I remember when I was in 3rd grade, I had trouble seeing the board. I squinted. I tried to sneak up to the front of the class to copy homework assignments.
Fortunately, there was a solution: a pair of glasses. Eureka! I could see the board clearly again!
Glasses are something we in the West take for granted. But in many parts of the world, they're hard to come by, even the kind of reading glasses commonly sold in drugstores in the U.S. and other countries.
A new study reports on a project that gave free reading glasses to hundreds of people in Bangladesh whose close vision wasn't what it used to be. Not only did their vision improve but there was a surprising benefit: Their income increased. They could do the kind of up-close work that boosted their earnings, from harvesting crops to weaving. One woman calls her glasses "her best friend" -- which I completely agree with based on my experience.
Corrective spectacles aren't exactly new -- they date to the 1200s or so -- but they are still a low-key yet life-changing boon.
NPR profiles World Central Kitchen, the charity whose trucks were bombed in Gaza by Israeli forces while en route to deliver food to people in need. Seven aid workers were killed.
Puerto Rico's El Laberinto del Coco entertained at the increasingly famous Tiny Desk (which was spoofed on Saturday Night Live last week). The musicians are, says NPR, "a genre-bending collective built around the folklore and rhythmic styles of bomba."
The Italian island of Alicudi, home to 100 humans and some 600 wild goats, is offering up the critters for adoption. The BBC reports: "Applications to 'adopt a goat' must be received by 10 April." So far, at least one cheesemaker has expressed interest.
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