2 . One Sunday, we arrived home from a wedding to find our neighbors siting among a pile of buckets, bot les, and anything they could fill water in. After inquiring, they said they had been waiting for the water truck. In some parts of Johannesburg, South Africa, homes have not had water in their taps for weeks and months on end.

Thankfully, my dad’s planning ahead blessed our home with a precious borehole (钻井) that provides us with freshwater every day. Sometimes, because we are off the grid (网格), we are not even aware of what is happening around us, especially with the lack of water-until we see people queuing up, waiting for the water trucks the government sends. Often, the trucks are late or run out of water before reaching our street.

In the spirit of Ubuntu, a Zulu (祖鲁语) term meaning humanity that also translates to: “I am because we are”, we encouraged the neighbors to collect their water from our borehole. We opened the gate and connected the pipe. Very quickly, the word spread, and old and young gathered with various-sized containers to collect this life-giving liquid. There was much laughter and chatter, along with some singing as bucket after bucket was filled. It was heartwarming to watch the young help the elderly carry their water home before returning for their own bucket. And as long as our family’s borehole is working, we practice Ubuntu.

“It is not safe to let strangers on to your property,” some say. But humanity drives us to take the risk because the burden is lessened when shared. It is what we need for our collective survival.

A simple act of sharing water has spread hope in the community that we can overcome the difficulties we face together.

3 . After spending his career as a chef and working as the Vice President of Food and Beverage at FireKeepers Casino Hotel in Battle Creek, Michigan, Michael McFarlen saw how much food would get thrown away from the Casino’s restaurant every day.

Unfortunately, throwing away perfectly good food is extremely common within the restaurant industry. Yet it was always something that bothered McFarlen about his work. Actions point, McFarlen decided to get involved with the South Central Food Bank of Michigan Inc. to help give back to those in need. He then became the president on the board and came up with a plan to open a restaurant in the community that would also help support a food bank on the property.

In April of 2016, the FireKeepers Casino Hotel and its owners, the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, bought Fire Station No. 4, a historic firehouse near down town Battle Creek that had been closed for years and was set to be demolished. However, the group bought it before that happened and started to give the historic building a new life.

Renovations on the property lasted about a year. Then on April 19, 2017, the restaurant, which they named The Fire Hub, opened to the public for the first time. At the same time, the food bank, which they named the Kendall Street Food bank, opened its door in the back of the building.

“Anytime you open a new restaurant, you just have to figure a way through that first year,” George said. However, the first year of operation was beyond their expectations. Not only did the restaurant attract customers because of its popularity and sustainability, but the food bank helped more people in the first year than they ever imagined would need its services.

In total, about 375 to 400 households get help from the food bank every single month. “We’re able to cater to people who are working, but still need a little help during the month,” McFarlen told Second Wave media. To better fit the need of the majority of people using their services, the food bank was designed to look like a small market.

4 . On that hot August day in 2023, as ash rained down and flames closed in, Jim Rhodes didn’t want to be anywhere but Coulterville. “My kid called from Alabama. We first heard about the fire from him,” Rhodes recalls. “He said, ‘Evacuate(撤离)!’I said, ‘Evacuate? To where?’”

Coulterville is a tiny town located among dry hills where local people raise cattle and other livestock. It has a main street, a park and a museum. It’s got a cafe, a grocery shop and a post. And with summer temperatures routinely topping 100 degrees, it has fires—sometimes big fires..

Eventually, this big fire got a name: the Moc Fire, for the tiny town of Moccasin-where it began as a brush fire.

It burnt for 10 days, consuming almost 3,000 acres. Rhodes woke to find his truck covered in ashand the news was broadcasting evacuation orders. Ranchers(牧场主) across the region were fighting to protect their animals, loading them into the truck or just setting them loose to find safety. Volunteers were readying fairgrounds nearby to shelter animals. Already they were filling up with dogs, cats, chickens, horses, cattle, goats, sheep and rabbits.

As residents and animals were brought out, firefighters poured in. “With them came the biggest bulldozer(挖 土机)I’ve ever seen,” says Rhodes. “And they were sent to cut the firebreak that could save the town. We knew that if it made the cut, we’d all have to get out of here.”

The situation was clear. The danger was growing. But slowly Rhodes realized that he hadn’t come to Coulterville just to leave when the town needed him. He stayed, joining the handful of residents who gathered around the main street where fire officials posted updates. He knew he could help somebody, somehow.

Around midmorning, a farmer he’d never met came by asking for help with animal evacuation. Rhodes’s phone was still ringing, but he knew what to do. “I hung up my phone, got in the truck and headed down to his farm,” he says.

5 . Jeannie Di Bon has a strong belief that movement heals. Following a 35-year quest for answers, a physical therapist was able to connect the dots of her symptoms by asking just a handful of questions. Finally, armed with an explanation, the diagnosis of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) was more of a relief than a surprise. Since qualifying as a yoga instructor in 2008, Di Bon has seen the condition appear in various ways among her clients.

Thought to be the most common of 13 known subtypes of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), the hEDS connective tissue disorder is most often associated with joint hypermobility, instability, chronic pain, and dislocations. However, those impacted can face multi-systemic symptoms and co-morbidities, such as gastrointestinal (肠胃的), and neurological disturbances, presenting a wide range of severity.

Despite yielding positive results, as Di Bon’s work with hEDS clients increased, she began to notice gaps in her teaching, and set out to address them. “That’s why I started to look more into the mind, into the breath, and relaxation... and modify the exercises so that they were safe and suitable for somebody who is maybe feeling very unstable.”

Having experienced her own difficulties navigating the healthcare system, Di Bon has been thinking about why so many with EDS carve out a vocation linked to the disorder. “I think it happens because we go through such a personal struggle to find information, to figure it out. For me personally, I just want to share that.” The Wimbledon native is constantly seeking a greater understanding of the body, currently studying for an MSc in Pain Management alongside her multi-hyphenate lifestyle as an author, movement therapist, app founder, and award-winning community champion. But, through her six principles of pain-free movement, Di Bon offers a sincere message of hope.

“We can always change something that would make your life better. Even if it’s the tiniest thing. I work with people who are bed bound, who have had to give up work, who are house bound, and we are working together to make their lives more fulfilling, and to give them a better quality of life.”

7 . On a bright September day in the French Alps in 2022, John McAvoy was 38 kilometres into a very exhausting ultramarathon through rough mountain paths. Battling tiredness, he pushed his body and mind through the final leg of the race. With the finish arch in the famous town of Chamonix just four kilometres away and the cloud-topped peak of Mont Blanc high over him, McAvoy welled up with emotion.

In that moment, he felt so free and alive. It was quite the opposite from where his life had been a decade before. He had just been released from prison after serving a 10-year sentence.

Now 40 years old, McAvoy has spent the last 10 years rebuilding his life from one of crime to one with purpose. It was on this day, while running the ultramarathon, that he realized how impactful conquering (征服) this mountain run could be for inner-city kids like him. After all, sport had helped him live a normal life again and open up his world. It could do the same for others.

With the help of Youth Beyond Borders, McAvoy started the Alpine Run Project, which recently led 12 disadvantaged British young people through their own Mont Blanc races. The participants, from refugees (难民) to young reformed criminals and those who grew up in Children’s home, were matched with coaches, consultants and physiotherapists. After a six-month training program, the youth travelled to the Alps to meet up with McAvoy for their race.

McAvoy says the highlight of this project for him was watching Yasmin Mahamud, a 20-year-old refugee from Syria, run through the finish arch and into the arms of her new friends. It was a life-changing high for Mahamud, too-inspiring her to keep running, take up martial arts and go to university to study physiotherapy.

“It changed my point of view on life, says Mahamud. Pushing herself to complete the race gave her a brief experience of her own potential through hard work and devotion.” I will always be thankful to John for giving me this opportunity and guidance.

9 . When Mark Anthony Gonzales saw a police officer in need of assistance, every element of the moral code installed in him through his Brazilian jiu-jitsu (巴西柔术) training — morality, courage, benevolence (仁爱) — told him to stop his car and lend a hand, even though his wife, Rachel Ortiz, and his four kids were in the car.

The suspect, a balding man of medium build, was running from a police officer in San Antonio, Texas. Gonzales slowed down. So did the man being chased — to avoid running into Gonzales’s minivan. That hesitation allowed the officer to catch up and take the suspect to the ground. But Gonzales quickly realized that the officer did not have control of the situation with the suspect struggling fiercely.

Gonzales put his vehicle in park and jumped out, as did Ortiz. The first thing Gonzales did was identify himself and spell out his intention to make it two-on-one in the officer’s favor and not the other way around.

Then, with the man on his back and the officer struggling to control the man’s upper body, Gonzales put his weight on the man’s legs. Seconds later, when the suspect rolled onto his stomach, Gonzales used techniques he’d learned in the gym: digging his knee into the suspect’s el bow and pulling the suspect’s head toward him to maintain control from the side. He then applied an underhook — a jiu-jitsu move where the hands are placed under the opponent’s arm to control the shoulder and upper body — and tugged until, after a few seconds, the suspect’s shoulder gave out. The officer clicked on the handcuffs and the threat was over.

Gonzales had asked his wife to record everything to protect him just in case anything was called into question. But Ortiz posted the video on Facebook, where it attracted over 56 million views.

Among those awed by the video was Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor Rener Gracie, a fourth-degree black belt, who stated: “The combination of Gonzales’s technique and his calm communication with both the officer and suspect is the stuff of legends!”

10 . Food waste is a growing problem throughout the world; on the one hand, we’ve got so many people starving, but on the other hand, in places like Western Europe or the US, people are wasting almost 50% of what they eat. It seems reasonable to find ways to send the excess food to the places where it’s most needed, but that doesn’t happen nearly as much as it should. With that in mind, people in Galdakao, Spain, took action.

They launched what they call the Community Fridge—a regular white fridge placed in the middle of the town where anyone can drop food or leftovers and anyone can come in and take it. This fridge has already saved 300 kg of food in just two months. The service is not a charity — anyone can come and just take whatever food they want.

Of course, there are a few regulations though—you can’t donate raw fish, meat or eggs, for health reasons. Also, all the food has to be within its expiration date and anything homemade should have a label with the ingredients. These are reasonable rules, and so far, the program seems to be enjoying success. Other Spanish cities have expressed interest in adopting their own Community Fridge.

This is not the first time this kind of idea has been put forward. A man in the Saudi city of Hail has also put a fridge outside his house and called on neighbors to fill it with food for the needy.

The idea doesn’t work in the US, and it seems like some people would rather throw food away than risk sharing it with others, but I certainly think this idea is worth spreading. Sure, you need someone to check the contents of the fridge and take out the food that goes bad, but for 150 kg of food per month, with one fridge, I think that’s worth it.