Electric soccer balls, life-saving sleeping bags, and water on wheels...business as usual? Well, it depends on who you ask.

For millions of girls, going to school is a life dream that's out of reach. Why? Early marriage, child labor, pregnancy, lack of access, violence. Solving the problem is a gauntlet deeply grounded in cultural traditions and the ripple effects of poverty.

Twenty-six-year-old charmer Daniel Dembélé is equal parts West African and European, and looking to make his mark on the world. Seizing the moment at a crossroads in his life.

The campesinos of the area had decided to stop competing with each other for the measly prices offered by the big cacao buyers, and were now working together to directly market an improved, organic product.

Kakenya did not want to grow up to be trapped like her mother. But Maasai girls don't have choices. Their culture doesn't ask a girl what she wants to be.

There are many powerful stories that we seldom see about individuals that spend their lives helping others.

Even in the slums there are small, very small heroes that have been able to find an alternative way of coming out of poverty at the incredible age of 10 or maybe 13 years old.

I trust that people all over the world use their position of privilege in our society and compassion for their fellow human beings to bring about positive change particularly for those afflicted by AIDS.