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She can't study or start a family all because of what happened at 15.

She's lived in two different places but never really belonged.

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The Atlantic Philanthropies

Sarah was only 15 years old when her sense of normalcy was flipped upside down.

"I was born in Congo ... . My mom is from Congo, and my Dad is Rwandan. We had an ordinary life. But at 15, both of my parents got arrested on allegations of spying."

Whoa ... Sarah quickly went into hiding, but that obviously wasn't the safest way to live.


"Feeling threatened everyday I fled to Holland. My asylum application was rejected ... . My only option was to try to apply for a Dutch temporary residence permit. During this process, I realized I'd lost both my Congolese and Rwanda nationality."

Belgian Congo postage stamp

The Congo rejected her based on her dual nationality. Rwanda also didn't recognize her as a citizen because she hadn't lived or been born there.

So, Sarah was stateless.

This means that she's not a citizen of any country. Instead, she's treated as a "legal anomaly" and could be denied basic civil and economic rights.

"12 years later, I am stuck in the same situation. There's no solution in sight. I can't study or move my life forward. I wish I could start a family. Instead, I feel isolated and confused."

Sarah may feel isolated, but her situation isn't unique. There are 600,000 people in Europe — and 10 million worldwide, who are also in limbo.

"These individuals remain vulnerable to human rights abuses every day: destitution to detention." — The European Network on Statelessness

But wait, there is a sunny side!

A bunch of folks from The European Network on Statelessness (yep, that's a real agency) are putting pressure on lawmakers to help Sarah get some normalcy back. One idea: creating a better process to identify stateless folks. To learn more about Sarah's story and how you can help, watch the video below.


Time travel back to 1905.

Back in 1905, a book called "The Apples of New York" was published by the New York State Department of Agriculture. It featured hundreds of apple varieties of all shapes, colors, and sizes, including Thomas Jefferson's personal favorite, the Esopus Spitzenburg.






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Joey Grundl, Milwaukee pizza guy.

Joey Grundl, a pizza delivery driver for a Domino's Pizza in Waldo, Wisconsin, is being hailed as a hero for noticing a kidnapped woman's subtle cry for help.

The delivery man was sent to a woman's house to deliver a pie when her ex-boyfriend, Dean Hoffman, opened the door. Grundl looked over his shoulder and saw a middle-aged woman with a black eye standing behind Hoffman. She appeared to be mouthing the words: "Call the police."

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Photo by Katerina Holmes|Canva

Mom in tears after another parent calls about daughter's lunch


People say having children is like having your heart walk around outside of your body. You send them off to school, practices or playdates and hope that the world treats them kindly because when they hurt, you hurt. Inevitably there will be times when your child's feelings are hurt so you do your best to prepare for that day.

But what prepares you for when the child you love so much winds up accidentally healing your inner child. A mom on TikTok, who goes by Soogia posted a video explaining a phone call she received from a parent in her daughter's classroom. The mom called to inform Soogia that their kids had been sharing lunch with each other.

Soogia wasn't prepared for what came next. The classmate's mother informed her that her son loves the food Soogia's daughter brings to school and wanted to learn how to cook it too.

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Pop Culture

Listen to this organ in Croatia that uses the sea to make hauntingly beautiful music

It's a 230-foot-long organ that turns the rhythm of the waves into actual music.


In 2005, a Croatian architect designed a 230-foot-long organ that turns the rhythm of the waves into actual music.

Nope, not nonsensical bellows or chaotic tones. Real, actual, music.

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Modern Families

A comic from The Oatmeal illustrates how we're missing the mark on happiness.

I do the things that are meaningful to me, even if they don't make me "happy."

By Matthew Inman/The Oatmeal. Used with permission.

How to Be Perfectly Happy


Matthew Inman is the Eisner Award-winning author of The Oatmeal. He's published six books, including New York Times Best-Sellers such as "How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You"and "The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances."He enjoys running marathons, writing comics, and eating cake.

You can read more of Matthew's comics here.

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Health

Sweeping UN study finds that 9 out of 10 people worldwide are biased against women

In other words, 9 out of 10 people worldwide—both men and women—are biased against women in vital areas that impact the world in major ways.

Photo by Joe Gardner on Unsplash

As the U.S. ramps into an all-too-familiar presidential election cycle where the only viable candidates left on the ballot are men, the UN announces a study that may—at least partially—explain why.

The Gender Social Norms Index released yesterday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offers a look at gender equality as measured by people's personal gender bias. The data, which was collected from 75 countries covering 81% of the world's population, found that 91% of men and 86% of women show at least one clear bias against women in the areas of politics, economics, education, and physical integrity.

In other words, 9 out of 10 people worldwide—both men and women—are biased against women in vital areas that impact the world in major ways. Splendid.

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