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How the Netherlands' Train System Works for the Visually Impaired

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

November 04, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Netherlands

The railway system in the Netherlands offers a number of features and services that accommodate people with visual impairments. In addition to textured guidelines, an app provides help reading signs and a travel assistant can even be booked ahead of time to meet a commuter and help them board and exit the train.

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Nuts for coco de mer: islanders rally to save world's biggest seed

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

April 05, 2021 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Seychelles

A public-private scheme between the Seychelles Islands Foundation and a government agency is allowing residents to plant seeds of the coco de mer, or sea coconut, as a way to save the endangered tree species. So far, 96 seeds have been planted on 26 properties. Despite its extremely slow growth rate, island residents are excited to grow trees for future generations and protect them from poachers.

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Coat as shelter: Designer Bas Timmer creates for people who have no home

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

December 08, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Netherlands, Amsterdam

Since 2014, the Sheltersuit Foundation has distributed more than 12,000 combination jackets and sleeping bags in multiple nations to protect unhoused people from cold weather. Dutch clothing designer Bas Timmer designed the Sheltersuit, and a warmer-weather version, using donated leftover fabrics with liners from sleeping bags donated or discarded at festivals. Since the pandemic increased homelessness, the foundation has distributed the clothing to nearly 2,000 people in the Netherlands and South Africa. The foundation's workforce is made up mostly of refugees and the formerly homeless.

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Indian Women Turn to Ancient Grains to Feed Their Families and Their Futures

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

November 26, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh

In the face of climate change, the nonprofit SABALA is working with nearly 2,000 women farmers in India to participate in millet farming, which can also strengthen community food security and empower women. Using traditional farming techniques, farmers can cultivate 15 to 20 of the climate-resistant crops on a 1-acre plot. Due to the success with millet farming, nearly 300 of the women came together to start a cooperative to process surplus millets and sell the grain to the local community.

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Fruits of shared labour: the Indian women joining forces for food security

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

October 13, 2020 |

The Guardian |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: India, Tamil Nadu

A grassroots organization in Tamil Nadu, India has helped women farmers throughout the region to create "small informal farming groups" so that they can collectively lease land for their agriculture businesses. This collective farming venture, which has culminated in 89 collective farms with nearly 700 members, ensures "nutrition and food security for landless women at the household level."

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In India, an ancient grain is revived for the modern era

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

August 25, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Thottampatti, Tamil Nadu

The Women’s Collective is a nonprofit that works with more than 10,000 subsistence farmers in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu to promote food security using millets, a crop resilient to drought and climate change. For Pavitra, one of those farmers, she began cultivating the ancient grains in 2015 and now has more than enough food to feed her family year-round. However, there’s a lack of public investment in millet production and machinery. And there’s no unified effort to create demand for millets: Some state governments lead the charge and in other states, it’s led by grassroots organizations.

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A taste of honey: how bees mend fences between farmers and elephants

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

August 12, 2020 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Uttara Kannada, Karnataka

As the habitats of wild elephants shrink, conservationists in India are developing safer ways to reduce the number of conflicts between humans and the animal. The Wildlife Research and Conservation Society uses chili smoke and beehive fences as natural ways to divert elephants away from farmers’ crops. Since they started, there have been no casualties related to human-elephant conflict. The nonprofit Wildlife SOS uses radio collars to track the herd’s movement and alerts local villagers via WhatsApp of any potential conflicts. However, the success of some methods vary depending on the time of year.

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India's first 'green' village adapts to life without tourists

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

May 28, 2020 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Khonoma, Nagaland

Despite the lockdown and loss of tourism income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the village of Kohonoma in India has been able to maintain a high level of food security for its people. Because of previous legal changes and grant money, villagers were able to change their lifestyle to support the community’s tourism industry and preserve its sustainable agriculture practices. Village leaders are hopeful that their conservation and sustainable development efforts will continue post-pandemic and will encourage other communities to do the same.

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Against the grain: why millet is making a comeback in rural India

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

February 25, 2020 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Kohima, Nagaland

By reviving millet farming, farming communities are adapting to climate change. In India, the Millet Farmers Group, organized by a women’s rights nonprofit, the North East Network (NEN), helps farmers cultivate millet, an ancient grain that is less water-intensive than white rice. NEN Nagaland helps farmers from around the Nagaland district share knowledge about growing millet and obtain the necessary machinery to dehusk the grain.

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'I'll put those monsters behind bars': India's law school for rape survivors

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

February 03, 2020 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Kolkata

A nonprofit in India is training victims of sexual assault and trafficking to work as lawyers and seek justice for themselves or others. The program offers both counseling and rehabilitation services and formal legal education.

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