Aravind Eye Care + Women in Delhi

I wanted to share a couple of great segments from Al Jazeera's 101 East, both examples that fit nicely with this blog.

Aravind Eye Care in Madurai has been the subject of numerous business school case studies, but if you want an introduction to this amazing organization, the video below is a great place to start. This should be required viewing for anyone in the US Health Care sector:

The second story gives an overview of the challenges facing women in New Delhi (verbal, physical harassment) and the scrappy innovators who are doing something to improve the situation. My personal favorite is the "taxicab" service founded and operated by women, to help the women of Delhi travel safely across their city:

[Cross-listed in the Practical Quant.]

Semi-regular Dimes: Freegan edition

Prompted by a recent NY Times article, I decided to share some articles on the fascinating (and inspiring) world of Freegans. Growing up in the developing world, we always saw the U.S. and Western Europe as the ultimate lands of plenty. By exposing the amount of wasted food and stuff that end up in our collective trash bins, Freegans bring awareness to the related issues of over consumption and the fair distribution of resources.

The Freegan Establishment: A long Jun/2010 feature from the NY Times Magazine.

I Love Trash: A 2008 documentary (viewable online) chronicling two friends 3-month experiment in dumpster diving.

Freegans and FreeCycling Gain Fans: An Oct/2008 feature article from Businessweek magazine.

Writer Becomes Freegan for a Month: An Oct/2007 NPR interview with Newsweek writer, and undercover Freegan, Raina Kelley, about her month-long experiment "recycling and reusing" instead of "buying".

"Freegans" Live On Garbage: An Oct/2007 feature on the CBS Early Show.

Free-lunch foragers: A Sep/2007 front page feature article from the LA Times.

Not Buying it: A Jun/2007 feature article from the NY Times.

Freegan send political message by dumpster diving for meals: A Feb/2006 MSNBC interview conducted by conservative pundit Tucker Carlson.