Meanwhile... more than 1.5 million South Koreans will have their debts paid off or restructured by National Happiness Fund
In South Korea, more than 1.5 million South Koreans will have their debts paid off or restructured by the National Happiness Fund.
It’s all part of a government plan to relieve the economic pressure on some of the nation’s lower-
income citizens. The fund was established in 2013. To qualify, South Koreans must have an income of less than $910 per month and be able to prove that they have tried for at least a decade to repay the borrowed money. Debts of as much as $9,000 will be considered.
According to the BBC, the plan could wipe out as much as $5.6 billion in debt.
In Ntagacha, Tanzania, young women are being taught to sew in order to give them a path to economic independence.
Many Tanzanians wear made-to-order clothing, so sewing skills are in high demand. Recognizing this, the City of Hope school and home for orphans has launched a program called Sewing Empowers Women.
The City of Hope school was founded by Tanzanian John Chacha and his Canadian-American wife, Regina Horst. Today, their daughter Tenzi runs the program. “I want [the students] to learn a trade so they’ll be empowered – so they’ll have a good job and a good future for themselves,” Tenzi told Glamour magazine.
In Dubrovnik, Croatia, tourists are flooding into the medieval city, hoping to see some of the noteworthy sites where HBO blockbuster “Game of Thrones” was filmed.
The Dubrovnik Tourist Board estimates that about 10,000 tourists are arriving by sea each day, making the city the world’s No. 2 most popular cruise destination after Venice, Italy.
Is the new attention welcome? “I find it idiotic, the ‘Game of Thrones’ and the tourism related to it,” Krunoslav Ivanišin, an architect and professor of design and urbanism at the University of Zagreb in Croatia, told City Lab. “But you must understand that citizens of Dubrovnik must make their living, and ‘Game of Thrones’ ... [does] help them.”
