Clockwise from top left: Rohingya refugee children find a place to play amid the construction at the refugee camp outside of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The classroom at a chess club in Chennai, India, is set up and ready before students arrive. A new kindergartener in Maryland waves goodbye to his parents. The milestone gave his dad a flashback to his own start of school in Uganda. Sandals outside a brothel on the Uganda-Kenya highway. Among the many losses in Uganda after the U.S. aid cuts: free condoms and PrEP for sex workers.
Clockwise from top left: Danielle Villasanal; Viraj Nayar for NPR; Joanne Cavanaugh Simpson for NPR; Ben de la Cruz/NPR
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Clockwise from top left: Danielle Villasanal; Viraj Nayar for NPR; Joanne Cavanaugh Simpson for NPR; Ben de la Cruz/NPR
The Goats and Soda blog publishes hundreds of stories each year about global health news, about fighting poverty, about daily life in the Global South. Some of these posts attract a slew of readers. Then there are stories that people clearly connect with — time on page is excellent! But let’s call them underappreciated in total viewership.
We asked our writers and editors to nominate stories that meant a lot to them and that they wish could find a bigger audience. In the waning days of 2025, it’s not too late to catch up with these great reads.
My son loved his first day of kindergarten. It brings up my own bittersweet memories
When his son began kindergarten this week, educator James Kassaga Arinaitwe flashed back to his own initiation into school, growing up in Uganda under far humbler circumstances.
Guess who inherits it all?…