While shocking news reports can become part of everyday noise, flitting out of our minds, some stories stay with us. For TV stylist Debora Schultz, a chance viewing of a documentary on child sex slavery moved her to take action. “Being a mother, it just horrified me,” she says.
The rise of vegetarianism and veganism in recent years has made it easier than ever to follow a plant-based diet. Tofu, tempeh and a whole bunch of milks that didn’t come from a cow are readily available at supermarkets, and even the most far-flung pubs and restaurants usually have at least one non-meat eating option.
With plant eaters being spoilt for choice these days, spare a thought for the original vegetarians, who couldn’t chuck a tub of Tofutti into their shopping basket or fry up a dish of mock meats.
Laura Youngson is not the type of person to sit back and seethe. Annoyed that a women’s soccer team didn’t receive funding while the men’s team did, Laura established the Equal Playing Field initiative to promote women in sport. “That’s where the idea came from, to do something so outrageous and so ridiculously difficult that people would think, ‘you did that? that’s crazy!’,” she says. And as far as challenges go, playing soccer at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro is up there.
Koky Saly keeps his promises. Searching for a way to fund his charity BabyTree Projects, Koky cottoned on to using discarded fabrics to make backpacks. The sales from BeeKeeper Parade bags go towards educating children in his native Cambodia – a cause his sister Sophia was passionate about. Before passing away from cervical cancer, Sophia asked Koky to continue to inspire change in the world; five years later, he’s continuing that mission and enjoying newfound fame thanks to a recent Humans In Melbourne post.
Australia’s animal shelters are brimming, with hundreds of thousands of companion animals euthanised every year. Rescue groups are inundated, relying on volunteer foster carers to open their homes and hearts to animals in need.