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Heroes

Dramatic security footage shows a three-year-old boy heroically saving his drowning friend

He definitely saved his friend's life.

via Poliana Console de Oliveira / Facebook

In 2020 at a residence in Itaperuna, a city north of Rio de Janeiro, Henrique, a three-year-old child of a worker on the property, snuck away from his parents' supervision and wandered over to the pool.

Security camera footage shows the young boy and fellow three-year-old, Arthur de Oliveira, sitting next to the pool when Henrique reaches for an inflatable floaty and falls into the water.

A frantic Arthur looks around for help, but there is no one to be found.


For ten seconds, Henqriue struggles to keep his head above water, until Arthur bravely extends his hand and pulls the boy up. If Arthur didn't have the strength, he could have fallen in the pool and both boys could have died.

Luckily, Arthur's strength held up and he pulled the boy to safety.

"This video serves as an alert for those who have a pool at home and children," wrote Arthur's mom, Poliana Console de Oliveira on her Facebook page.

"Thank God the ending is happy, because God sent the land under my care, my son, my little Arthur, a true hero! Real life hero, my pride."

"Arthur saved his friend's life," she added.

Arthur hopes to be a police officer one day, so after the local police department learned of his bravery, it sent him a new basketball and a whole lot of candy.

Well done, Arthur.


This article originally appeared on 8.24.20

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Brazilian couple planted 4 million trees within 18 years to form a large forest.

Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado has seen a lot of devastating things in his life, but the state of his family's land in Minas Gerais, Brazil in 1994 likely ranks at the top.

He had just returned from reporting on the genocide in Rwanda which was traumatizing in its own right, but seeing his family's land that has previously been a fecund rainforest stripped of vegetation hit him at his core.

“The land was as sick as I was – everything was destroyed,” Sebastião told The Guardian.

What happened to Sebastião's land is far from unique. Over the last 30 years, the world's forests have been disappearing at an astounding rate. Between 1990 and 2016, approximately 502,000 square miles of forest have been lost, according to the World Bank, largely due to agricultural and industrial development. That's about the size of South Africa.

Not only does deforestation account for 15% of greenhouse gas emissions, it's responsible for countless species of animals and plants losing their habitats, which ultimately endangers their survival.

Sebastião and his wife Lélia knew they could turn the deforestation on their land around. So, for the next 20 years, with the help of a small group of volunteers, that's exactly what they did.

 

In 1998, the Selgados founded Instituto Terra, a nonprofit dedicated to "ecosystem restoration, production of Atlantic Forest seedlings, environmental extension, environmental education and applied scientific research."

The nonprofit's theory is that trees produce oxygen and life, so the best way to re-invigorate land is to bring its native trees back. That's why they've spent the majority of the last two decades planting over 4 million tree seedlings from plant species found in the Atlantic Forest in the Rio Doce Valley.

[rebelmouse-image 19476490 dam="1" original_size="1413x1024" caption="Photo via Instituto Terra." expand=1]Photo via Instituto Terra.

The results speak for themselves.

With the return of the rainforest came many species of animals that had previously abandoned the area. This includes 172 bird species, six of which are threatened with extinction, 33 mammal species, two of which are endangered, 15 amphibian species and 15 reptile species.

[rebelmouse-image 19476491 dam="1" original_size="625x480" caption="Photo via Instituto Terra." expand=1]Photo via Instituto Terra.

Their re-forestation work is incredible, but it will only last if people in the surrounding areas learn to respect the importance of such ecosystems. That's why they started the Center for Environmental Education and Recovery (CERA).

By December, 2012, CERA had developed over 700 educational programs reaching up to 65,000 people. The aim is to educate farmers, teachers, businesses and government officials about environmental recovery and conservation methods and why they're vital to keeping lands (and the people living on them) healthy. The hope is that they'll help inspire those working on and near the land to adopt more sustainable practices.

Deforestation will affect animals and humans in a significant way if we let it continue at such a rapid pace. Organizations like Instituto Terra are doing their part to protect their revitalized jungle, but that's just one small area of the 30% of forest that covers our planet. It's going to take more individual support to save the rest.

If you want to learn about what you can do to help, the Rainforest Alliance offers several great ways you can get involved and make a difference.

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She died fighting for justice. Let this queer, black feminist inspire you to act.

On March 14, 2018, the world was stunned by heartbreaking news about a tireless feminist activist.      

Photo by Mídia Ninja, used with permission.

Afro-Latina city councillor Marielle Franco was assassinated in a drive-by shooting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The beloved Brazilian's brutal killing sparked outrage in her country and was condemned by human rights groups.

"She was already standing out in terms of debate, leadership capacity and intellect," Franco's social sciences course tutor Ricardo Ismael told The Guardian.      

Brazilian feminists were devastated by Franco's assassination. Photo by Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images.

In a beautiful call to action, actress and philanthropist Viola Davis asked her Instagram followers to remember and stand with Franco's mission.    

The proudly feminist Afro-Latina politician was a revolutionary public servant and activist. Unbothered by the status quo of politics, Franco rose in popularity in politics. When elected in 2016, she won the fifth-highest vote count among council members. As a member of the far-left Socialism and Liberty party, Franco ran on a campaign that advocated for poorer Brazilian communities, feminists, and LGBTQ communities. She led an unapologetic march to freedom, justice, and equity for all Brazilians and continued that mission once in office.  

Though Franco is gone, her work has forever changed her country and will continue to influence activists and revolutionaries around the world. Here are four things to remember about her work and life.

1. She worked tirelessly to empower black Brazilians and other marginalized communities.  

When Franco was killed, she was leaving an event that focused on the empowerment of black women. Franco publicly supported causes centered around black women, indigenous people, and other marginalized communities in Brazil. She ignited supporters that had grown weary with corrupt government officials and crippling inequity that disproportionately affected black Brazilians and women by not only campaigning for them, but focusing her policy work on them once elected.

2. She fought police brutality.

The unabated brutal police force in Brazil has long been criticized by human rights organizations and activists around the world. According to the state government, in January 2018, 154 people were killed as a result of police action in Rio state, a 57% increase from January 2017. Franco was adept at fighting the heightened police brutality in Brazil and getting activists involved with effectively challenging the militarized state. She also criticized extrajudicial killings and spoke out against them until her death.            

Photo by Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images.

3. As a queer woman, she supported LGBTQ communities and women's rights.

Franco was an openly lesbian woman, making her leadership in Brazilian government even more inspiring. Franco was an ardent supporter of gay rights and fought for LGBTQ safety and equality. She also was a champion for women's rights, fighting against gender violence and for reproductive rights for Brazilian women.            

Photo by Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images.

4. She advocated for impoverished Brazilian citizens.  

Poverty has devastated many of Rio de Janeiro's citizens. According to the IBGE (Brazil’s government statistics bureau), 16.2 million people (8.5% of the population) live on less than R$70 per month — the equivalent of around $1.30 per person per day.    

Franco grew up in a favela, a low-income neighborhood of Brazilian that has been riddled by brutal violence and chaos. Brazilians who live in favelas are often surrounded by unspeakable violence, such as stray bullets and brutal over-policing. Before working in government, Franco completed social work in favelas and fought for more equity and less police brutality in those communities.    

Franco spent her life fighting to make her community and the world a better place for those who've yet to find peace and equity in it.

As a black, lesbian feminist who was able to reach government official status, Franco's death was not in vain. Her memory should serve as an example of why serving others is so important. Say her name and continue fighting for her causes by advocating for the world's most vulnerable and disenfranchised people.    

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381 new species were discovered in the Amazon. That's 381 new reasons to protect it.

Hold onto your butts because we got more new species than "Game of Thrones" reaction threads.

In 2014-15, humans discovered 381 new species of plants and animals hidden in the Amazon rainforest, according to a new report from the World Wildlife Fund and the Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development.

Part of a regular review conducted by the agency, this round included some pretty amazing specimens — a pink river dolphin, a fire-tailed titi monkey, a yellow-moustached lizard, a bird named after Barack Obama (one more species in a long line of exciting creatures and plants named after the former president), and a honeycomb-patterned stingray.

[rebelmouse-image 19531233 dam="1" original_size="750x498" caption="Nystalus obamai in Peru. Photo by Joao Quental/Flickr." expand=1]Nystalus obamai in Peru. Photo by Joao Quental/Flickr.

Altogether, that’s 216 plants, 93 fish, 32 amphibians, 20 mammals, 19 reptiles, and one Obama bird.

Besides being really, really cool, the discovery of new species gives scientists a greater look at how our world works. It's a bit like finding a lost piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Each new species gives us new information about how life grows, lives, and evolves. They can help humans too: New species can be sources for foods and medicines.

But with these new discoveries comes a new affirmation of our responsibilities.

This biodiversity needs to be known and protected.

[rebelmouse-image 19531234 dam="1" original_size="750x333" caption="A river dolphin in South America. Photo from Rio Cicica/Wikimedia Commons." expand=1]A river dolphin in South America. Photo from Rio Cicica/Wikimedia Commons.

The Amazon is already home to nearly a 10th of the world’s known species, but we're just now starting to scratch the surface. Scientists predict that the vast majority of Earth's species — maybe as many as 80% — have yet to be discovered.

And yet, they might already be under threat. All of the new species in this report were found in areas already threatened by human activity, including a recently blocked mining decree by the Brazilian government. Meanwhile, more than a quarter of the Amazon could be chopped down by 2030, given current deforestation trends.

That's why this work is so important. If we want to save the creatures who live on our planet, the first step is to know just what is really out there.

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