The U.S. had 4.43 deaths due to gun violence per 100,000 people in 2017. That's nine times as high as the rate in Canada and 29 times as high as in Denmark. https://n.pr/2z2gKik
Imagine a small, developing nation whose education system is severely lacking: schools are poorly funded, students can’t afford tuition or books, fewer than half of indigenous girls even attend school — and often drop out to take care of siblings or get married.
These are the schools of rural Guatemala.
Now meet a firebrand educator who thinks he has a way to reinvent schools in Guatemala.
His school is called Los Patojos, a Spanish word used in Guatemala that means “little ones.”
Los Patojos is in the mold of Montessori and Waldorf schools. It focuses on the whole child — the intellectual, the artistic, the physical and the practical. Teachers show the students how to bake bread, to take photographs, to frame a building — and they also instill pride of place.
“Guatemala wants to become Mexico. Mexico wants to become the United States. The United States wants to become Europe. I don’t want to become anything. I want to become Guatemala,” says Juan Pablo Romero Fuentes. He is the 34-year-old founder of Los Patojos and its unlikely headmaster. His arms are heavily tattooed, he careens around the cobblestone streets in a beat-up 4Runner, he dresses like a rock guitarist (which he used to be) and he f-bombs his way through interviews.
Photos: James Rodriguez for NPR
Source: NPR
6 Stories To Read For International Day Of The Girl
It’s my favorite day of the year: International Day of the Girl.
I love this day because it’s a chance to celebrate the remarkable girls in the world who are making a difference, who have made great achievements and have overcome incredible odds just to get where they are today.
To mark the day, we've compiled some of our favorite profiles of girls and women from NPR’s archives, from Boko Haram survivors on their first visit to New York City to a Pakistani squash champ who dressed as a boy just so she could play sports.
I hope they inspire you as much as they inspire me.
-Malaka Gharib, NPR Goats and Soda
Hauwa and Ya Kaka aren't typical teens. This month they came to the U.S. to speak up for the thousands of abductees still being held. But they also made time for tourist fun.
For much of her life, Maria Toorpakai has been threatened by extremist groups like the Taliban. Now the subject of a PBS documentary, she tells how she found the courage to keep playing sports.
Angeline Murimirwa is lauded as one of the world's most influential women for her work with a charity that gives scholarships to poor girls in Africa. She herself was once one of those girls.
When she was a Brownie, Sylvia Acevedo was inspired to earn her science badge. In her new memoir, the Girl Scouts CEO says this experience led directly to her career at NASA.
The young leaders of Girl Up were in Washington, D.C., this summer to network and lobby Congress on gender issues. We asked them about their role models, what they'd like to change and why it's important for boys to join the movement.
And as a drummer myself, I couldn't help but share this one! -MG
Yoyoka Soma played the song for the Hit Like A Girl Drumming contest. She didn't take home the gold, but she's clearly winning at life.
Share the girl power on social media! Click here to tweet a thread of these stories on Twitter now.
Meet The Winners Of The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize: Dr. Denis Mukwege And Nadia Murad
Christian Lutz/AP
The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Dr. Denis Mukwege, a Congolese gynecologist, and Nadia Murad, a Yazidi survivor of rape and captivity by ISIS, for their contributions toward combating wartime sexual assault.
Nadia Murad
In 2014, Murad, a member of the Yazidi minority in northern Iraq, was taken captive by ISIS members and sexually enslaved for three months before escaping.
Murad has shared her painful story with international media outlets over and over to show the world what happened to Yazidis. She has become a voice for captive women and girls in the process. She urges women who have faced sexual violence to reclaim their lives.
She was honored for her refusal "to remain silent and ashamed of the abuses to which they have been subjected," said the Norwegian Nobel Committee. At age 25, she is the second-youngest peace prize recipient; Malala Yousafzai was the youngest at age 17.
Dr. Denis Mukwege
Mukwege is known as "Dr. Miracle" because of his skill and his devotion to helping victims of gang rape during conflict in his country, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mukwege has treated tens of thousands of women for rape since opening Panzi Hospital in 1999. Those survivors, who range in age from toddlers to seniors, suffered complex gynecological injuries, inflicted by members of rebel groups and the Congolese military.
"What I'm doing really is not only to treat women — their body," says Mukwege, "[but] also to fight for their own right, to bring them to be autonomous, and, of course, to support them psychologically. And all of this is a process of healing so women can regain their dignity."
Why Infanticide Is A Problem In Senegal
This powerful story documents women in Senegal who have been accused of infanticide -- killing a newborn baby. It's 2nd-most common reason women are in jail in Senegal. Writer Allyn Gaestel & photographer Ricci Shryock wanted to capture the profundity of this phenomenon.
Editor's note: This thread is about infanticide — the killing of a newborn baby — and includes graphic descriptions of that practice.
E delivered her eighth child and says the baby was stillborn. She was arrested and found guilty of infanticide but was released for good behavior after serving 3 years and is now living on her brother's farm in a small house. "It's better to be free without money than trapped between four walls," she says.
Photo: Ricci Shryock for NPR
F talks to her children while they visit her in prison, where she awaits the verdict on charges that she killed her baby from an affair while her husband was out of the country looking for work. She claims the baby was stillborn but in her file there is a photo of the corpse of the child, just removed from the septic tank.
Photo: Ricci Shryock for NPR
N, pictured here at age 3. Her mother and father threw her in a septic tank when she was born, but she survived. She now lives with her maternal grandmother while her mother services time for attempted infanticide. She is photographed in the family courtyard.
Photo: Ricci Shryock for NPR
Some experts believe that strict abortion laws in Senegal are a contributing factor. A task force of women activists, lawyers and lawmakers are working to change the law to allow abortions in the case of rape, incest and maternal health. The proposed bill is still at the ministerial level.
For Karachi's Water Mafia, Stolen H2O Is A 'Lucrative Business'
Shiny, decorated and colorful water tankers park near a hydrant in Karachi, Pakistan. Diaa Hadid/NPR
In Korangi, a slum neighborhood of Karachi, a sprawling port city of some 16 million people in Pakistan, there's no running water.
So how do people get the water they need to drink, to cook, to wash up and to clean their homes?
Residents have to call men like Mohammad Zubair, a driver who belongs to a group of water handlers known as the "water tanker mafia." For a price, drivers will deliver clean water, which is pricey, or polluted water, which is cheaper.
A young man fills the jerry cans tied to his motorbike with water in the Korangi slum. Diaa Hadid/NPR
In a grubby café in Karachi, Saghir Ahmed, a water tanker driver, explains how the mafias work. He says that he and other drivers routinely pay off officials from Karachi's water board, the police and the "landlords" — men who own the land where the government pipes are punctured, and who build valves to allow the drivers to pump the water. Those valves, used to steal government water, are called "illegal hydrants."
"The water board, police and landlord — these three — they benefit, they take the money," he says.
A large water tanker in the Orangi slum in Karachi transfers part of its water to a smaller tanker. The area doesn't have running water, and the streets are too narrow for large water tankers, so residents move the water to smaller tankers that can ply the hilly area. Diaa Hadid/NPR
PHOTOS: Why Young People Are Fleeing Honduras
This is Moises, 17, and his dad Tavo. His dad is begging him to leave Honduras to stay alive and avoid getting recruited into a gang. They live in San Pedro Sula, which had the highest homicide rate in the world in 2015.
In San Pedro Sula, boys are often groomed for gang activity from the age of 6 or 7. At first they may be given small assignments — like buying snacks for gang members or monitoring who's coming in and out of a neighborhood. Bit by bit they graduate into bigger responsibilities.
In this photo, Moises had just found out that his girlfriend Cindi is pregnant. Tomas Ayuso, the photojournalist who captured the images of this project, says that this made it easier for Moises to make his decision to leave Honduras.
Cindi and her baby girl in San Pedro Sula. Her boyfriend Moises left the neighborhood a few months after she became pregnant. Cindi sent photos of the baby to Moises via WhatsApp. But a few weeks ago, he stopped responding to her texts, which worries Cindi. She hopes he's safe and to hear from him soon.
Why Poppin' That Booty Is Good For Your Back
"Most people tend to round out their backs when they sit," says orthopedic surgeon Nomi Khan. "Their spine is in an improper position, and they will tend to have more back problems."
Back problems crop up because sitting like a C — or a cashew nut — can damage the little shock absorbers in the spine, called the intervertebral disks.
QUIZ: The Country That Gives The Most Humanitarian Aid Is ...
A new report looks at the state of humanitarian aid.
The world was generous, says the Global Humanitarian Assistance Report 2018. A record amount of funds went to crises that range from the ongoing Syrian civil war to the drought in the Horn of Africa.
Do you know how much the world spent on emergency relief? Which countries gave the most money? And which countries received the most?
Take this quiz to test your knowledge.
The report is from a London- and Nairobi-based nonprofit organization called Development Initiatives and uses data from the OECD and UNOCHA.
8 Stories To Read On #WorldRefugeeDay 2018
Today is World Refugee Day, a day to raise awareness for people who have been forced to flee their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster. Here are eight must-read stories from NPR’s archives:
A report from the U.N. Refugee Agency shows some surprising trends in the world's refugee crisis.
The U.K. began its community sponsorship program for Syrians in 2016. Some refugees who arrived earlier have helped newcomers settle in — and are persuading Welsh communities to open their doors.
In a bleak Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, Fayes Khamal has found a way to bring joy to other kids.
The incredible story of a former Rwandan refugee who is now a Ph.D. student studying crop science at Washington State University. In this interview, Cedric Habiyaremye explains why his MOM is has been a motivation, from his bleakest moments at the camp to now.
Did you know? A shockingly high percent of the world's displaced are kids. More than half the refugees around the globe are under the age of 18, even though children make up 31 percent of the world's population.
In 2016, near the end of Barack Obama's presidency, the U.S. resettled 15,479 Syrian refugees, according to State Department figures. In 2017, the country let in 3,024. In April, that number was just 11.
"Though we have two sides, at least when you are in a team you have a number of people who are fighting for the same goal. They become one," says Robert Hakiza explains how soccer helped unite a fractured refugee community in Uganda.
Abdul Kadr and Artur fled their homes in Chechnya because of their sexuality and are now living in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is one of a handful of countries in Europe offering protection to gay Chechens.
Learning From Parents Around The World
Is it really dangerous for babies to sleep with mom? Do chores have to be a fight? How do you get your kids to do chores without complaining?
Over the next month in our series #HowToRaiseAHuman, NPR searches around the world for ideas to make parenting easier.
Catch up on what we’ve published so far:
Adriana Zehbrauskas for NPR
Fabio Consoli for NPR
Image: Christine Koh
Don’t miss a single story from this series. Sign up for NPR Health's newsletter to get the stories delivered to your inbox.
Secrets Of A Maya Supermom: What Parenting Books Don't Tell You
Above: Maria de los Angeles Tun Burgos with daughters Angela, 12, and Gelmy, 9, in their family home in a Maya village in Yucatán, Mexico. Adriana Zehbrauskas for NPR
There’s no other way to put it: Maria de los Angeles Tun Burgos is a supermom.
She’s raising five children, does housework and chores — we’re talking about fresh tortillas every day made from stone-ground corn — and she helps with the family’s business in their small village about 2 ½ hours west of Cancún on the Yucatán Peninsula.
Sitting on a rainbow-colored hammock inside her home, Burgos, 41, is cool as a cucumber. It’s morning, after breakfast. Her youngest daughter, 4-year-old Alexa, sits on her knee, clearly trying to get her attention by hitting a teddy bear on her mom’s leg. The middle daughter, 9-year-old Gelmy, is running around with neighborhood kids — climbing trees, chasing chickens — and her oldest daughter, 12-year-old Angela, has just woken up and started doing the dishes, without being asked. The older kids aren’t in school because it’s spring break. Burgos is constantly on parental duty. She often tosses off little warnings about safety: “Watch out for the fire” or “Don’t play around the construction area.” But her tone is calm. Her body is relaxed. There’s no sense of urgency or anxiety.In return, the children offer minimal resistance to their mother’s advice. There’s little whining, little crying and basically no yelling or bickering.In general, Burgos makes the whole parenting thing look — dare, I say it — easy. So I ask her: “Do you think that being a mom is stressful?"Burgos looks at me as if I’m from Mars. "Stressful? What do you mean by stressful?” she responds through a Mayan interpreter.
Study Asks: Can The Crop Your Ancestors Grew -- Rice Or Wheat -- Affect Your Coffee Shop Etiquette?
Getty Images
Say you're at your local coffee shop.
You order a cappuccino or a caramel macchiato and look for a cozy spot where you can settle in for an hour or two. But there's one problem: A bunch of chairs are blocking the aisle.
At this critical moment, do you: a) Contort and squeeze your body around the misplaced chairs, just in case someone had a good reason for putting them there? Or b) Move the chairs, so you can quickly sit down and start drinking your beverage before it gets cold?
Some academics believe that, at least in China, your choice may depend on whether your ancestors farmed rice or wheat.
NPR listener Jason E. Farabaugh sent us a Facebook posting about two goats stuck on a beam under a Pennsylvania Turnpike bridge in rural western Pennsylvania.
No one knows why the goats climbed up on the pedestal of a Mahoning River bridge and set out along a narrow beam.
They're not talking. But goats do love to climb and explore, notes goat specialist Susan Schoenian of the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. So these two goats, who are probably pals (because goats are social animals), escaped from the nearby yard where they lived and went on an adventure.
They deftly walked along the beam with their very small feet. They proceeded about 200 feet. But it turns out they couldn't just keep on walking ahead — there was an obstacle that kept them from moving forward. So they had to turn around and head back the way they came.
WATCH: See How Leeches Can Be A Surgeon's Sidekick
Leeches get a bad rap — but they might not deserve it.
Yes, they're creepy crawly blood-suckers. And they can instill an almost primal sense of disgust and revulsion. Humphrey Bogart's character in the 1951 film The African Queen even went so far as to call them "filthy little devils."
But the humble leech is making a comeback. This critter is increasingly playing a key role as a sidekick for scientists and doctors, simply by being its bloodthirsty self.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright describes herself as an “optimist who worries a lot.” And lately, it seems, there has been much to worry about.
Albright’s new book, Fascism: A Warning, starts by describing how Hitler and Mussolini came to power in the 20th century, then warns about today’s authoritarian rulers in Eastern Europe, North Korea, Turkey and Russia.
Albright, who was born in Czechoslovakia and fled with her family after the Nazis occupied the country in 1939, notes that the United States has traditionally been viewed as a nation that opposes authoritarianism and supports democratic principles and human rights, but that perception is changing — in part because of President Trump.
While Albright does not call Trump a fascist, she says that he is “the most anti-democratic leader that I have studied in American history.”
“We’re not fulfilling the role that we’re supposed to,” she says of the United States today. “I believe very much that democracy in the United States is resilient [and] that people can be skeptical about things that are going on, but I really am afraid that we are taking things for granted.”
Photo: Timothy Greenfield Sanders/Harper Collins
“What Trump is doing is making America seem like a victim. Everything is somebody else’s fault: Countries are taking advantage of us. The Mexicans are sending drug dealers. Countries are not paying their dues. The trading system is unfair….
"I don’t see America as a victim. I see America as the most powerful country in the world.” - Madeline Albright, former Secretary of State.
This is Cedric Habiyaremye and his mom. The former refugee is a rising star in the field of global agriculture.
He says his mom is his biggest inspiration. When he was a boy, and their family fled to Rwanda to a refugee camp in Tanzania, his mom offered strong words of support when they faced hunger. When he was a Ph.D. student, she was the first to test out his new idea: growing quinoa in Rwanda.
Check out these 'dos from @laetitiaky, an artist from Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Since #MeToo, she's been creating hairstyles w/ feminist messages.
"A scale with male + female symbols shows my desire to see equality," she says.
5 Stories For International #DayofHappiness
Today is World Happiness Day. Here are five stories of happiness around the world from NPR Goats and Soda.