In preparation for International Women’s Day this Friday, explore some of the amazing women in the world making it a better place through love, education, compassion and difficult work.

This video is from the Canadian town of Iqaluit, where women are eight times more likely to be victims of domestic violence. See how Arctic women are supporting each other at Qimaavaik, a safe haven for abused women and children. 

For all that chest beating, gorillas mostly get down on simple salads.

Well, simple but not light, eating 40-70 pounds of vegetation a day! They also enjoy a sprinkling of ants and termites for protein. Learn more in this 3-minute film and explore more gorillas, including this rare view of mom and baby.

The gorillas of Rwanda are endangered by loss of natural environment and poaching, but like their human cousins, they are affected by the plight of man down below their mountain homes. Rwanda is one of a handful of countries where gorillas are found, but the small state was rocked by an ethnic genocide in 1994. The Sierra Club writes, “The threat to biodiversity from combat can also be illustrated by the Rwanda genocide of 1994. The risk to the already endangered population of mountain gorillas from the violence was of minimal concern to combatants and victims during the 90-day massacre. The threat to the gorillas increased after the war as thousands of refugees, some displaced for decades, returned to the already overpopulated country. Faced with no space to live, they had little option but to inhabit the forest reserves, home to the gorilla population.” 

Find out more about the efforts still being made to rebuild Rwandan unity in the short film above and check out more about efforts to protect gorillas here.