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"Nothing renews my faith in humanity more than the exchange of compassion so profound that mere words cannot embrace it." --Tiffany Madison
Hello everyone! At times we may believe ‘big problems’ require ‘big solutions' ... and that can be overwhelming. Our stories this week remind us that small and meaningful steps often create significant and positive shifts in others' lives. In Sweden, a campaign was launched to combat depression. People were encouraged to simply greet each other with a ‘hi’, and research showed that this helped fight widespread loneliness in the country. In West Africa, where a shortage of mental health professionals has left many people untreated, training hairdressers to be ‘mental health ambassadors’ is making a difference. And in the UK, libraries offer a warm space and connection for those struggling to pay heating bills. May we be inspired and remember that in our world today many loving, kind, and compassionate acts are taking place on a big and small scale and that they all matter. May peace and loving kindness fill your week ahead. Wishing you well!
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Josephine Stenersen/The Guardian
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While hobbies keep many in the northern Swedish city of Luleå going through the cold dark winter months, loneliness remains a problem, especially among 16 to 29 year-olds. So authorities in Luleå have launched a campaign to encourage people to say hello to one another. The Säg hej! (say hello!) campaign aims to create a friendlier city by nudging people towards small but significant social interactions. Adverts are running on buses, and workshops are being held in schools. Åsa Koski, who works for Luleå municipality, came up with the idea for the campaign. She wants the city, which is undergoing a period of rapid growth as it tries to attract tens of thousands of new people to work in "green" industry and other services, to stay pleasant, safe and friendly even as it grows. "Research shows that it has an effect on health and often an effect on wanting to help each other. If you say hi to your neighbors you are more likely to help them."
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Heal by Hair
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Joseline de Lima, a single mother of two who was grieving her brother's death and had lost her job at a bakery, got help from an unexpected counselor: her hairdresser, one of about 150 women who are helping to provide mental health care in one of the world's poorest regions. Togo has only five psychiatrists for more than eight million people, and families seeking to treat a relative suffering from severe mental health issues often resort to traditional remedies or forced isolation. Bluemind Foundation organizes the three days of training. Hairdressers are taught how to ask open-ended questions, spot nonverbal signs of distress like headaches or disheveled clothes and how not to gossip or give detrimental advice. Some 150 hairdressers have so far received the honorary title of "mental health ambassador" after undergoing the training.
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A Doll Like Me
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Since 2015, A Doll Like Me, has been creating one-of-a-kind dolls for kids with physical differences who have never seen a toy that looks like them. The nonprofit Wisconsin-based organization has made more than 500 unique dolls for children across the globe -- from Israel to Australia to Iceland. It began after founder Amy Jandrisevits created a doll for a friend of a friend, and within two months, had heard from 200 people who wanted such dolls - and that was only for dolls with limb differences. "They can't walk into the toy store and say, 'That looks just like me,'" she says. "And I think that most of the kids in the world can't do that as evidenced by the fact that I have thousands of kids on the waitlist." Since then, Jandrisevits has heard from families all over the world, who want their children to be represented and seen. The work is funded by donations.
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Warm Welcome Campaign
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Most libraries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will again offer "warm banks" this winter as cost of living pressures continue. "With temperatures dropping, and the price of essentials continuing to rise, it is a sad fact that many people will again be wondering how they will heat their homes this winter," said Isobel Hunter of Libraries Connected, a charity representing the services. "Libraries will be there to offer a warm space and a warm welcome – not only to those who are struggling to pay their energy bills, but anyone who's looking for company, conversation or advice." The initiatives began in 2022 when energy prices rose after the the Russia-Ukraine war began. Warm Welcome supports a network of more than 7,000 warm spaces across the UK, and more than half a million people accessed warm spaces last winter.
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CBS Serial/courtesy of Wisdom House via Aljazeera
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Eun Seo-Ran, 43, and her adopted daughter, who is 38, are among many women in South Korea who are reimagining family in an aging society with strict gender roles and a patriarchal family culture. While only those related by blood, marriage between a man and a woman, and adoption are recognized as family, women who choose to stay single are pushing the government to recognize a broader range of companionships as family, often driven by concern about who will care for them when they grow old or get sick. Some one million Koreans lived with friends or partners as of 2021 but cannot access benefits and services available to married couples and families, and have few rights If a companion dies. Lonely deaths are increasing, many among men in their 50s or 60s. But even as proposed legislation to widen the legal definition of family is stalled by conservative and evangelical claims that it would effectively allow same sex marriage, women are creating grassroots social and healthcare cooperatives themselves, and Seo-Ran's story has inspired many single women living with friends to consider adoptions.
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