大象传媒

Melon Nyamwiza Rwancumangi Nalongo was orphaned at 15 in Uganda. She gave up school and married a man of 71. They went on to have eight children. But Melon longed to complete her education and in her 30s, went back to primary school. Other adults in her village called her crazy. Now aged 37, Melon is in Senior Four and will be doing her O-Levels this year. She is in the same class as her eldest daughter. Melon hopes to become a teacher.

Mattie Do is the first woman in Laos to direct a feature film and her current genre of choice is horror. Her latest, Dearest Sister, exposes tensions between social classes in the capital, Vientiane - but it is primarily a ghost story.

Bipin Ganatra is Kolkata's volunteer fire-fighter, and whenever there is a blaze out of control in the Indian city, you can almost guarantee that he will be there. Not in an official capacity - he is not employed by the fire service - but for more than 40 years he has been putting his life on the line to rescue people trapped in burning buildings. He has done such a good job that the fire service has given him a medal. The reason for his dedication is a sad one - the death of his brother in a fire.

Franky Zapata is a world jet ski champion - but his lifelong dream has been to fly. So he set about making a hover-board, a kind of circular platform with jets that you stand on, and that allows you to whizz through the air. There were a lot of doubters - but Franky has done it - developing a hover-board that he says can get to 10,000ft.

(Photo: Nyamwiza Nalongo stands with her husband and her eight children)