Homeless man's incredible gesture to stranded student

Campaign to help Robbie

Dominique Harrison-Bentzen

Dominique Harrison-Bentzen, a student of Central Lancashire University was stranded in Preston London with no money to go back home. With night falling she was in a unnerving predicament as she had already lost her ATM card. She was wondering how to find some money to get back home. When help arrived in the form of a homeless man who gave her all the money he had - all of three pounds - to go back home.

"He insisted I took the money to pay for a taxi to make sure I got home safe", Dominique said. Touched by the incredible gesture on the part of a stranger with no roof over his head, Dominique started a fundraiser. She set up a Facebook page for Robbie, her homeless hero, as well as a gogetfunding profile and even spent 24 hours out on the street with her friends to raise the money for a deposit for a flat for Robbie. Thanks to the overwhelming response from the web and the residents of Preston, Dominique has managed to raise about 32,496 pounds! But can you imagine what Robbie did with this huge amount of money raised?

He's decided to only take what is needed to get a roof over his head and give the rest to others like him.

Generosity, thy name is Robbie. Dominique has now taken to helping those living on the streets and encouraging everyone else to do the same. Robbie appears to have come to the aid of many in Preston city centre, returning wallets to pedestrians and offering his scarf to keep people warm.

Mobile free laundry service for the homeless

It may be a little odd but it is realistic as well as a helpful service to the innocent homeless community.

Twenty-year old Lucas Patchett and his friend Nicholas Marchesi, two engineering students from Bribane were inspired to start Australia's first mobile service for the homeless.

After an overseas tour the two friends got an old van fitted out with two industrial washing machines and two dryers, which can wash and dry 20 kilograms of laundry in an hour.

Getting the machines to fit in the van wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but they managed it pretty well. "The architect who helped us said: 'they'll probably fit', but we found we needed to build a platform above the wheel arches - it wasn't very scientific but we ended up banging the wheel arches out a bit and taking some panels off. We squeezed them in," said Lucas.

The average cost of a wash at a laundromat in Brisbane is around $5 to $6, which Lucas says is a lot of money for someone without a roof over their head. That's why the Orange Sky van is completely free of cost for the city's 300-odd homeless people.

The van is currently in a trial period, operating in six test locations in Brisbane's Central Business District, five days a week. It sources water from local parks and businesses.

They also plan to partner with local food groups, so that the homeless can get something to eat while their clothes are being washed.

Lucas said that he enjoys being able to sit and chat with interesting people as their clothes are being washed.

"I was chatting with a guy the other day who used to be a chemical engineer. It's just a very grounding experience to see how quickly things can go wrong for people."

Lucas revealed that the name 'Orange Sky' is inspired by their favorite color, and it's also the name of a song they really love by Alexi Murdoch. "The song is about helping your brothers and sisters and Nic and I, not in a religious way or anything, but we live our lives by the golden rule of treating others as we'd want to be treated and living to help other people. Everyone deserves clean clothes, right?"

The duo hope to operate Orange Sky Laundry throughout Australia by the end of 2015.

Labour pains for husbands too

Why only us? Why don't our husbands too feel the pain we experience during a child birth?

Although pregnant mothers won't utter these questions some of them may be having these thoughts in their minds.

Women bear the pain and husbands feel delighted and elated when the newborn sees the light of this world!

The executives at Aima maternity hospital in eastern China came up with a wonderful idea - 'Pain Experience Camp'. The camp offers fathers-to-be the chance to experience the pain of childbirth by giving them electric shocks through special pads placed on their bellies. The shocks simulate labour pains by causing muscles to spasm.

The painful service was started in November and over 300 men have signed up for it since then. In fact, the response has been so overwhelming that in addition to free sessions twice a week at the hospital, Aima has opened a pop-up booth at the local Shi Mao shopping mall.

Each session lasts about five minutes, during which a nurse gradually raises the intensity of the shocks between a scale of one to 10.

By the time you get to 10, you really can't even tell the difference between the pain of 9 and 10," said Ning, who recently put himself through the camp to express solidarity with his pregnant wife, 28-year-old Gao Yingjing.

Her husband's obvious discomfort didn't seem to bother her one bit. In fact, she was spotted nodding her head in approval.

According to Aima general manager Wu Ningxing, several pregnant women are actually quite pleased with the camp's services. "Why do women hate their husbands so much?" he jokingly asked.

So the sessions provide men a glimpse into the pain that women go through during childbirth. Wu Jianlong, who dared to withstand the pain right up to level 10, actually yelled out in pain and clenched his fists, finally begging the nurse to stop.

Later, he said that the experience had altered his perception of childbirth. "Because all women have children and it usually takes quite a long time, I had thought of it as something really natural, something really normal that they can get through," he said.

Not all men were as strong as Wu, though. "It felt like my heart and lungs were being ripped apart," said Song Silong, who made it to level 7 before asking for the system to be turned off.

Several men dropped out within minutes, at levels 4 or 5, unable to tolerate the pain. But nurses on duty say that the simulations don't actually match the torment of actual childbirth that often goes on for several hours.

A woman in labour could experience pains up to level 12, they explained. "Still, if men can experience this pain, then they'll be more loving and caring to their wives," said nurse Lou Dezhu.

And it seems to be working - Physics teacher Zheng Weitao said that before the simulation, he would only help his pregnant wife if she asked.

But then she heard about the simulations and suggested he go through the experience, believing that it would create a stronger bond between them.

The session had a profound effect on Zheng - he developed a new appreciation for his wife. He now comes home right after work rather than spending time with his friends. "Now, even before she wakes up, or even thinks of it, I have water - even honey water - waiting for her," he happily declared.