14-year-old migrant boy straps empty water bottles to his body in attempt to stay afloat during ocean crossing

By
Monica Pop
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The video of the migrant boy who strapped empty water bottles to help him stay afloat during his frantic attempt to reach the Spanish soil vent viral and broke millions of hearts.

The 14-year-old boy couldn’t stop his tears as he was telling the soldiers at shore that he had no family left in Morocco. Sadly, he had no idea what he would encounter in the foreign land, but knew one thing, that he would rather die than go back to his homeland.

“He didn’t want to go back, he didn’t have any family in Morocco, he didn’t care if he died from cold; he preferred to die … than go back to Morocco,” soldier Rachid Mohamed al Messaoui said, according to India Times.

Source: REUTERS/Jon Nazca

The dangerous journey started from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa, a city 40 miles across ocean from Gibraltar which is British overseas territory on Spain’s south coast.

According to British Independent, after Morocco loosened border controls, the number of people who tried to reach the Spanish soil climbed to roughly 8000.

As deporting minors is illegal in Spain, no one knows what happened to the crying boy.

Source: YouTube Screenshot

Another minor who had undertaken the same route was reported to have died in the attempt to reach Ceuta.

Spanish troops are detaining migrants who are trying to enter the city by water or through the fence. Many have been sent back to their homeland of Morocco.

Female chief comes to power, annuls 850 child marriages and gets girls back to school

By
Maryane
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This is the incredible story of Theresa Kachindamoto, the woman who proves that nothing is impossible. 

You may have never heard of her before, but once you learn how her bravery is changing the life of the girls from her country you will remember her as nothing less than a real life hero.

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Kachindamoto was named the village chief of Monkey Bar, Malawi. She came to this position after working as a secretary at a city college for 27 years. When she accepted to become a chief, this woman had a goal in mind and it was to let girls be girls and attend school instead of getting married at a very young age. Although this sounded like a mission impossible, Kachindamoto never though of giving up. 

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world where child-marriage is considered tradition and something normal although the law says that it’s illegal from 2015 for minors to marry. 

Girls as young as 12, and even younger, are forced into marriages, so instead of having a childhood, most of them are becoming mothers at this age. 

“I told them: ‘Whether you like it or not, I want these marriages to be terminated.’”

Source: YouTube Screenshot

Kachindamoto achieved what seemed to be unreachable. She annulled more than 850 child marriages and took all those girls back to school.  

People of her country should finally understand that giving birth at 12 is not normal and these girls’ lives are put in huge danger. Neither their bodies, nor their emotional intelligence is developed for such a responsibility as a husband and children. 

The most horrifying of all is that girls starting from 7 years old are often sent to camps for “kusasa fumbi” which stands for cleansing but is in fact a place where these girls are taught how to sexually please their future husbands, and just the though of it is horrifying. 

Kachindamoto is determined to shut down all of these places and is not afraid to sanction everyone involved in such activities. 

Affinity Magazine via Twitter

Her ways of handling the problem of child-marriage triggers parents protests and she gets life threats but that doesn’t stop her for making a chance in the girls’ life. 

This brave woman made all her 50 sub-chiefs sign agreements to abolish early marriage and annul all the existing unions involving minors. 

Vital Voices via Facebook

All she believes in is that the place of every young girl is in the classroom. She even pays for the school fees of those girls whose families can’t afford it. 

“I don’t care, I don’t mind. I’ve said whatever, we can talk, but these girls will go back to school,” she said.

This incredible woman is changing traditions that are likely to destroy young females’ life one girl at a time and she’s not planning on stopping. 

“Be the change that you want to see in the world” is exactly what Kachindamoto is doing every single day. Below is her story.

The heartbroken mother of the girl who died after being forced to jump on a trampoline for hours says “I never got to say goodbye”

By
Monica Pop
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The death of 8-year-old Jaylin Schwarz from Odessa, Texas, which took place in August 2020, brought tears and heartbreak at everyone who heard her sad life story.

Jaylin and her younger sister Jayde were taken away from their biological mother Alysha Anderton four years ago because she was an addict who failed to overcome her addiction within the stipulated time fixed by child protective services. After that, the girls were placed under the care of Alysha’s stepsister Ashley Schwarz and her husband Daniel Schwarz.

Sadly, things went even worse from that moment on and Jaylin was a subject of constant child neglect and abuse which eventually led to her death.

Source: GoFundMe

According to police records, sweet Jaylin died of dehydration after she was forced to jump on a trampoline for an excessive period of time without water as a punishment.

After the investigation, the cruel guardians were charged with capital murder and were taken into custody by the Odessa Police Department. It was reported that the girl was forbidden from having breakfast and was not given any water on the day she died “because she was not jumping.” The temperature was over 110 degrees. The autopsy results confirmed that she died of dehydration.

Source: Odessa Police Department

Recently, almost a year after Jaylin’s passing, her biological mother opened up about losing her daughter. Fox 17 reported that heartbroken Alysha said: “I was surprised it wasn’t more than just dehydration because the little girl that I saw in the casket did not look like an 8-year-old girl. She was so, so tiny. She was so tiny.”

She continued: “The most important thing I needed to tell them was that I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry that I didn’t bring you back home like I promised you that I would.”

Source: GoFundMe

According to CBS 7, Alysha said: “What upsets me the most is that I never got to see her alive again. When they took them, I never got to say goodbye. So I’ve never had closure for the past four years.

“I hope she knows my heart now and she knows that I was trying very, very hard to get to them and I could have saved her.”

Source: GoFundMe

The only thing that gives this mother comfort is that her little girl’s grave is nearby and she can visit it every single day. “If that’s all I get now, I’ll take it. I’ll take it and I will treasure it for the rest of my life,” Alysha said. “If that’s all I’m given when it comes to her if that’s all I’m given I will take it any day… And I will make it beautiful just as she was in life.”

Source: GoFundMe

Currently, she’s doing all in her power to regain custody of her other daughter who is under the care of the Schwarzs’ babysitter for the time being.

 A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with the legal battles.

Mom assumes her baby has chickenpox – doctors discover a rare form of cancer

By
Monica Pop
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The well-being and the happiness of their children is every parent’s top priority. That is the reason why many panic and rush to see a doctor when something out of the ordinary happens, like the kid developing a rush, any sort of ache, or any other slight inconvenience.

When baby Oscar was born, his parents noticed tiny red dots on his body but didn’t assume it was anything to be concerned about. However, as time passed by, those dots grew bigger and bigger and that raised a red flag so baby Oscar was taken to the hospital.

Stephanie and her husband Daniel were convinced the doctor would send them home with some medication for a rush or chickenpox and they weren’t prepared for what they were about to hear.

Facebook / DanielLangham

“At first we didn’t realise there was anything wrong, we thought it was just something normal like neonatal rash – but a midwife saw him and realized there might be a problem,” Stephanie said speaking to the Daily Mail.

“Since then, the spots have got progressively worse and worse.”

Facebook / DanielLangham

After doctors ran a number of tests, they diagnosed sweet Oscar with Langerhans cell hypertrophy, a rare cancer that attacks the cells of the immune system and is mostly shown in the skin as part of reactive lesions such as eczema.

Facebook / DanielLangham

Since the diagnosis in 2015, Oscar has undergone a huge number of blood tests, weekly blood and platelet transfusions, six bone marrow tests and two skin biopsies, but his parents are still left wondering what future holds for their son. Doctors say they have never seen a case where the child is in fact born with the spots, as they usually appear later on as the cancer progresses.

The good thing is that the disease has a 90% survival rate in children and everyone hopes Oscar would manage to overcome it eventually.

Facebook / StephanieLangham

Stephanie says that most of the people on the street stare at her boy and take a step back when they see them approaching because they believe he has some infectious disease. But she won’t let anyone’s stares and words affect Oscar’s happiness and simply opts to ignore all the negativity. “People always ask if he’s got chickenpox, and they often stare at him and point him out in the street – people don’t want to come near him because they think they might catch it.”

Facebook / StephanieLangham

Both she and her husband Daniel are doing their best to educate people on their son’s condition as they hope it will lead to acceptance.

Facebook / StephanieLangham

“He’s got spots all over his body – even on his tongue and his eyeballs – which makes me worry about what’s going on inside,” Stephanie says.

The family has no other choice but to believe that things would turn for the better for their son, but they still have their fears because not much is known of this disease and doctors struggle to find options that would help Oscar fight against it the best he can.

Facebook / DanielLangham

Oscar’s life hasn’t been easy because he spends a lot of time in the hospital. Yet, he’s a very happy and bubbly child who loves spending his days around his loving mom and dad. They say that as long as Oscar is healthy, they don’t care how he looks on the outside.

We pray for him to be completely cured in the near future. Please share this story to raise awareness of this condition so people will understand it’s not contagious or something they should fear of.

Soldier turns around to see his former military dog running right into his arms

By
Monica Pop
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We often speak of the sacrifice men and women from the military make all for the sake of the country and its people. However, we seem to forget how the dogs who are part of the army put their life on the line every single day, too. Because of these courageous animals many soldiers’ lives are saved. 

One such dog is Taylor whom her fellow soldiers call Tay-Tay. 

During her two deployments, Tay-Tay did amazing job and everyone spoke of her readiness to act quickly in life-threatening situations. And as everyone loved this heroic dog, there was one person who never left her side during serving away from home. Sargent Tom Hanson and Tay-Tay became best buddies and kept each-other’s back. 

Tay-Tay is now retired and her life is no longer in danger of bombs and the enemies. When a dog finishes their mission of serving the country, they are usually put up for adoption. Many times, the soldiers who were their companions during deployment are interested to take them in, but this rarely happens because those reunions cost lots of money. 

But you know how they say it, where there is will, there is way, and Molli Oliver is the kind-hearted person who does her best to make former service pals to be reunited again. 

Molli is a flight attendant whose mission in life is to bring former military dogs and soldiers together. How she do it? Using her own money. 

This time, Molli was touched by the story of Sgt. Hanson and Tay-Tay and she made their reunion a reality. 

The emotional moment was caught on video, and we can see Sgt. Hanson’s excitement. The moment the dog runs into the arms of her best friend is simply amazing. 

Girl, 9, who was shot in the head while jumping on a trampoline at a friend’s birthday party has died

By
Monica Pop
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9-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith from Minneapolis who was shot in the head while attending a friend’s birthday party and jumping on a trampoline succumbed to her injuries.

FOX 9 reported that sweet Trinity was fighting for her life for nearly two weeks before she died.

Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder shared the devastating news. “For the last 12 days, she fought for her life and today that fight ended. At 4:04 p.m. she was pronounced deceased at the hospital.”

After she was struck by a bullet, Trinity was rushed to North Memorial Health Hospital and placed in critical condition.

“Our officers who showed up at this scene with the nine-year-old girl critically injured with a gunshot to her head knowingly violated policy by picking this girl up, running her to the squad and taking her to the hospital, doing what they could to save her life. That’s who the Minneapolis Police Department is,” Elder said.

Sadly, Trinity is just one of three children who suffered from gun violence in North Minneapolis within weeks of one another.

Six-year-old Aniya Allen was also killed by a gun while she was driving with her parents. 10-year-old Ladavionne Garrett Jr. who was shot in the same manner, while being in a vehicle with his parents, remains in critical condition.

None of the cases has been solved, and currently, there is a $30,000 reward for any information that could lead to the wrongdoers in the three cases.

The grieving families are urging the country to wage war on gun violence.

Rest in peace.

PE teacher from Virginia put on paid leave for refusing to use transgender students’ preferred pronouns

By
Monica Pop
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Byron “Tanner” Cross, a PE teacher at Leesburg Elementary school, Virginia, has been put on paid administrative leave because he spoke his mind during the Loudon County Public Schools meeting last Tuesday concerning a policy for “Rights of Transgender and Gender-Expansive Students.”

The Christian teacher took a stand and refused to address the transgender students with their preferred pronouns, as reported by The New York Post. He referred to policy 8040 which states: “LCPS staff shall allow gender-expansive or transgender students to use their chosen name and gender pronouns that reflect their gender identity without any substantiating evidence, regardless of the name and gender recorded in the student’s permanent educational record.” 

He started his speech, which has been shared online, saying: “My name is Tanner Cross and I am speaking out of love for those who are suffering from gender dysphoria.”

“It’s not my intention to hurt anyone, but there are certain truths that we must face when ready,” he continued.

“I love all of my students, but I will never lie to them regardless of the consequences.

“I’m a teacher, but I serve God first, and I will not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa because it’s against my religion.

“It’s lying to a child, it’s abuse to a child, and it’s sinning against our God.”

Addressing the board, Cross went on to discuss a “60 Minutes” special which revealed that a number of young people who made physical changes to their bodies are now in the process of de-transitioning.

The school refused to reveal the exact reasons as to why Cross was put on paid leave stating that the matter was private and the teachers’ files were confidential.

However, Cross’ wife took to Facebook to confirm her husband was put on leave because he gathered the courage to speak out loud about the issue that concerns America.

As Americans, we believe that every American has the right to their beliefs, but NO AMERICAN HAS THE RIGHT TO IMPOSE THEIR BELIEFS ON OTHERS,” she wrote.

“We spoke out first and foremost to protect the children and also to defend the first amendment rights of teachers and staff.”

According to Fox News, the school sent parents an e-mail saying that Cross is put on paid leave and that his duties will be covered by a substitute teacher.

What are your thoughts on this?

5-year-old sole survivor of cable car crash which left 14 people dead is out of intensive care and asking for his family

By
Monica Pop
-

5-year-old Eitan Biran who was the sole survivor of the deadly cable car crash in the Italian mountains is out of intensive care and has spoken to his aunt who has been by his side ever since the tragedy in which he lost his parents, his brother, and his great-grandparents took place.

The Times of Israel reports that Eitan was told that he had been asleep for a few days and that he is asking for his parents.

Eitan’s condition was critical as he suffered multiple injuries including broken bones. Luckily, he didn’t suffer any neurological injuries despite hurting his head. According to the doctors who treat him, Eitan only managed to survive all thanks to his father’s embrace. “In order to be able to survive the terrible impact, it is likely that the father, who was of robust build, wrapped his son in a hug,” the Regina Margherita Hospital in Turin said, as cited by Italian la Repubblica newspaper.

The investigation regarding the crash is still ongoing. So far, the Italian police have arrested three senior managers from the cable car operating company. Allegedly, they deliberately deactivated the emergency that should have prevented the cable car from falling backwards when the cable snapped, as per The Guardian.

According to The Times of Israel, the boy’s family, his father Amit Biran, 30, his mother Tal Peleg-Biran, 26, his younger brother Tom Biran,2, and his great-grand parents Barbara and Yitzhak Cohen, 71 and 81, who traveled to Italy because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, have all been buried in Israel.

The Biran family resided in Italy.

Three Italian families offered to adopt Eitan and the Italian Jewish organizations have gathered together to help the boy.

Among the other victims of the horrific tragedy was a 40-year-old doctor who had been on the front-lines of the COVID-19 pandemic and her boyfriend.

Engaged couple Silvia Malnati 27, and Alessandro Merlo, 29, who had taken the trip to celebrate Silvia getting her economics degree were also killed in the crash.

“I express the condolences of the whole Government to the families of the victims, with special thought for the seriously injured children and their families,” Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said in a statement.

Our hearts go out to the grieving families of the victims.

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