Individuals around the globe are making a difference in your world through inspirational work. Each week, VOA introduces these well-known and lesser-known people from all walks of life. These uplifting stories illustrate the capacity of individuals to help others.
If you'd like to comment on one of these stories, send us an e-mail at: difference@voanews.com
We would also love to hear your suggestions of people you know who are making a difference. Send us your nominations and maybe one of our correspondents will follow-up - anywhere in the world!
Formerly with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Fabian Barnes reaches out to under-served young people in Washington, DC
Kickstart program sells, rather than donates, small pumps with promise they will help subsistence farmers make money
Drew Johnson promotes service to others
Athlete-turned-educator applies the applies the values of sports to the world of the classroom
Anne Marie Dioh helping train next generation of women basketball players in her country
Sandra Jackson is making a difference by fostering a community that helps all of its residents
Robert Egger, founder of DC Central Kitchen, provides 1.5 million free meals a year, offers job training, partners with restaurants
Park founded a non-profit group to help kids in school and teach them important life lessons
Dissident writer, human rights activist Feng Zhenghu trying to promote change in his country
American aerobatic pilot is trying to end slaughter by training pilots who patrol skies over Africa
Lynn Henning fights contamination from factory farms
Keely Thompson teaches boxing, personal values to young people wanting to change
Founder, CEO Heidi Kuhn inspires with her passion
Salbi's "Women for Women International" gives women who've survived war the tools to rebuild their lives
Ginan Koesmayadi started soccer team of HIV-infected drug users to take their minds off addiction
Mark Johnson travels world to record musical heritage.
Salman Khan teaches tens of thousands of students everyday around world
Garden provides healthy foods, jobs in historical African American area of city
Moroccan native Hicham Baraka helps European-bound Africans stranded outside his hometown of Oujda
Nesser discovered many minority children from Burma were unable to attend regular schools in Thailand
Chinese man serves as anti-demolition guard to prevent developers from tearing down buildings
Dr. Sylvester Nicol Establishes a State-of-the-Art Medical Center in Freetown
Thousands of children learn from C.T. Wilson's inspirational message
Participants peek inside cramped rooms where entire families live, see harsh conditions under which they work
Joel Selanikio applies the World Wide Web to improve public health programs around the world
One hospice in Florida making a difference by taping video documentaries to keep family histories alive
Lawrence Cann is turning his life-long love of sport into incentive for getting people off the streets. His program works to maintain l
Professional chef leaves restaurant industry to open soup kitchen for homeless and hungry.
In seemingly endless conflict, a Palestinian cultivates understanding and peace
He travels hundreds of kilometers in US to raise awareness of the problem
20 years after raising alarm, NASA scientist says planet is reaching a ‘tipping point’
Yacoobi's organization fosters community schools, clinics
Hassan Khallaf, Attadamoun Association teach mentally and physically disabled children to read and write in Demnate
A cruel act of violence - acid thrown in face of a woman, sometimes a child; perpetrators are driven to disfigure rather than kill
For most poor children and their families, life-saving operations are too expensive or unavailable
Hope for Heroes Inspires Thousands to Help Too
Jane Goodall's conservation and development programs have improved the lives of 600,000 people worldwide while protecting chimpanzees a
Program is based on problem solving through group discussions and writing
In 2006, ABC News correspondent and television anchorman Bob Woodruff was wounded while covering war in Iraq
California doctor develops local partnerships for change
Biologist George Schaller has been working to save global wildlife for 50 years. He believes the effort is important to conserving the
Mark Damisch originally wanted to be a professional musician. Instead, he became an attorney and politician. Recently he returned to
Yohannes Gebrigiorgis left his comfortable life in California to return to Africa and make life better for kids in Ethiopia
Artist draws characters with disease to foster understanding of devastating disease
William Saydee making a difference in Monrovia, Liberia, by teaching a skill that will help people find work and improve their lives
Dr. Robert Gallo, 71, is a bio-medical researcher who remains dedicated to the study of viruses, nearly 30 years after discovering the
Theary Seng lived through the brutal Khmer Rouge years before fleeing to the Unites States, where she studied law. Seng is now back in
Dr. Cynthia Maung makes a difference in her community by providing essential services not available to most residents of the poor region
