NAIROBI, Kenya — As thick white smoke from a huge garbage dump billowed into the sky and the smell fell over the audience, the brass section took deep breaths, the woodwind players pursed their lips and the string performers gripped their bows. Brian Kepher, the 21-year-old conductor of the Ghetto Classics orchestra, lifted his baton, gave a slight nod and cued the teenagers to begin. Read more
DAKAR, SENEGAL: Tracking down Molly Melching is not an easy task. The Texas-born, Illinois-raised, Senegal-based 66-year-old is constantly on the move. She’s the founder and executive director of Tostan, a Dakar-based NGO that helps bring education programs, including human rights and reproductive health, to local communities. Tostan celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Read more
LONDON–**For Olivia Matabata, 2007 was a devastating year. Her middle son was sick at home with AIDS, and Ms. Matabata, who has five grandchildren, was desperate for information on how to help him. A neighbor encouraged her to attend a four-day workshop at Grandmothers Against Poverty and AIDS (GAPA), a local community and education center in the Khayelitsha Township near Cape Town. Read more
I sent Flat Stanley packing. He left, back to the American Midwest in a puffy envelope filled with photos from his travels plus a few souvenirs. He’s had a great time abroad—while in Ethiopia he saw the ancient capital of Aksum and hung out with some shepherd boys in the Simien Mountains. In Poland he took a train from Warsaw to Poznan and sat in on an interview with the country’s most renowned modern art collector. Read more