In 2005, Winston Duncan was travelling with his mother in Southern Africa when he saw an old lady and a young boy walking down a road together. He thought of his own grandmother and wondered how he could help the old lady and others in Africa who have to walk a long way.

Duncan, who lived in Washington State, was 10 at the time, and his solution was to give them bikes. With his mum, he started Wheels to Africa, an organization that for the past 15 years has taken bicycles donated from residents of the Washington area and shipped them across the world to people in need.

Most of the 8,000 bikes they have collected have gone to countries in Africa, helping cut down hours of walking for students and other postmen. But last week, Duncan, travelled with a handful of volunteers and 400 bikes to a destination much closer to his home yet still in need: Puerto Rico. More than a year after it was destroyed by Hurricane Maria, the island suffers from transportation problems.

"It was a little chaotic（混乱的）—as soon as they got their bikes, they were just having fun riding around the parking lot, " said Austin Higgins, a New Jersey resident who recently joined Wheels to Africa as its photographer and videographer. "Some people who received bicycles were almost speechless, and some of them cried, because it was something they had requested for Christmas from Santa Claus, " he said.

The donated bikes included some high-end racing models, which went to teenagers interested in pursuing serious cycling.

Duncan recently graduated from Bard College. He now is in Arlington working at a political consulting firm and encourages kids in the Washington area to get involved with the organization, and some have joined him on trips to Africa and on this trip to Puerto Rico.

" I wanted to try to get people to think about giving back, " he said.

With amazing Christmas lights and some very special guests, Pallion Action Group kicked off the festive season in style after another year of giving much-needed support to the Sunderland community.

“We’ve got wreath making, our singers and dancers and, of course, a visit from Santa. This event brings out so much enthusiasm in the community,” said organizer Karen Noble. “We’ll also go and surprise anyone we know who’s going to be lonely at Christmas.”

Pallion has been at the heart of the community here since 1993, but the past couple of years have seen people increasingly struggling financially and feeling lonely. “This time last year, people were in great poverty,” said Karen. “But if we’ve done our job properly, they’ve become more financially resilient (可迅速恢复的) or less lonely and we should be helping different people this year. And a lot of those who were helped last year are volunteering for us now. People are so kind — we get loads of homemade thank-you cards. But I think the biggest thanks we get is knowing we’ve helped somebody to the point where they’re independent and getting on with life.”

Karen and the team organize a wide range of activities, from after-school clubs and cookery sessions to line dancing and computer classes to keep older people connected. But all this wouldn’t be possible without funding from People’s Health Trust, with money raised through The Health Lottery (彩票). Every time you play The Health Lottery, not only could you win up to £100,000, but you’re also helping to raise much-needed funds that go straight to the heart of the community. “So playing The Health Lottery is not just the chance to win a prize. You could be making a real difference,” said Karen.

Like many new graduates, I left university full of hope for the future but with no real idea of what I wanted to do. My degree, with honors, in English literature had not really prepared me for anything practical. I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world somehow, but I had no idea how to do that. That’s when I learned about the Lighthouse Project.

I started my journey as a Lighthouse Project volunteer by reading as much as I could about the experiences of previous volunteers. I knew it would be a lot of hard work, and that I would be away from my family and friends for a very long time. In short, I did not take my decision to apply for the Lighthouse Project lightly. Neither did my family.

Eventually, however, I won the support of my family, and I sent in all the paperwork needed for the application. After countless interviews and presentations, I managed to stand out among the candidates and survive the test alone. Several months later, I finally received a call asking me to report for the duty. I would be going to a small village near Abuja, Nigeria. Where? What? Nigeria?I had no idea. But I was about to find out.

After completing my training, I was sent to the village that was small and desperately in need of proper accommodation. Though the local villagers were poor, they offered their homes, hearts, and food as if I were their own family. I was asked to lead a small team of local people in building a new schoolhouse. For the next year or so, I taught in that same schoolhouse. But I sometimes think I learned more from my students than they did from me.

Sometime during that period, I realized that all those things that had seemed so strange or unusual to me no longer did, and returned to the United States a different man. The Lighthouse Project had changed my life forever.