At the end of every month, I summarize local, national and international “stories of need” from news sites, blogs, press releases and editorials. The following are some of August’s most need-in-the-news-worthy stories:
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC — Thousands have been forced to flee their villages as sectarian violence continued.
NAURU Island — Prisoners held in shocking conditions on this tiny Pacific island originally sought asylum in Australia.
INDIA — Tens of thousands of Dalits in Gujarat state demonstrated for their freedom from caste discrimination.
NIGERIA — In the fight against Muslim extremism, the Nigerian government has been accused of mass killings.
SAUDI ARABIA — 16,000 migrant workers have found themselves stranded.
SYRIA — In Aleppo, besieged residents were forced to cook and eat leaves. Among those under siege was this young boy.
MIGRANT CRISIS — Who is truly to blame for the current epidemic in people smuggling in North Africa and the Middle East?…Meanwhile, Italy’s asylum system is beyond strained.
![Flags and athletes galore at the Rio Olympic games. (By Agência Brasil Fotografias (Terminam os Jogos Olímpicos Rio 2016, via Wikimedia Commons)](https://everydayepics.com//wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Terminam_os_Jogos_Olímpicos_Rio_2016_28527566543-300x200.jpg)
At times, what gets lost in the concern and clamor over major local, national and international events and issues, are ordinary people, communities, businesses and other groups doing extraordinary things. Here are a few I’ve heard about recently:
FRESNO (California) — Jalen Bailey, 8, started a bakery so he could buy his mom a house.
NORTHERN LIBYA — Ruta Fisehaye, 24, originally of Eritrea, recently escaped slavery at the hands of ISIS. This is her story.
AURORA (Colorado) — Sarah Jackson started a volleyball league to help fund her passion, running Casa de Paz, a refuge for family members of detained immigrants. (Note: I got a chance to meet Sarah a few years ago and she is the real deal!)
AMATRICE (Italy) — Chefs worldwide have added Spaghetti All’Amatriciana to their menus to help Amatrice, the Italian town devastated by a recent earthquake.
SYRIA — The “White Helmets” volunteer rescue and humanitarian group daily brave bombs and bullets “run toward death” in helping the injured.
BRISBANE (Australia) — Nic Marchessi started a mobile laundry service for people who are homeless.
ST. LOUIS (Missouri) — A mobile food pantry with Operation Food Search reached kids this summer who might otherwise not have had access to nutritious meals.
POLAND — Piotr Malachowski won a silver medal in Rio, then announced he was auctioning it off to help a 3-year-old suffering from retinoblastoma.
BATON ROUGE (Louisiana) — In the midst of some of the worst flooding on record, the all-volunteer “Cajun Navy” has been busy.
- Stories worth reflection:
THE LAST EARN LEAST — Early childhood educators earn the least over their lifetimes of any graduates with college degrees.
LAND OF OPPORTUNITY: COSTA RICA — It’s little known that this tiny Central American nation provides asylum for thousands of people escaping its Latin and South American neighbors.
HOUSING COSTS INCREASE, AGAIN — This is a ubiquitous sort of headline, unfortunately, in the midst of an official crackdown on people who are homeless.
REMEMBERING A DISASTER — In 1976, the Big Thompson Flood killed 144 people, including several missionaries who were in Colorado for the summer.
GOLD MEDAL IN…EVICTIONS? — In the run-up to the Rio Olympics, apparently the government of Brazil specialized in clearing out undesirables.
RIGHT SIDE OF JUSTICE? — Hindsight is of course 20/20, but according to this column, American Christians as a whole have long struggled to be on the right side of history where issues of justice are concerned.
MILLIONS UNDER MAO — Remembering the worst mass murder in history.