World Humanitarian Day: Here are 13 real-life heroes you should know

Every year, Americans spend millions of dollars going to movies about superheroes. These comic book characters possess all kinds of special powers that enable them to save humanity.

But we don’t have to sit in a movie theater to appreciate the exploits of superheroes. They are among us, as school superintendents, librarians, drug-addiction survivors, doctors, environmental saviors, and just plain good neighbors.

In acknowledgment of World Humanitarian Day on Aug. 19, 24/7 Tempo has compiled a list of 13 hero humanitarian workers you should know about. We compiled our list from various sources such as the Good News Network and media sources.

World Humanitarian Day is dedicated to recognizing humanitarians and those who have lost their lives working for humanitarian causes. Thankfully, everyone on this list is still with us and doing work to further humankind.

Some names may be familiar, like Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai, the women’s education advocate and youngest Nobel Peace Prize ever. Yousafzai’s courage after surviving an assassination attempt won her admiration all over the world.Others less familiar but no less deserving are Dr. Tom Catena, who is providing medical care on a heroic scale in strife-torn Sudan. In June, 633 divers at Deerfield Beach in Florida set a Guinness World Record for the largest underwater cleanup.

Greta Thunberg

Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg is embarking on a new venture to draw attention to the climate crisis. The 16-year-old set sail from Plymouth in England earlier this month aboard a solar-powered yacht for the United States. She plans to reach the U.S. before the start of climate talks in America in September, then continue on to South America and arrive in Santiago, Chile, ahead of a U.N. climate conference in December.