Weekly Uplifting Stories - September 4th, 2023

Hello everyone and welcome back to another instalment of Uplifting Stories!

"Do your little bit of good where you are - it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." - Archbishop Desmond Tutu

This week, we have found heartwarming stories about: 

• A female astrophysicist who hopes to encourage girls and women of color to pursue their love of science
• A sweet Boxer who helps his blind friend down the hardwood stairs
• LEGO makes braille brick sets available for sale for the first time
• $17,000 raised for the Maui wildfire victims - by a 5-year-old's lemonade stand

Astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance's Memoir Hopes to Inspire Young Women

Little kids are used to reaching for the stars, because when we are young, our dreams are unlimited. But as we get older, it can be harder to hold onto those aspirations, especially when we don't see examples that reflect us. 

But some people end up being trailblazers. 

Sarafina El-Badry Nance grew up with an Egyptian mother and American father - and a big love and passion for the night sky growing up in Austin, Texas. Now an astrophysicist and science communicator, she decided to write a memoir at a young age, (She is 30 years old.) hoping to inspire others and explore her experience.

"My hope is the book resonates with other young women, but also anyone who has felt othered or sought to belong. It is also for anyone curious about the cosmos." - Sarafina El-Badry Nance²

In her memoir, Starstruck: a Memoir of Astrophysics and Finding Light in the Dark, she shares her unique journey (Thus far!) in being a woman of color in a very male dominated industry. She was told at a young age that math and science just aren't for girls.

But her love of of the stars - and an impressive amount of resilience - has propelled her to an already impressive career.

It's no wonder she was named one of Forbes' 30 Inspirational Women in 2021 - a young woman who will no doubt inspire many children who have been told they can't or shouldn't aspire to be whatever they want to be.

Sweet Dog Helps His Blind Friend Down the Stairs

We all know that animals can display kindness without agenda, we've all seen adorable videos of dogs and cats working it out, or even bears and wolves helping each other survive. In yet another example of how dogs have gigantic hearts, here is a sweet story about Dexter, a brown Boxer and Ginger, a blind mixed breed. 

In this TikTok video, you can see Dexter and Ginger at the top of a staircase, looking to head down. But Dexter decides to be Ginger's helper, supporting her down the stairs safely. He makes sure she has the wall beside her to guide and then uses his body to support her from the other side, going at her slow pace. 

You can see Dexter sweetly and patiently awaiting Ginger's journey down the hardwood staircase, and he even puts his body between Ginger and the bottom of the stairs at the end to make sure she doesn't slip and fall.³

Lego Makes Braille Brick Set Available For Sale September 1st

On September 1st, Lego began selling sets with braille-encoded bricks for sale for the first time ever. 

Each brick has a braille version of a letter or number, with a printed version of the character below to help partially sighted and blind children learn to stack and attach the famous bricks and to play games with them.

“For the blind community, braille is not just literacy, it’s our entry to independence and inclusion into this world, and to have Lego Braille Bricks made available for the wider public is a massive step forward to ensuring more children will want to learn braille in the first place,” said Martine Abel-Williamson, president of the World Blind Union, in a statement.⁴

In the past, LEGO has offered free braille-coded building bricks to services and schools that worked with vision-impaired children, but when they realized the strong reception to them, recognized an opportunity for broader social inclusion.

After the US launch, LEGO expects to offer the same sets in Italian, Spanish and German! 

$17,000 Raised for Victims of Maui Wildfires - With a 5-Year-Old's Lemonade Stand

When little Edison Juel saw the news about the devastation of the wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii, he asked his mom, Ami, to turn it off because it made him too sad. The family had just been to Lahaina earlier this year.

Ami could see her 5-year-old son trying to process what happened with questions during the week, until he finally asked about doing a lemonade stand to help the kids in Lahaina. 

The results were staggering. On their busy Seattle street, you could see cars lining up to stop by for yellow or pink lemonade, ice cream sandwiches, popsicles, sparkling water and candy. People also donated via Venmo, and despite the $1 beverage cost, were donating $5, $10 and $20 to the cause. 

Ami and her husband also saw corporate matching from programs through their jobs and online donations. 

"Most people were like, 'this is so cool. What a great idea. We've been looking for ways to help. We felt so helpless and didn't know where to donate. A lot of people came by and stopped and told us like their story of a trip to Hawaii or some connection they had to the island." - Ami Juel⁵ 

5-year-old Eddie doesn't seem to realize how unusual this whole event was - how many of us made even $20 on our first lemonade stand?! He does realize that he can make a difference, and that you should take care of your neighbors - both near and far. 

Have a Great Week Everyone!

And there you have it! Another week of positive news to put in your pocket. 

As always, if you have a story of your own to share, or want to point us toward someone amazing we should feature, please reach out in the comments below, or DM us on our Instagram page. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

¹ Physicsworld.com

² The Guardian

³ Upworthy.com

⁴ Yahoo Finance

⁵ USA Today

Photo by THIS IS ZUN