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“Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth,
"You owe me."
Look what happens with a love like that,
It lights up the whole sky.” -- Hafiz
Hello everyone! Our ‘sky’ this week is lit up with magnanimous acts that highlight generosity of spirit. At a D.C. ice cream store, free scoops are given to those who could use a pick-me-up; in Paris, volunteers plant mini forests to counter climate change; and a daughter, after her father's sudden passing, realizes his bucket list and discovers more of the man he was. It’s been said that the human spirit, just like the ocean, needs inflow and outflow to create energy and foster life. May this week bring opportunities to you for both. Wishing you well!
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Erwan Hesry | Unsplash
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At Charles Foreman's Washington, D.C., US, ice cream shop, nobody walks away without a scoop, even if they can't pay for it. Foreman had lived in the neighborhood for decades and when he lost his job as a chef during the pandemic, he opened the ice cream shop. He has tried to make his shop a bright spot in the neighborhood – a neighborhood in which gun violence has been a troubling problem. So, when he comes across a customer who could use a pick-me-up, he happily offers them a sweet treat – on the house – no questions asked. One day a customer saw him give a free ice cream cone to a child who didn't have any money. The following week, the customer returned with a $100 donation, which was enough to buy about 28 scoops of ice cream. Others have contributed over time as well, including a time when a person bought ice cream for the next person in line and it triggered a day-long sequence of people doing the same. "Everybody kept paying it forward. You start to see the best in people. It was really touching," Foreman said.
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Paris has vowed to plant 170,000 trees by 2026, and French volunteers are using a pioneering Japanese tree-planting method to create pocket forests in the French capital. Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki claims densely planted indigenous species, grown in carefully prepared soil at four different heights, grow up to 10 times faster and capture more carbon than standard forests. The city's first mini-forest, planted in March 2018, is thriving. "Every time we go there we notice more and more insects and birds that weren't there before," says Boomforest volunteer Guillaume Dozier. Over the next three years, volunteers will return to the newly planted forest to weed and monitor progress. In a decade, Boomforest hopes it will look like a 100-year-old natural forest.
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Laura Carney
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When her brother David found their father's bucket list in a brown suede pouch in 2016, 13 years after he was killed by a 17-year-old driver who ran a red light while chatting on his cellphone, Laura Carney set out to complete it. There were 54 unfinished tasks left on the 60-item list written in 1978, the year she was born. She checked off the last item - "have five songs recorded" - on Dec. 27, 2022, in the process having gotten to know her dad in a way she never thought she would. "It helped me understand him better, to see him as a full human being instead of just my embarrassing dad. And doing that helped me to understand myself." She chronicled the journey in an upcoming memoir, "My Father's List," and has written her own bucket list.
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Lindsay Stark | Wikimedia
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Women in Sierra Leone now have equal rights with men to own, lease, or buy land, a huge leap forward for women in the west African country, where at least 95% of land is governed by customary law. Years of advocacy led to the Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment 2021, which provides that a person who discriminates in providing access to land resources, based on gender, can be fined or imprisoned. Women can now be appointed paramount chiefs, and the new law requires 30% representation in public and private offices, including land committees. Gender minister Manty Tarawalli said mens' attitudes have been gradually changing through public participation forums, paving the way for acceptance of the law's provisions.
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Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman | The World
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Special needs children in Ghana often face discrimination in terms of inadequate health care, education and social engagement. Mary Amoah Kufour, whose 20-year-old daughter has autism and needs 24/7 support, is changing that narrative. In 2016, she founded Klicks Africa Foundation, a center for early intervention and support for children under the age of 5 as well as young adults on the autism spectrum. Although Ghana has an inclusive education policy, parents must enroll special needs children in learning centers that can cost more than $3,000 per year. Kufour, who has 400,000 Facebook followers, accommodates families with highly subsidized rates through donations and personal funds. She is not alone in her advocacy efforts. Model and actor Afi Antonio created Mr. & Miss Autism Ghana to promote social inclusion for youth with autism, and hopes the pageant will open more opportunities for them.
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