Helping Hands
Jamie Oliver, Christina Noble, Magdalena and Hanna Graaf, Nebahat Akkoc, Isidoro Macías, Hannes Urban, Peter Hoeg, Simon Pánek, Dikembe Mutombo
Inspiration
J.K. Rowling, Khaled Abu Ajaima, David Beckham, Stefano Dambruoso, Anna Politkovskaya, James Moulton
Innovators
Barbara and Tomasz Sadowski, Sergei Kostin, Nick Moon and Martin Fisher
Activists
Bono, Zackie Achmat, Natasa Kandic, Caoimhe Butterly, Leonard van Baelen
Alchemists
Roger Daltrey, Albina du Boisrouvray, Carine Russo
Green Team
Josef Krecek, Asbjörn Björgvinsson, Yannis Boutaris
Hate Busters
Iris Berben, Mircea Dinescu, Claude Bébéar, Andrea Riccardi
Online Heroes
The Peoples' Choice, David Beckham, Eva Klonowski, Johann Olav Koss, Svetlana C, Zinedine Zidane

Do we need a hero?

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Don't Know




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courtesy of linda bergling
Girl power: The Graafs fund a home in Nagpur


Life After Cheesecake
print article email TIMEeurope Subscribe

Posted Sunday, April 20, 2003; 14.23 BST
courtesy of linda bergling
Magdalena and Hanna Graaf don't like to dwell on the time they call "our revolution," when, free of Mom's rules (and, occasionally, their tops), they won mad popularity by pouting for the cameras and scoring a series of No. 1 pop hits in their native Sweden.

"The modeling was fine. The music was fun," says Magdalena, 26, and the two could have lived out the rest of their lives in the pages of the tabloids. But having visited Africa and Asia with their Evangelical parents — founders of the Arken Church — "we wanted to use our bit of fame and money for something better." The 50 youngsters who live at the Graaf Sisters Children's Centre in Nagpur, India, are thankful they did, as are the 200 from nearby slums who attend school there.

Magdalena's husband, Magnus Hedman, goalkeeper for Scottish football club Celtic, is used to her showing up at parties with flyers that ask: DO YOU WANT TO HELP US? It's an impulse inherited from her mother, Linda Bergling, who has started dozens of projects for the poor and hopes the sisters will run them someday. "We have to think about it," says Hanna, 23. "You have a lot of lives in your hands."

For now, the focus is fund raising for Nagpur and two new homes. Magdalena feels she has no choice. "Sometimes I wish I hadn't seen all this," she says. "When you have, you can't just close your eyes."

Previous: Christina Noble Next: Nebahat Akkoc





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On New Year's Eve, the Miseries of Minsk
As Russia hikes up the cost of gas for Belarus, the mood turns gloomy
Mogadishu at 60 Miles an Hour
Arms merchants are once again doing brisk business after a rapid change of power in this tough town, but so far the peace has held
The Year of The Nuke
A rundown of the world's nuclear powerhouses, and what to expect in the coming months

QUICK LINKS: Front | Oliver | Noble | Graafs | Akkoc | Macias | Urban | Hoeg | Pánek | Mutombo | Back to TIMEeurope.com Home
FROM THE APRIL 28, 2003 ISSUE OF TIME MAGAZINE; POSTED SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2003

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