DECEMBER 21ST, 2023 UPDATE: This solution is a Reader's Choice selection of 2023! Here's why one of our fellow optimists nominated this story: "A few days before [this article was published], I was at my favorite salon getting my hair done. As she was conditioning my hair and … [Read more...] about How West African hairdressers offer mental health support and a pathway to healing
West Africa
Senegal’s only circus troupe helps homeless children get off the streets
Senegal has exactly one circus troupe: Sencirk—and it was founded by a former child beggar named Modou Touré. Before taking his place as ringmaster of his own circus, Touré, at the age of seven, was sent to a Quranic school. As punishment for learning the Islamic holy book too … [Read more...] about Senegal’s only circus troupe helps homeless children get off the streets
Scientists discover a “spectacular” bright orange bat species in Africa
In early 2018, a group of scientists ventured off to conduct a conservation survey of bat populations in Guinea’s isolated Nimba Mountains in West Africa. The researchers were sleuthing in a series of old mining caves when they came across something unusual: a new species of bat … [Read more...] about Scientists discover a “spectacular” bright orange bat species in Africa