【推荐3】The South African town Hamburg is situated by one of the most beautiful estuaries (河口) in the Eastern Cape. It’s known for its rich Xhosa culture. It is also home to a group of women who have produced a series of extraordinary artworks that have been exhibited around the world.

Keiskamma Art Project was created to teach local women embroidery (刺绣) skills to help them at a tough time economically and socially, but unexpectedly it has grown into something much bigger. Having been shown at international art galleries, many of their tapestries (挂毯) are now being displayed under one roof for the first time, at an exhibition in Johannesburg.

Their story began in 2000, when Dr. Carol Hofmeyr moved from Johannesburg to Hamburg. She found that the town was struggling with high unemployment and that local women were desperate to find ways to feed their families. Having studied embroidery herself, she hoped that passing on that knowledge to local women would help empower them.

From humble beginnings, more and more women heard about the project through word of mouth. Now, over 150 women are part of the project. Selling their works provides a source of income, but the project has also created a support system for the women.

Initially, the women started out simply creating cushions (坐垫) and small handbags to sell to tourists. Eventually, they started receiving tasks for larger pieces. They were given panels about a meter in size to work on at home. By joining the completed panels together, they created the first of their large works and one of their most celebrated, “The Keiskamma Tapestry”, which tells the history of the Xhosa people who were subjugated (征服) through colonization and the Xhosa British Frontier Wars from 1776 to 1876.

Another celebrated piece is “The Keiskamma Altarpiece”, which was produced by 130 women. The four-meter-high, four-meter-wide piece reveals the struggles that elderly Xhosa women endured when the youth in their community were hit by HIV two decades ago, and they stepped in to care for children.

Recent artworks engage with contemporary issues. “COVID Resilience Tapestry” deals with the pandemic; “A New Earth and Our Sacred Ocean” is a call for environmental consciousness.

【推荐2】I grew up in a remote mountain town in the Philippines. My family led a fairly idyllic life, raising goats and growing vegetables and fruits. My brothers and I would play in the nearby river and mountains, reading and doing all the fun things in the nature without worries.

Later I went to college abroad, and I would go back about once a year to visit. That’s when I started to notice changes in my hometown. I watched the river turn from clear to brown to black. Houses and farms replaced the trees. There was smog, and plastic garbage piled up. Seeing my childhood home go from a clean mountain town to a deforested, polluted, and overcrowded place really impacted me. Over time, I began to see my hometown as a place of unsustainable development.

While I worked on addressing deforestation with the United Nations in Indonesia, I vividly remembered seeing forests burned into black landscapes as far as the eye could see. Experiences like that have both terrified me and lit a fire within me to work harder. Thankfully, I began to see that there is another path. I saw success stories in places I worked-Indonesia, Costa Rica, Ecuador-places that are investing in nature and changing the culture and the mindset of what development looks like. I saw places realizing not only economic benefits-from, say, tourism—but also more benefits of ecosystem services.

The work of WWF and other organizations is critical in promoting success stories according to their local context. Each community, region, and country is different, so solutions must meet their different needs. Coming from a rural community in a developing country gave me a clear outlook on addressing ecology and sustainability issues and is something I carry with me in my work.

【推荐3】Hitting the road early, I stopped by McDonald’s on my way. I picked up my order at the drive-through window and pulled into a parking spot to eat before setting off again.

“Mommy!” a little girl screamed, standing next to an old car parked a few spaces away. “Mommy! The door won’t open!” she screamed again with panic in her voice. Minutes later, I saw Mommy and Daddy appeared from a small area of trees, each having a long thin stick in the hand. Then Daddy used the stick to fumble(胡乱摸找) around the edge of the car window. He tried with the first one long stick and then the other. No luck.

Maybe they needed a wire hanger(衣架). I opened my trunk and got one. I heard a strange sound, but in a hurry I paid no attention and shut the trunk. Daddy’s eyes lit up as I approached with the hanger. Afterwards Daddy began his attempts to put it into the window. Pop! The lock broke open. Mommy and Daddy thanked me warmly. Daddy joked, saying worst of all, his coffee was cold. I waved as they drove off. Bang! Bang! Their old car backfired twice, maybe for celebration.

Heading back to my car, I reached into my pocket for the key. It wasn’t in. I suddenly realized what that strange sound was. The car was locked. It was still early and no one was around. Unsure of how long it would take to wait, I rested against the door and shook my head.

Bang! Bang! There came the old car. As it turned out, Daddy couldn’t abide cold coffee, so he circled back for a fresh cup. By the look on his face, I could tell he knew what had happened. He stood beside my car, hanger in hand, and set to work. He struggled a bit. My car gave him more trouble. But finally, he made it. I smiled my thanks and waved them goodbye!