【推荐1】This grandmother may have a new life after a billionaire noticed her determination to help people in an area struck by a hurricane.

The woman, Plaxedes Dilon, is used to walking long distances around her home for work. The 70-year-old woman makes a living by selling clothes. She wakes up at four every morning and travels across the region to do her business. She had just returned to her home in Harare, Zimbabwe earlier this week when she heard about a hurricane on the radio.

The storm, which is currently regarded as one of the worst hurricanes to hit the Southern hemisphere (南半球), blew through parts of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. Upon learning about the result of the storm, Dilon immediately filled a bag with kitchen supplies and clothes that she had intended to sell. She wanted to take them all to a disaster relief area. Because she did not have any money for a bus ticket, she walked for 10 miles and gave the supplies to a local church.

The church praised her good deed by posting a photo of her and her huge supply bag on social media. After it was shared by thousands of people, it finally caught the eye of Strive Masiyiwa. Masiyiwa is currently placed as one of the richest people in Africa by Forbes. He and his company have been putting a great deal of effort into providing aid to those areas in need. Upon reading Dilon’s story on social media, the man promised to reward her for her efforts.

When asked about her good deed, Dilon simply said that it was her duty as a human being to help other people. “Being able to feel each other’s pain and to carry each other’s burden is what makes humans greater and better than other species,” the granny said with a smile. “What you give out in the world is what you receive back.”

【推荐2】“We bend, we don’t break…” the performers sing in the second act of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones.

That message of survival in dark times was well-received by the thousands watching the Metropolitan Opera in New York City this week. Its theater went dark in March, 2020 in reaction to the COVID-19 crisis. It reopened Monday night at its Lincoln Center home.

The showing made Metropolitan Opera history: Blanchard became the first black composer(作曲家) to have his work performed here.

About 4,000 people attended the event. Many in the crowd wore fancy clothes. The fans met with each other warmly, seeming to share in the joy they felt to be back at Lincoln Center. At the end of the opera, the crowd went wild, applauding(鼓掌) for more than eight minutes.

Kasi Lemmons wrote the words to Fire Shut Up in My Bones based on a story by Charles M. Blow, a New York Times opinion writer. Blow and Lemmons both received loud cheers when they appeared on stage with Blanchard.

The night was a great victory for the 59-year-old composer. Like Blow, Blanchard is from Louisiana. That southern state is where the story takes place. This was Blanchard’s second opera after 2013’s Cham pion, based on the life of a professional fighter Emile Griffith.

Blanchard and Lemmons shrink(缩小)a largely descriptive book to some main events in Blow’s telling of his life experience: his family life as the youngest of five children, his religion and his time in college. It also explores Blow’s search for love. The audience’s biggest reaction was for the dancing college students, who stole the show.

Blanchard and Lemmons move the plot along by having the adult Charles, performed by Will Liverman, sing alongside the young Charles. Walter Russell Ⅲ, a 13-year-old who plays the young Charles, got the biggest cheers individually for his moving performance.

【推荐2】A small recording room outside the Congolese capital Kinshasa has become a safe space for homeless teenagers. They sing about their life on the streets and dream of a better future. The homeless sing about their childhood, living conditions, and living experiences at the Mokili Na Poche cultural center. It is a safe space that allows young people and children to wash and eat.

“It really makes me happy when I sing,” said 19-year-old Mavakala. He has slept on the streets for years. There are more than 20,000 homeless children in Kinshasa. Other teenagers looked on with happiness as Mavakala turned on the recording equipment at the center in late August.

Mavakala dreams of bigger goals after having the chance to record in a real recording space. He said, “It stimulates me and I tell myself — ah, life belongs to (属于) brave persons.” He added that U. S. rapper Lil Wayne and Congolese star Fally Ipupa influenced his music.

He has been coming to the center for the past three years, taking part in the music, art, and reading classes it offers throughout the day. Founder Cedrick Tshimbalanga hopes these skills and daily experiences will help the children build a base for their life and their voices.

“With music, young people are able to talk about their daily experience — everything they live through daily: happiness and sadness,” said Tshimbalanga, who plans to release (发行) their music soon.

The classes are also a chance for young people to make up for lost chances in life. While the Democratic Republic of Congo has made progress in education, over 7 million children aged between 5 and 17 still do not have schooling, UNICEF found.

“Break free from the homeless life, my friend. It’s time to see what the future holds for you,” Mavakala sang during an excitement-filled performance at the center in August.