大象传媒

In 2010, at the age of 26, Outlook Inspirations nominee Livey van Wyk became the youngest person ever to be elected mayor in Namibia - an achievement all the more extraordinary because just a few years before the townspeople of Witvlei had made it very clear that she wasn't welcome there. She was attacked and ostracised because she was HIV-positive. Livey had got the diagnosis soon after discovering she was pregnant.

Jo Fidgen meets London fire investigator Paul Osborne and his cocker spaniel - and colleague - Sherlock. Sherlock is a fire investigation dog who wears protective velcro booties on his four paws. He's employed by the London Fire Brigade to sniff out traces of accelerants to see if a fire was started deliberately. Paul's book is called 'Sherlock: The Fire Brigade Dog' published by Penguin Books.

New York-based Dr Melissa Freeman is known for her pioneering work with heroin addicts - she was the first doctor to treat women addicted to heroin by using a methadone maintenance programme. She's still going - after 65 years in the profession. Outlook's Colm Flynn went to meet her.

Dave Benscoter is a former FBI investigator now known as the 'apple detective.' He's taken it upon himself to find lost varieties of American apples, inspired by his father's love of the fruit.

Image: Livey van Wyk
Credit: UNICEF Torgovnik Verbatim Photo Agency