Mahender Singh Deora / Veerni Institute / Julia Gunther of NPR / Mahender Singh Deora / Veerni Institute
Mahender Singh Deora / Veerni Institute / Julia Gunther of NPR / Mahender Singh Deora / Veerni Institute
Some stories of goats and sodas on our blog find an audience. Sometimes they don’t. And when that happens, our editors are really confused!
That’s why we’re spotlighting the 2021 story, which seems to deserve more page views.
Learn about a German group that teaches refugee women how to ride a bicycle. Help you find lost items such as smartphones and sheep on our Senegalese Facebook page. And the profile of a wheelchair basketball champion who has found a creative way to stay on top of her game during a pandemic.
We hope you find time to read these stories during this holiday season. Who knows, maybe they will be viral.
So you lost your wallet, phone, or horse.Senegal has a Facebook page for that
It started when Mustafa Sane lost her wallet in Dakar. He created the Facebook page “Trouvésou Perdus” (found or lost in French).Some pigeons are still MIA, but it often leads to reunions Published October 3, 2021
Sheep sold in the Dakar market in Senegal. Sheep can be stolen. Owners may post photos on “found and lost” Facebook pages in the hope of regaining the ruminants.
Seyllou / AFP via Getty Images
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Seyllou / AFP via Getty Images
Sheep sold in the Dakar market in Senegal. Sheep can be stolen. Owners may post photos on “found and lost” Facebook pages in the hope of regaining the ruminants.
Seyllou / AFP via Getty Images
These four college freshmen from India have an amazing story
Faced with seemingly insurmountable difficulties, they came from a family enrolled in a top university in the United States. Indian schools gave them a chance. Published November 6, 2021
A 15-year-old girl invented the world-renowned solar ironing cart
Vinisha Umashankar came up with the idea of solar power instead of charcoal to heat iron in the streets. “Iron Max” is the finalist of Prince William’s Earthshot Award and spoke at COP26 in November. Published November 3, 2021
Vinisha Umashankar and her solar ironing cart. She came up with an idea at the age of 12 and worked with an engineer to prototype it. She is currently in Glasgow, Scotland, speaking at the COP26 Climate Change Conference.
Umashankar Sathyakumar
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Umashankar Sathyakumar
Vinisha Umashankar and her solar ironing cart. She came up with an idea at the age of 12 and worked with an engineer to prototype it. She is currently in Glasgow, Scotland, speaking at the COP26 Climate Change Conference.
Umashankar Sathyakumar
They found it! A long-lost album by President Zambia: “We Fight HIV / AIDS”
Kenneth Kaunda talked about HIV when African leaders didn’t even acknowledge the existence of HIV. He also sang about it, made a splash on his 2005 album, and then disappeared. And the search started. Published September 26, 2021
It was like Kenneth Kaunda’s 2005 album. We fight HIV / AIDS, It was gone. But then … it was found! This is the only surviving copy and has been remastered for this year’s re-release.
Allegra Alkov
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Allegra Alkov
It was like Kenneth Kaunda’s 2005 album. We fight HIV / AIDS, It was gone. But then … it was found! This is the only surviving copy and has been remastered for this year’s re-release.
Allegra Alkov
What Happened … A Boldly Declared Woman: “No Sex For Fish”?
Women in Kenyan villages had the radical idea of quitting the habit of exchanging sex with fish for sale. What if they own their own boat? They were very successful. Then there was a series of terrible setbacks. Published September 19, 2021
Rebbeccah Atieno stands on one of the No Sex for Fish women’s boats. Once a proud boat owner, she says she lost her home when Lake Victoria wiped out the village. Her boat no longer works. She currently works on a rice farm and sells food at the kiosk to earn a living. A mother of a 6-year-old widow, she is worried about how to pay her tuition without fishing income.
NPR’s Yulia Gunzer
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NPR’s Yulia Gunzer
Rebbeccah Atieno stands on one of the No Sex for Fish women’s boats. Once a proud boat owner, she says she lost her home when Lake Victoria wiped out the village. Her boat no longer works. She currently works on a rice farm and sells food at the kiosk to earn a living. A mother of a 6-year-old widow, she is worried about how to pay her tuition without fishing income.
NPR’s Yulia Gunzer
“Beautiful feelings”: German refugee women learn the joy of riding a bicycle
They come from a country where the idea of biking girls is often taboo. Currently, a group called Bikeygees teaches them to master the pedals. For new riders, it’s a lifelong dream come true. Published August 22, 2021
Volunteers and trainees from the group Bikeygees in a park in Berlin in July. This organization teaches German refugee women how to ride a bicycle. Iraqi refugee trainee Shapol Bakir-Rasoul is holding the Bikeygees sign with its founder Annette Krüger. Behind it is the volunteer Shaha Karev, a refugee from Iraq.
Deborah Amos / NPR
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Deborah Amos / NPR
Volunteers and trainees from the group Bikeygees in a park in Berlin in July. This organization teaches German refugee women how to ride a bicycle. Iraqi refugee trainee Shapol Bakir-Rasoul is holding the Bikeygees sign with its founder Annette Krüger. Behind it is the volunteer Shaha Karev, a refugee from Iraq.
Deborah Amos / NPR
This teen is being driven into the water because of a pandemic.Her school helps her resist
She is one of 110 girls in a boarding school run by the Veerni Institute in India. When the blockade was struck, they were sent home to their village, where child marriages were rampant. Published August 12, 2021
Komal Rana, 19, a student of the Veerni Institute program, has been forced to marry since the Indian pandemic blockade forced her to return to the village of Jhalamand near Jodhpur.
Mahender Singh Deora / Veerni Institute
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Mahender Singh Deora / Veerni Institute
Komal Rana, 19, a student of the Veerni Institute program, has been forced to marry since the Indian pandemic blockade forced her to return to the village of Jhalamand near Jodhpur.
Mahender Singh Deora / Veerni Institute
Shoot that invisible ball!How Top Wheelchair Players Continue to Play Games in Blockade
Sinet An and her Cambodian basketball teammate won their first big international victory in late 2019. Then a COVID occurred. Now they are practicing through Zoom — and they dream of returning to court. Published July 5, 2021
Born with a disability, Cineto Ann is the star of the Cambodian women’s wheelchair basketball team, who celebrated her first international tournament victory just before the pandemic. With Cambodia blocked, she honed her skills in a virtual practice session from her home in the village of Chuok, Kandal Province. Above: Practice session on June 24th.
NPR’s Cindy Liu
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NPR’s Cindy Liu
Born with a disability, Cineto Ann is the star of the Cambodian women’s wheelchair basketball team, who celebrated her first international tournament victory just before the pandemic. With Cambodia blocked, she honed her skills in a virtual practice session from her home in the village of Chuok, Kandal Province. Above: Practice session on June 24th.
NPR’s Cindy Liu
Buried in the worst sandstorm in 10 years in Mongolia
Even the rescue team was unable to move forward with one of the most intense of the many sandstorms this spring. Nomads lost their herds (estimated 1.6 million livestock) and their lives. Published May 30, 2021
Sandstorms move the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.
Mark Guitard / Getty Images
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Mark Guitard / Getty Images
Sandstorms move the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.
Mark Guitard / Getty Images
How sewing machines empowered African women and gave them fashion credibility
In The African Lookbook, Catherine McKinley bends, stretches and tears the structure of what mainstream history has told about African women in the garment industry. Published May 13, 2021
Untitled photos from 1956 to 1957.
Seydou Keïta / SKPE—Courtesy: CAAC—Pigozzi Collection
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Seydou Keïta / SKPE—Courtesy: CAAC—Pigozzi Collection
Untitled photos from 1956 to 1957.
Seydou Keïta / SKPE—Courtesy: CAAC—Pigozzi Collection
Comic: My job is to check the number of deaths from COVID. Why am I insensitive to numbers?
Every week I check for the latest deaths from COVID-19 for NPR. After a while, I didn’t feel sad about the numbers. I felt numbness. I wanted to understand why and how to overcome that numbness. Published April 25, 2021
