“Veio a peste, mas neste ano Deus mandou a chuva para encher a cisterna”

Refugee camps save lives in emergencies – but often refugees languish there for decades. Two columns on programs that allow refugees to live normally in cities, with an ATM card taking the place of a camp.

Domestic abuse of the staff in the households of the 1% is often overlooked or ignored. But foreign missions in the US that abuse their domestic staff are finally being held accountable.

Few Americans talk about their end-of-life wishes. To encourage these conversations, Medicare has decided to reimburse doctors for the time they spend helping families decide end-of-life wishes. In Wisconsin, a program trained nurses to have these conversations when doctors are too busy.

Little attention is given to black men who are victims of gun violence but survive and need help. An organization in California is mobilizing all gun-violence victims to voice their opinion on criminal justice reform and support for victims.

An Indian activist, Satyarthi, is trying to undermine the hard-pressed Indian caste system by speaking out in little ways that are publicly broadcasted in order to find more supporters.

The militarization of police forces in cases such as Ferguson, Missouri’s riots has led the state of Utah to question what can be done to prevent such an overuse of force from happening. Utah expanded upon a law passed by Democratic legislature in Maryland, which Utah’s ACLU reworked with some libertarians, to require the police to provide data about SWAT team usage. Utah’s success demonstrates that demilitarization bills passed with bipartisan support are not impossible.

Rama Arora defied tradition and secretly pursued her PhD as a young woman in India, succeeding at becoming the first female professor at a women's college. Now she is inspiring more Indian girls to further their educatione, so they can help bring about greater equality in society.

Rampant misconduct by judicial systems across the country brought to light a crippling practice of debtors' prisons—where disadvantaged individuals unable to pay fines and fees were continually and wrongfully imprisoned, creating a vicious cycle. The American Civil Liberties Union stepped in to work with governments and private companies to increase transparency, eliminate abuse, and reeducate law enforcement officials. The state of Ohio has emerged as a leader in reforming debtors' prisons, though there is still work to do.

Patients' last years of life are the most expensive for the health care system. For a fifth of the cost, a Zen hospice program, in San Francisco, is helping those who are dying improve their quality of death by enjoying the present.

WhyLoiter is a growing movement that encourages women in India to spend time out in the street to challenge societal restrictions on women in public.