Best of the Best - Worldwide

To go along with my Worst of the Worst thread, I've decided it needs a companion.In honor of Mr. Roger's "look for the helpers"... finding the people who are doing the most good amid terrible disasters, please share news stories that show the very best and happiest side of humanity.

Stories about relief workers saving people
Functional societies, historical and present, where people are treated with dignity and respect
Stories about children saved from human trafficking and other desperate situations
Stories about the happiest people on Earth - wherever they might be
Beautiful places being preserved as world heritage sites
and so forth...

Share the BEST here, so I have something cheery to read after I've gone through the worst of the worst...
Thanks.

 

Here's a woman who visits with death-row inmates. She buys them a good meal, listens, smiles, and laughs with them.
Fighting death: At 75, nun's soul still stirs for cause - CNN.com
"It's as though they were sitting on a couch in someone's family room, sipping a cocktail..."
"Sarandon was taken with Prejean's personal involvement with death row inmates; that she never asked about their guilt. She had the unconditional love of a mother for her child."I became completely mesmerized," Sarandon says. "She was a big laugher, eater, drinker. We ate tons of crawfish that night."
"People have such a wrong idea of activists. They think of these people as scolding, guilt-making personalities when it has been my experience that they are the most celebratory -- dancing, singing, partaking of food and wine in the biggest way possible. Craving for social justice is another craving they have "
"Prejean says she has seen victims' families follow cases through the courts for years. They wait and wait, reliving the crime over and over again with the hope that they will find "closure" when the killer dies. The Harveys, Prejean says, could have watched Willie get electrocuted a thousand times and still it would never fill the void in their lives."
"She holds on to an idea that was cemented the moment she threw up after Patrick Sonnier's execution: that Americans are far removed from state-sanctioned death but when they get close to it, they will reject it."

 

There's the link!

 

Actually, I like the recent New York Times stance on pot.
It's about damn time that big media start taking a stand on this useless dynamic on it.

Legalize it...to the same extent as alcohol and tobacco.
Tax it.
And let people continue with normal lives.

Will there be issues and abuses? Yes, but everything has this. Even simple OTC drugs. But it will be no more than any other.
Maybe we should take ATF...and turn it into AFM...then spin off the "Firearms" part into something that fully focuses on that...cause right now, it's a secondary effort.

I don't use it myself, but I don't see what the fuss is about...and on this anniversary of Nixon resignation, the prez that made it a level 1 drug...we should reverse it, bring it down a notch.

But my point is this...the stance is good...and will help make things better.

 

This man.
I-15 Flooding Hero Saves Elderly Couple From Horrible Death! - American Preppers Network : American Preppers Network

And a number of other first-responders dealing with similar situations dealing with the issues of this flash flood. Incredible number of rescues carried out in such a short time.
Detours remain as Southwest recovers from flooding - Houston Chronicle

 

This is the Best of Technology and Innovation in the world. (2015)

The Global Innovation Index

It's a dynamic page...lots of info.
And it's interesting where all the countries lie in the chart.

We're doing good...we can do better.

 

This story reminded me of this thread: Boy Who Lost Stuffed Tiger At Airport Finds Tiger Stayed Very Busy : The Two-Way : NPR

 

This is super sweet!

 

This story brought me to tears today.
Laundry machines in schools help kids, attendance rates - TODAY.com



The concept that children were missing school simply because they didn't have clean clothes to wear... it really hit me hard. I'm so glad that Whirlpool is helping make this happen. It is probably good PR for their company, and overall it gets more brand recognition with the younger generation, so it has to pay off there... but mainly it's just awesome that someone saw this need and found a way to address it.

 

This is why my school has a washing machine. I have a few kids without stable homes. They need a place to wash their clothes. Ours is not nearly as nice as that.

 

Go Team Refugee!!
Refugee Olympic Team to shine spotlight on worldwide refugee crisis - Olympic News