Owners of huge private fortunes can play a major role in making a difference. Microsoft founder Bill Gates (b. 1955) and his ex-wife Melinda (b. 1964) donate $800 million a year to their foundation’s Global Health Programme to improve the world health situation. In other words: Two people donate as much money for healthcare each year as all 193 countries in the World Health Organization have in their entire annual healthcare budget. Elizabeth Wanjiru Wathuti (b. 1995) from Kenya is a big helper for the environment. She started the Green Generation Initiative to get kids to love nature. She’s planted over 30,000 trees in Kenya. Elizabeth saw forests being cut down and decided to help fix big environment problems. She’s known around the world for her work in fighting climate change and saving forests and teaches and inspires others to care for our planet. American philosopher and social critic Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) felt it was every citizen’s duty to rebel against the state when the state was guilty of immoral or unjust behaviour, e.g. in the form of bad laws. His essay on the subject, Civil disobedience (1849), reached a large international audience and has been a major influence on how people have viewed their rights and their governments ever since. Thoreau himself spent a night in prison after refusing to pay taxes. He did not want to support a state which itself supported slavery. environmental activist lifesaver antibiotics People who made history a) In pairs, look at the photos and short biographies on these two pages and try to find the right photo for each text. b) Pick a suitable heading for each profile from above and say what difference(s) these people have made in their country and/or in the world in a sentence or two. c) Choose one person and find out more about him or her online. Create a timeline with key life and career moments. Present your findings to the class. 1 Word bank wealthy • resources • unethical • to donate money to … • to have access to … • charity • to refuse to … • to play a major role • unjustifiable • aim • to discover • charitable body • to resist authority • poverty • biased • slavery • violence • to raise money • consciousness • disease • right to vote • role model • to give your time/money to a charity/a good cause W 48 Unit Internet resources ui83m4 4 Making a difference Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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