大象传媒

Kujiek Ruot Kuajien's grew up in South Sudan but his parents decided he needed more than his village could offer, and as a boy he went to Kenya. It would be 16 years before he saw his family again.

Tomohiro Narita is a tattooed biker who runs a motorcycle shop in Niiza City, Japan. Following the 2011 tsunami, he led an unlikely group of former convicts, tattoo artists and bikers nicknamed 'Support the Underground' that helped out in disaster-hit areas. Outlook's Emily Webb went to Niiza City to meet Tomohiro.

Claudete Da Costa grew up on the streets of Rio de Janeiro after her mother became homeless. By 11 years old she was working as a waste picker trawling through rubbish to find recyclable material to sell on to scrap merchants. Today she leads the waste picking cooperatives and has recently won a contract to recycle waste at the Olympic Games.

Mbarak Ndegwa is a dancer and choreographer from Kenya who found fame as part of a troupe that won a TV talent competition. He discovered his love of dance from watching American music videos and he only discovered it could earn him money when his parents couldn't afford to send him to High School.

Photo: Refugees coming from the Nuba Mountains, South Sudan.
Credit: Giulio Petrocco/AFP/GettyImages.