Every year, thousands of children travel to Casablanca from far-flung shantytowns. Living rough, many fall prey to sexual exploitation and cruelty. It is a problem the government prefers to ignore, but there are some local people brave enough to stand up and make a difference.

Thanks to Brother Andrew de Carpentier, deaf children in Jordan have a place of their own to learn. In addition to academic and vocational training, the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf matches up younger children with older mentors to foster a spirit of self-assurance that helps them grow into confident and independent adults. 

Children with malnutrition are being given a radical new treatment that is cheap and incredibly effective: fortified peanut butter. Best of all, mothers can administer the ready-to-use food at home, eliminating the need for hospital stays, and empowering families to treat themselves.

In Caracas, Venezuela the streets thump with hip-hop, Latin rhythms, and violent crime. But the city is also home to a remarkable youth orchestra system that has helped more than a million kids from poor neighborhoods discover a very different world: that of classical music. Only a few will ever become professional musicians, but many more will have their lives changed for the better.

Former Hollywood actor Dr. Prabhavati Dwabha came to India to find herself; instead, she found people in need and a new purpose in life. At Ramana's Garden, Dr. Dwabha is working to give a future to children who would otherwise be without one.

When you think of Nairobi's slums, performance art probably isn't the first thing that comes to your mind. But the Sarakasi Trust isn't a normal organization. It's working with impoverished Kenyan youths to train them as dancers and acrobats, a process which gives young people self-belief and helps them fulfill their potential both on the stage and off it.

In rural Kenya, electricity sockets are hard to find but pedal power is everywhere—which is why inventor Pascal Katana has come up with an ingenious method to charge mobile phones using the energy generated by bicycles.

Can anyone make the world a better place? Californian schoolgirl Avery Hale certainly thinks so. She started the Step by Step organization when she was just 13 years old, to distribute unwanted shoes to people who need them in developing countries.