In Bangladesh, education is a gift that, for many, marks the difference between a future largely confined to factory work and a dream of a future shaped by knowledge rather than necessity.

If you could name one thing that would make you happy, what would it be? Clearing your student loan? Owning your dream home? World peace? For Abiba, the answer is far simpler.

"It's not just that I mistrust this government; it's gone beyond that; I simply don't believe them anymore." That is what Lika told me when I met her protesting outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.

Patrick stands tall against the backdrop of Mifetu, a small coastal village in Ghana that bears his family's legacy. "My father named this village," he says, with pride and sorrow in equal measure, as he looks at what the village has become.

For nearly half a century, the Lost Violin of Kraków lay hidden in pieces, scattered throughout the house abandoned by victims of the Holocaust, until a master craftsman meticulously brought it back to life in their honour.

In 2013 a bunch of "scruffy skateboarders" challenged the might of the cultural elite of London. At first, few took much notice, but over the next 18 months, the skateboarders unleashed the power of local support with dramatic effect.

Mustafa is one of the poorest people I have ever met; he is always one of the most generous. His simple act of kindness led me to question what generosity actually means.

At the age of 16, Janet Devlin became an overnight star. By the age of 20, she was an alcoholic. To her adoring fans, the singer from Northern Ireland had the world at her feet, but away from the public eye, her mental health was spiralling out of control.

With flash floods, freak storms, and record-breaking heat waves every year, is it time to recognise that climate change is real and we all have to play our part in reducing our impact on the earth? Scott Poynton of The Pond Foundation certainly thinks so.