André and Magda Trocmé Le Chambon-sur-Lignon is a village on the Vivarais Plateau in the Auvergne, a hilly region of south-central France. During World War II, even as the Germans were occupying France and other parts of Europe, the residents of Le Chambon (along with those of the surrounding villages) did something remarkable: From December…
Category: True Story
061. Kokkarebellur: Community protects migrating birds
Birds in Kokkerebellur (Photo: Kuttan) Kokkarebellur is a village located 80 km from Bangalore in Mandya District of Karnataka, India. For six months of the year, it is a quiet village like any other one in that rural area. In December, however, a spectacular transformation occurs here with the arrival of hundreds of spot-billed pelicans…
059. Jyoti Kumari: Biking home 1200 km carrying injured dad
Mohan Paswan and Jyoti Kumari On March 25, 2020, the Government of India imposed a countrywide lockdown to prevent the spread of corona virus. The citizens got just a few of hours of notice. The lockdown was a shock to all but specially so to India’s millions of migrant labour. With the stoppage of all…
056. Popatrao Pawar and Hiware Bazar: From Poverty to Prosperity
Popatrao Pawar Hiware Bazar is a village in Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra, India. A resident, Raosaheb Rauji Pawar, recalls how things were in the village about 50 years ago: “We lived in a poor village, but were happy with our simple lives. But, after the drought of 1972, the peace was shattered. People became irritable…
055. Desmond Tutu: Standing for justice, truth, and reconciliation
His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu of South Africa is a great living moral icon of our time. He was the first black South African Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, and primate of the Anglican Church of South Africa. Desmond Tutu played a key role in…
053. Pattuvam: Recording biodiversity, declaring ownership
In 1997, the village of Pattuvam in Kannur District of Kerala, India, created history. They declared their absolute ownership over all the genetic materials currently growing within the village area. They announced that biodiversity belonged to the current and future generations of the village. Nobody could access the genetic material without the people’s permission. A…
051. Vijay Jardhari and Beej Bachao Andolan: Saving indigenous seeds
Vijay Jardhari Vijay Jardhari is a farmer and social activist of Jardhargaon, a village in the Tehri-Garhwal district of Uttaranchal in north India. In the late 1980s, he realized that modern agriculture was destroying traditional farming. In Garhwal, there were once more than 3000 varieties of rice alone, but just a few varieties were promoted…
049. Johnny Appleseed: Planting apple nurseries all his life
Johnny Appleseed (Image from Howe’s Historical Collection) Johnny Appleseed was born as John Chapman in Massachusetts, US, in 1774. Not much is known about his family except that his mother died when he was young and that his father fought in the American Revolutionary War. He is known in the US as the legendary outdoorsman…
048. Jane Goodall: Unparalleled primatologist, conservationist, and peacemaker
Dr.Jane Goodall (Photo: Michael Neugebauer) Born in 1934 in London, England, Jane Goodall became interested in animals and Africa very early in life by reading the books of Tarzan and Dr.Doolittle. At the age of 26, she went to Africa at the invitation of the famous anthropologist and paleontologist Dr.Louis Leakey. She began her landmark…
047. John Kralik: The power of showing gratitude
John Kralik This is a true story. Depth of despair It was December 22, 2007 and 52-year-old John Kralik felt it was the lowest day of his life. His law firm was going bankrupt, he was going through a difficult divorce, he had no money, and even his sons had grown distant from him. His…