The New Heroes

Synopsis

The New Heroes, hosted by Robert Redford, is a four-hour PBS series that tells the stories of ‘social entrepreneurs’ who are trying to transform various corners of the globe. These passionate and committed men and women are utilising their business skills as tools for social change and development. Their bottom line is not money but lives transformed and dignity restored.

The New Heroes tells the dramatic stories of 14 daring people from all corners of the globe who, against all odds, are successfully alleviating poverty and illness, combating unemployment and violence, and bringing education, light, opportunity and freedom to poor and marginalized people around the world.

Also known as "social entrepreneurs," they develop innovations that bring life-changing tools and resources to people desperate for viable solutions. What is possible? You'd be surprised. Take a journey into a world where people take action to make a big difference.

One episode tells the story of two men who invented an irrigation pump that runs solely on manpower and can double the yield of a small farm. They created a company that manufactures the pump at the lowest possible cost and sells it to struggling farmers in Kenya. ‘These pumps are transforming lives, moving farmers from a life of poverty into the middle class,’ says one of the inventors.

Another episode tells the story of ‘Dr V’, an eye surgeon in Southern India, a place with one of the highest rates in the world of unnecessary blindness. Dr V founded a hospital specialising in cataract surgery. A young American businessman discovered that the high cost of buying lenses from commercial manufacturers was limiting the number of patients the doctor could help. The American subsequently built a factory next to Dr. V’s hospital, where lenses are manufactured and sold for a minimal price. This means that every two paying patients at the hosptial allows Dr. V to perform four surgeries for free.

Impact

The Skoll Foundation granted US$1.7 million to the project during the production stages. The Foundation then assisted in the outreach program by providing free DVDs to those who held house parties and screened the film. The Foundation also promised to match donations raised at these parties. Calvert provided support as part of the underwriting syndicate for Oregon Public Broadcasting. The Flora Family Foundation gave US$70 000 in 2004 to Oregon Public Broadcasting.

The most interesting outreach tool is the Skoll Foundation-supported initiative of a ‘House Party’. This initiative provides tools for individuals and organisations to hold house parties that screen the film, generate discussion and encourage collective donations to social entrepreneurial projects listed on the film’s website. Donations are made possible due to a partnership between the Skoll Foundation and GlobalGiving, a nonprofit, Internet-based service that connects donors directly to projects throughout the world.