratitude: How being grateful directly affects our brain
How many times do you give thanks in your life? Being grateful is not only a nice gesture, it actually creates positive changes in the neurological structure of your brain. This powerful practice can have a lasting stimulation of the feelings of joy and motivation and...
How a nightmare childhood inspired one-of-a-kind gifts
“I bless children in foster care, that the challenges of their past weigh not unduly on their future. I bless the hosting families that they may welcome their foster child with gentleness, deep compassion and caring and an understanding of their special needs.”...
Costa Rica to ban fossil fuels and become world’s first decarbonized society
from The Independent - May 10, 2018 “…we bless the human race in its ability to exercise wise stewardship in all areas of the environment.” Excerpt from https://pierrepradervand.com/365-blessings-to-heal-myself-and-the-world/ Costa Rica’s new president has announced a...
Heated floors and pillow-top mattresses… in prison
March 8, 2018, CNN News Norway's prison system is designed with three core values in mind: normality, humanity and rehabilitation. The point of incarceration in Norway, they say, is to make inmates "better neighbors" once they are released - and they take that mission...
Meet the river people: who speaks for the rivers?
"I bless the scientists and others working to cleanse the oceans, lakes and rivers in their creativity that they may devise ever more efficient ways of protecting this God-given resource.” Pierre Pradervand, from 365 Blessings to Heal Myself and the World Now...
Kyle Maynard: one man’s life with no excuses
March 21, 2014, The Telegraph (One of the UK's leading newspapers) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/culture/noah-movie/10706053/kyle-maynard... Kyle Maynard, 27, was born with a rare condition called congenital amputation that left him without the lower parts of...
Voix Libres in Bolivia: A model for the eradication of violence and extreme poverty
Voix Libres (Free Voices) was founded in 1993 by Marianne Sebastien, who is primarily a singer and who has integrated song into her basic development approach with amazing success. Voix Libres’s primary goal was to offer alternatives to child labor in the mines,...
When the Rich Invest in Racial Equity
“The non-dual spirituality of today is necessarily service-oriented. If my neighbor is myself, I cannot just state this in front of my private altar and let it stay there. If spirituality is worth its salt, it will be concerned with some form of active service to the...
Breaking barriers, Arab-Israeli women join movement to wage peace
Frustrated with the peace process, more Arab-Israeli women are joining the ranks of Women Wage Peace, rejecting pressure not to 'normalize' relations with Israeli Jews. Says member Ghadir Hani, “I was born in Akko, a mixed city, and I grew up on the values of...
Tangible Hope for Ethiopian Girls
“If you educate a man, you educate an individual. But if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.” African proverb After Lily Yoseph returned to Kofele, her Ethiopian hometown, she was struck by the poverty in the village, as well as the fact that often girls don’t...
90-Year-Old Czech Grandma Turns Small Village Into Her Art Gallery
By Hand-Painting Flowers On Its Houses “Life and its faculties are not measured by calendars …. Each succeeding year unfolds wisdom, beauty, and holiness.” MBE Anežka (Agnes) Kašpárková, a resident of Louka, a village in the Czech Republic and a former agricultural...
Percolating Peace
For years, Italian coffee giant illy has earned the reputation of a company that prioritizes people over profits. And while it sources its coffee from 25 countries around the globe, Columbia is the place where that philosophy is making a real difference. Ask...
On one tiny Greek island, a warm welcome for Syrian refugees
On Tilos, where fewer than 500 people live (and they're outnumbered by goats 45 to 1), locals have given shelter, jobs, and education to twelve families – and want them to stay. They are the forgotten people – more than 60,000 refugees who have been languishing in...
An unexpected friend at our Awakin Circle
Posted by Neeti S W on Jul 10, 2017 We thought we would post this today, Global Oneness Day 2017, to illustrate how compassion for and acceptance of others can have a healing impact and remind ourselves that we are all ONE. Awakin gatherings started when three friends...
Oil exploration blocked in watershed Supreme Court of Canada ruling on Indigenous rights
In a unanimous decision On July 27, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against oil companies and in favor of the Inuit hamlet of Clyde River in a landmark ruling that will have far-reaching and lasting impacts across Canada in terms of Indigenous rights and resource...
Making a Difference in Senegal
Summary of an article by Amy Yee, Correspondent, CS Monitor, July 20, 2017 Two dozen men and women sit in a circle at a training center an hour’s drive from Dakar, the capital of Senegal. They are Muslim teachers, religious leaders, and community heads from Ghana and...
Teenager Is on Track to Plant a Trillion Trees
March 7, 2017, National Geographic http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/felix-finkbeiner-plant-for-the-planet Children are not often invited to speak to the United Nations General Assembly. But there stood Felix Finkbeiner ... with a somber question about...
‘Forest cities’: the radical plan to save China from air pollution
When Stefano Boeri imagines the future of urban China he sees green, and lots of it. Office blocks, homes and hotels decked from top to toe in a verdant blaze of shrubbery and plant life; a breath of fresh air for metropolises that are of fumes and dust. Last week,...