The Soccket is a soccer ball with a twist — a generator inside that turns kicks into power that can run a small lamp. Its American inventors and celebrity backers say it provides hours of light so poor children in homes without electricity can study at night. But this bright idea has run into some technical problems.
If you serve as a volunteer, you know that it can feel good to devote your time to assisting others in need. But do you ever feel that you’re performing a job that deserves a paycheck? Volunteers around the world weigh in.
It's hard to see the devastation in the Philippines without wanting to do something to help. Reporter Amy Costello covers the business of doing good and has this advice for helping.
As part of The World’s investigative project Tracking Charity, we recently held an online chat with experts in the realm of giving. Our question: How do you know a good charity when you see it?
When people find out that I reported from Africa for many years and am now producing a series called Tracking Charity, they frequently ask me this: "Which charities do you think are doing really good work on the ground overseas?"
Governments and charitable organizations have distributed millions of insecticide-treated bed nets across Africa, to repel and kill mosquitoes that spread malaria. But mosquitoes are growing resistant to the insecticide. Health experts say a resurgence of the deadly disease may be coming -- one that could have been avoided.
I recently returned from Africa, a place I reported on for many years. I thought I knew the territory pretty well, so I was surprised to find myself facing some ethical dilemmas that I hadn’t confronted before.
In the months ahead, reporter Amy Costello will travel the world bringing you stories that look critically at the multibillion-dollar international aid industry.
Doctors who worked in Haiti after the 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake are asking a difficult question: Did some medical volunteers harm patients? Amy Costello reports on the medical community's attempts to learn from mistakes made in Haiti.
The US leads the world in the number of children adopted from abroad. Critics say this unending demand for infants from poor nations – together with the huge sums American families are willing to pay – transformed an altruistic act into an industry plagued by corruption, kidnapping, and fraud.
TOMS shoe company is the subject of an investigation by reporter Amy Costello. Costello was The World's Africa correspondent for many years.