OneWorld.net (U.S.)

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 11 (IPS) - "Moving," "rewarding," "therapeutic" are some of the terms used to describe their volunteer work by some of the women taking part in the Storytelling Grandmothers Programme aimed at awakening a love of reading among youngsters from poor families in Argentina.

HANOI, Oct 30 (IRIN) - While residents in Vietnam's low-lying coastal provinces were riding out Typhoon Ketsana, few knew that upriver the storm had unleashed a new hazard.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Oct 26 (IRIN) - Thousands of displaced children from South Waziristan have received measles vaccinations for the first time.

HARADH, Oct 20 (IRIN) - Fatma Abdullah's daughters Salma, aged 9, and Khadija, 11, are going to school for the first time in their lives in al-Mazraq camp for internally displaced persons in northern Yemen.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 8 (New America Media) - Trained mental health professionals find it difficult to diagnose depression in minorities, most of who are already reluctant to seek psychiatric care, because the psychiatric framework for evaluating behavior is Euro-centric.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 21 (IPS) - In wealthy Malaysia that employs over 4 million Asians to service its high-rolling lifestyle, a tiny indigenous tribe is fighting for its survival against state inaction and bureaucratic apathy, as well as marauding giant multinationals and timber loggers.

MONROVIA, Sep 14 (IPS) - From Monrovia's highest hill, the long sliver of Atlantic Ocean shoreline at the mouth of the Mesurado River, with its aqua blue waves, golden sand and wooden fishing boats, looks like paradise. But this is West Point; one of Monrovia's most impoverished and polluted slums, and it is not paradise.

WASHINGTON, Sep 4 (OneWorld.net) - For many at last month's regional soccer tournament in Kenya's Dago village, the side event was a lifesaver; hundreds of local people received free medical checkups, eye and dental exams, and HIV testing and counseling.

COLOMBO, Sep 3 (IPS) - It is a walk that no one has taken in the last quarter of a century. The nation having been beset by a bloody sectarian war, who would have thought of travelling the length of Sri Lanka south to north, let alone walk the distance, in the name of peace?

CUZCO, Aug 27 (IPS) - Little by little, rural communities in southern Peru are beginning to take advantage of the Internet to acquire new knowledge and increase their income. But the use of computers in rural areas faces numerous challenges, from illiteracy to fear of the unknown or questions about the sustainability of these new communications initiatives once they are left in local hands.

BULAWAYO, Aug 24 (IPS) - Before, Zimbabwean families would take their ill relatives to rural clinics where medication was readily able and payment plans lenient. But now they are taking them there to die.

Special Report
WASHINGTON, Aug 14 (OneWorld.net) - In Ethiopia, coffee growers know that what is good for the environment is also good for business.

WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (IPS) - Basir "Steve" Ahmed was returning from a bomb-clearing mission in Khogyani district in northeastern Afghanistan when a suicide bomber blew up an explosive-filled vehicle nearby. The blast flipped the military armoured truck Ahmed was riding in three or four times, and filled it with smoke.

WASHINGTON, Aug 12 (OneWorld.net) - A young widow in Eastern Congo, expelled by her husband's family after his death, was able to secure a chance at a better life after pleading her case before a local conflict resolution committee. The informal justice centers' decisions may be nonbinding, but they are adhered to 90 percent of the time.

WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (OneWorld.net) - Civilians are paying the heaviest price as aid groups are forced to scale back operations in several volatile regions of Pakistan. Impunity has fueled attacks, say rights activists.

WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (OneWorld.net) - On the 64th anniversary of the U.S. nuclear attack on Hiroshima that killed 140,000 civilians, a disarmament group is urging people to write to U.S. President Barack Obama and ask him to reduce weapons stockpiles and ban explosions of nuclear devices.

Special Report
WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (OneWorld.net) - The 60 low-income families forced to abandon their homes in Phnom Penh's "Group 78" are just the latest victims in a string of mass evictions carried out by the Cambodian government in recent years, say international observers.

WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (OneWorld.net) - An increasing number of workers in the United States are choosing to endure abuse and exploitation rather than join the ranks of the unemployed.

ASUNCIÓN, Aug 2 (IPS) - Indigenous families living in a squatter settlement on the outskirts of the Paraguayan capital are organising themselves, and now have a community soup kitchen and are producing and selling handicrafts. They don't want to return to panhandling on the streets of Asunción, so far from their home villages.

Special Report
WASHINGTON, Jul 30 (OneWorld.net) - A sewing center in the Democratic Republic of Congo is giving women the skills to start a new life and helping them cope with the mental and physical trauma caused by decades of conflict.

WASHINGTON, Jul 28 (OneWorld.net) - Despite a recent surge in aid for the millions of Vietnamese disabled by Agent Orange -- an herbicide used militarily by the United States during the Vietnam War, environment and health advocates say survivors' needs greatly exceed what is being offered.

WASHINGTON, Jul 27 (OneWorld.net) - Much has changed for 64-year-old Moh Mariko since she joined an all-women's financial savings group in her village in Mali. In addition to money for sick relatives and children's school fees, Mariko now has a new-found sense of pride and independence. 

WASHINGTON, Jul 24 (OneWorld.net) - After washing your clothes, hanging them to dry rather than using an electric drier will conserve energy and reduce your utilities bill. A sustainable living group offers tips to help you take this green step.

WASHINGTON, Jul 22 (OneWorld.net) - To empower underprivileged teenagers and address widespread suffering from easily preventable diseases, an organization in Kenya is preparing to hold next month its second youth soccer tournament combined with a conference on healthy living.

WASHINGTON, Jul 21 (OneWorld.net) - Halit Ferizi, president of a handicapped rights group in Kosovo, has fought tirelessly on behalf of the differently abled in a country still recovering from the conflict of the late 1990s. In the process he has become "something of a poster child for reconstruction," says an international human rights group.

WASHINGTON, Jul 21 (OneWorld.net) - Erik Choquette, a 17-year-old California high school student, has won first prize in a video contest on the topic of putting the nuclear weapons "genie" back in the bottle.

WASHINGTON, Jul 17 (OneWorld.net) - Health care advocates are launching a new campaign for the development of better treatments, drugs, and diagnosis for those affected by Chagas, one of the world's most neglected diseases that kills about 14,000 people every year.

Special Report
WASHINGTON, Jul 15 (OneWorld.net) - Most women in Burkina Faso spend their days growing food for their families, but they cannot own the land they cultivate. In this diary from the field, the president of an international development organization explores agriculture in the impoverished West African nation.

WASHINGTON, Jul 15 (OneWorld.net) - A group of Mauritanian activists was given the 2009 Anti-Slavery Award in recognition of their 15-year fight to eradicate slavery in the West African country, where more than half a million people are born into and continue to live as slaves.

In Brief
WASHINGTON, Jul 14 (OneWorld.net) - Pakistan refugees beginning to return home after fleeing fighting two months ago in the Swat Valley region are expressing both hope that the suffering is finally over and apprehension about the destruction and insecurity they will find upon their return.

In Brief
WASHINGTON, Jul 10 (OneWorld.net) - Tens of thousands of advocates have urged U.S. lawmakers to support a bill that would provide 100 million people worldwide access to clean water and sanitation by 2015.

In Brief
WASHINGTON, Jul 9 (OneWorld.net) - Teams of medical workers in Pakistan are doing their best to care for more than 1 million additional people displaced by fighting in the Swat Valley. International medical workers are staffing new medical facilities and a 24-hour delivery room to help meet the needs of patients. 

WASHINGTON, Jul 6 (OneWorld.net) - Five companies recently released the first line of Fairtrade-certified beauty products in the United Kingdom. Consumers can now buy lip balm, lotion, shower gel, and face masks made in a way that benefits small farmers and the environment.

In Brief
WASHINGTON, Jul 6 (OneWorld.net) - A "path-breaking" helpline -- the first of its kind in India -- is offering counseling and support to lesbian women in the South Asian nation, where gay sex was decriminalized last week.

In Brief
WASHINGTON, Jul 2 (OneWorld.net) - Follow a diverse group of immigrants and refugees as they leave their homes and families behind and learn what it means to be new Americans in the 21st century. The seven-part series launches on most PBS stations across the United States this weekend. 

In Brief
WASHINGTON, Jun 29 (OneWorld.net) - Desperation is mounting among unregistered Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, who fled persecution in Burma but now endure violence and intimidation, forced relocation, and scarcity of food, water, and other services in makeshift camps where they've sought shelter, reports a medical aid group.

WASHINGTON, Jun 26 (OneWorld.net) - A children's center in Nepal is opening a new world of opportunities to young people like Maya Waiba, who was less than 10 years old when lured into an abusive job in a carpet factory. Now Maya is getting an education and dreaming of a bright future.

In Brief
WASHINGTON, Jun 22 (OneWorld.net) - A typical American child gets over five servings of pesticide residue every day, notes the "What's On My Food?" Web site, where consumers can find information about pesticides used on various foods and the health effects of each chemical.

In Brief
WASHINGTON, Jun 19 (OneWorld.net) - The mid-sized Chilean city of Temuco has the fourth most polluted air in the country due to the widespread use of firewood for fuel, a common practice worldwide that can cause health problems and contributes to global warming.

In Brief
WASHINGTON, Jun 18 (OneWorld.net) - The world's first dance/movement therapy group for former boy combatants is helping youth in Koindu, Sierra Leone -- including 17-year-old Jeremiah -- start down the difficult path of healing and rebuilding their lives.

WASHINGTON, Jun 15 (OneWorld.net) - At a time when few South Africans were speaking openly about HIV/AIDS, Thembi Ngubane created a year-long radio diary chronicling her life as a young woman, mother, daughter, and partner living with the disease. A fearless activist at home and abroad, Ngubane passed away last week at the age of 24. 

In Brief
WASHINGTON, Jun 15 (OneWorld.net) - Sex tourism to Ukraine is on the rise, but feminists in the country are fighting back, staging provocative protests that draw media attention, raising awareness through online social networks, and offering services to trafficked women.

In Brief
WASHINGTON, Jun 15 (OneWorld.net) - As the current economic crisis deepens, businesses run by their consumers and producers -- also known as cooperatives -- are once again on the rise, offering stable sources of employment, goods, and services.

[OneWorld.net - In Brief] A focus on fair, sustainable, and local business practices sets Justice Clothing apart from the crowd; the Minnesota-based company sells sweat-shop free apparel made by unionized workers in the United States and Canada.

[OneWorld.net - In Brief] After 17 years of neglect by the federal government, a Honduran community has held local elections to select representatives that will fight for legal recognition and basic services such as health care and running water.

[OneWorld.net - In Brief] Think twice about your seafood today -- World Oceans Day. The next time you're at the seafood counter or ordering a meal, text FishPhone first to find out if the species you are about to buy comes from an environmentally friendly fishery.

[OneWorld.net - In Brief] Pakistani children whose lives have been thrown into disarray by the recent fighting are finding a measure of stability in tent-schools at the refugee camps where they now live. Over 2.5 million people have been displaced by the conflict in the northern Swat valley.

OneWorld.net, Jun 3 (In Brief) - Simple and culturally sensitive solutions implemented by an aid group in Pakistan are helping families uprooted by conflict save money, avoid assault, and stay healthier with better access to sanitation facilities.

OneWorld.net, Jun 3 (In Brief) - In Indonesia, food carts near schools offer cheap, high sugar snacks to children, contributing to high rates of malnutrition and anemia, but one humanitarian group is building kid-friendly food carts that will provide nutritious alternatives.

OneWorld.net, Jun 3 (In Brief) - Reducing your carbon footprint while saving your hard-earned dollars has never been easier, says an environmental organization, thanks to 13 simple strategies every American can employ to go green.

OneWorld.net, Jun 1 (In Brief) - OneWorld.net's new Sri Lanka Witness Web site provides a space where people can come together to find the latest news about the country's humanitarian situation, share their thoughts and experiences, and build a united movement for lasting peace and development.

WASHINGTON, Jun 1 (OneWorld.net) - In India, teams of "barefoot solar engineers" are bringing electricity to rural villages. The project -- part of a larger campaign to help Indian villagers be self-sufficient -- trains women to build and maintain solar energy units.

OneWorld.net, May 29 (In Brief) - State-sponsored child labor in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan remains widespread, despite a government ban enacted last year in response to international criticism.

WASHINGTON, May 28 (OneWorld.net) - Loopholes in immigration policy are preventing U.S. military personnel from becoming citizens even after years of service to the country, reported a civil rights organization this Memorial Day.

WASHINGTON, May 26 (OneWorld.net) – Prevented from attending school due to ongoing violence in northwest Pakistan, 11-year-old Malalay speaks out about peace and her right to an education.

WASHINGTON, May 21 (OneWorld.net) - Large numbers of Somali refugees like Yahya Iman have resettled in the United States, but freedom from war and persecution are not always without a price. Iman's mentally ill sister was put under the care of Minnesota social services, and the family is finding their culture at odds with the state's efforts to meet her needs.

OneWorld.net, May 22 (In Brief) - Thousands of South Asian migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates are facing exploitation and abuse by construction companies and labor-supply agencies as they build the "island of happiness," a $27 billion tourist destination.

WASHINGTON, May 20 (OneWorld.net) - Despite a lack of regional consensus on water allocation, the Kazakh government is powering ahead to address an annual flood-drought cycle that has, in some years, forced thousands from their homes.

WASHINGTON, May 19 (OneWorld.net) - In Peru, many women -- such as Rosa Pacheco -- are navigating the current economic challenges by running small businesses, which experts say are better able to weather financial hardships.

WASHINGTON, May 15 (OneWorld.net) - A dramatic increase in the availability of AIDS treatment in Ethiopia has had the unintended consequence of spreading thin the country's qualified healthcare workers. But a new, toll-free hotline is helping to fill the gaps -- especially in remote areas of the country.

WASHINGTON, May 10 (OneWorld.net) - Single mother of three Doris Mashego is also founder, teacher, and headmaster of the local nursery school in Uta, South Africa, working to reverse the area's longstanding trends of low literacy and high unemployment.

WASHINGTON, May 8 (OneWorld.net) - Economic training programs are empowering women in the Middle East and North Africa to succeed professionally despite the significant obstacles that prevent their widespread participation in the paid workforce.

WASHINGTON, May 6 (OneWorld.net) - Sadiqa Basiri Saleem's efforts to educate girls in her native Afghanistan -- originally informal classes for 36 girls in an abandoned mosque -- have grown to a network of six schools with 2,870 pupils.

WASHINGTON, May 6 (OneWorld.net) - The days are busy but the work is rewarding for Dr. Hnin Phyu, who oversees two clinics in refugee camps housing 25,000 people along the Burma-Thailand border.

WASHINGTON, May 5 (OneWorld.net) - A mapping project has brought together information about poverty and wetlands in Uganda, showing how different environmental policies can help bolster the economy in various parts of the country.

WASHINGTON, May 4 (OneWorld.net) - Couples can save 40 percent of their wedding costs by going green, says Kate Harrison, environmentally friendly entrepreneur and author of The Green Bride Guide, in this interview.

WASHINGTON, Apr 22 (OneWorld.net) - A wheelchair-using civil society leader from Gabon, two tribal land rights activists from a community in Suriname founded by freed slaves, and an Indonesian woman developing community-based waste management systems are just three of seven activists recently awarded for their grassroots environmental work.

WASHINGTON, Apr 17 (OneWorld.net) - Go beyond the card and flowers this Mother's Day with a unique, socially and environmentally sustainable gift from OneWorld's Gift Guide!

WASHINGTON, Apr 16 (OneWorld.net) - Muslim preachers in Malaysia are using teachings from the Koran to raise awareness and help preserve endangered species, many of which reside in the Southeast Asian island nation.

WASHINGTON, Apr 14 (OneWorld.net) - An internationally renowned play about women's bodies, sexuality, and sexual violence recently debuted in Bishek, Kyrgyzstan, seeking to foment dialogue and change on women's rights in Central Asia.

WASHINGTON, Apr 10 (OneWorld.net) - A group of Mumbai business students have come up with a plan to combat widespread malnourishment, offering 10-cent nutritious meals to the city's million-plus slum dwellers.

WASHINGTON, Apr 8 (OneWorld.net) - A Palestinian aid worker reflects on his discussions with the local women he works with, three months after the Israeli incursion into Gaza.

WASHINGTON, Apr 2 (OneWorld.net) - Kenyan AIDS caregiver Pamela Adoyowas named one of the People of the Year for 2008 by OneWorld readersacross the planet. In this impassioned and insightful dialogue, Adoyoexplains how her rural community is coping with the AIDS epidemic throughopen dialogue, education, and heavy doses of emotional support.

WASHINGTON, Apr 1 (OneWorld.net) - Children orphaned by violence in the disputed Kashmir region situated along the India-Pakistan border are taking strides toward rehabilitation and peace -- on the basketball court.

WASHINGTON, Mar 30 (OneWorld.net) - Small-scale farmers from developing countries around the world are lending their expertise to people in the United Kingdom, who are increasingly growing their own fruits and vegetables to cope with rising prices.

WASHINGTON, Mar 30 (OneWorld.net) - Two U.S. linguists have traveled from Bolivia to India to Siberia to record and digitally preserve languages on the verge of extinction.

WASHINGTON, Mar 27 (OneWorld.net) - Karl Wald's "waste paper" is getting some serious attention. His business, "Mr. Ellie Pooh," sells recycled paper and other products handcrafted primarily out of elephant dung by Sri Lankan artisans.

WASHINGTON, Mar 23 (OneWorld.net) - Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Fatin -- once a university student with high hopes for her future -- has been forced to drop out of school, remain unemployed, and live in perpetual fear of violence.

WASHINGTON, Mar 18 (OneWorld.net) - Tens of thousands of impoverished women farmers from around the globe have demanded ownership of the land they cultivate -- a right withheld from many women in the developing world -- to combat increasing levels of hunger.

WASHINGTON, Mar 16 (OneWorld.net) - Dozens of cured lepers in western India have become financially self-sufficient and are challenging societal taboos since forming a cooperative business to manufacture auto parts.

WASHINGTON, Mar 11 (OneWorld.net) - More than 3,700 Maldivian survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami have moved into new homes on a previously unihabited island that is more resilient to natural disasters.

WASHINGTON, Mar 9 (OneWorld.net) - A short film by five midwives and a doctor in Tanzania documenting the dire conditions of maternal health care in the country has inspired the Tanzanian government to double the number of midwives trained each year.

WASHINGTON, Mar 2 (OneWorld.net) - Thirteen members of the historically marginalized Dalit community in Nepal are harnessing the power of digital media to document their people's struggles and work for social justice.

WASHINGTON, Mar 2 (OneWorld.net) - Three local social entrepreneurs have come up with creative -- and lucrative -- solutions to poor sanitation in their communities in Africa, where six out of ten people do not have access to a sanitary toilet.

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (OneWorld.net) - A humanitarian aid group has opened schools and enrolled thousands of students in remote areas of Afghanistan, where the literacy rate is just 28 percent and girls were previously prohibited from classes.

WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (OneWorld.net) - Thousands of volunteers in Kerala state, southern India, provide palliative care to poor, chronically-ill patients within the confines of their homes. K.M. Basheer, the man behind this medical movement, is a farmer with a modest educational background.

WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (OneWorld.net) - A five-city 'Turning Pain to Power Tour' led by women's rights activist Eve Ensler and Congolese Dr. Denis Mukwege seeks to mobilize resources for the estimated 500,000 women raped over the last decade in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

WASHINGTON Feb 11 (OneWorld.net) - Growing food at home or in community gardens can help you avoid exposure to chemical pesticides, get exercise, and save energy.

WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (OneWorld.net) - If you're looking to stand out this Valentine's Day, check out OneWorld.net's socially and environmentally conscious gift guide, where you can find everything from llamas -- donated in your sweetheart's name to a family in Ecuador -- to Fair Trade soapstone heart boxes from Kenya.

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (OneWorld.net) - Indigenous Guatemalan women that survived the Rio Negro massacres -- hundreds of villagers were killed after refusing to make way for the construction of a dam on their land -- are using a memorial quilt that remembers their loved ones to press the government for reparations.

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (OneWorld.net) - New York recently became the first U.S. city to win an annual international Sustainable Transport Award. The city was honored for expanding the public transit system, increasing bicycle lanes and pedestrian amenities, and recycling asphalt used to repair streets.

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (OneWorld.net) - Social entrepreneur Martin Fisher was named the Person of 2008 by OneWorld readers across the planet. In this spirited and insightful dialogue, Fisher challenges long-held orthodoxies on how best to help people out of poverty, discussing topics from the science of farming in Africa to the business models that work for the world's poorest families.

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (OneWorld.net) - The people of Gaza -- many of them homeless or still lacking basic services like water and electricity -- are laboring to resume their normal lives as schools reopen and hospitals begin to offer routine care a week after the ceasefire between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (OneWorld.net) – A day before Israel declared a ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli media broadcast an anguished phone call from a Palestinian doctor whose home was shelled minutes before he was scheduled to speak on the air with newscasters.

WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (OneWorld.net) - Sharon Vocke, co-owner of a business that sells, installs, and services renewable energy systems, shares her proudest moment as a green business owner -- installing a geothermal energy system at a school for autistic children -- and much more in this interview.

WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (OneWorld.net) - Ahead of the Orthodox Christmas celebrations, Georgians hard hit by the August 2008 conflict with Russia receive food, household items, and other necessities as they struggle to cope with dropping temperatures, hunger, poverty, and emotional healing.

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (OneWorld.net) - Small farmers across Mozambique are taking matters of food security and sovereignty into their own hands by forming community organizations that help families increase production, reduce hunger, improve health, and accrue surplus funds for things like children's school books.

WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (OneWorld.net) - A team of Indian and international environmentalists have embarked on a 2,000 mile cross-country road trip to raise awareness and mobilize Indian youth around climate change.