Global News What Happened To...?

Hannatu Stephens was in her school's hostel in Chibok on the night of April 14, 2014.Speaking through a translator, she said at around 1 a.m., she heard loud noises coming from outside.The men who had broken into the hostel were not military soldiers, but members of the insurgency group, Boko Haram.Stephens and 275 other young women were ordered to leave the hostel and the insurgents set the school on fire.Stephens and the other girls were taken to Sambisa Forest, the known hiding sport for members of Boko Haram.The abduction of 276 girls sparked a campaign called Bring Back Our Girls, which had become the rallying cry in Nigeria and abroad.The #BringBackOurGirls hashtag tweeted by hundreds of thousands of people, including former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama.Stephens would be one of 82 schoolgirls eventually released after more than three years in Boko Haram captivity.In the largest liberation of hostages since the schoolgirls were abducted from their boarding school in 2014, five commanders from the extremist group were exchanged for the girls’ freedom.On this episode of Global News’ What happened to…?, Erica Vella speaks with Hannatu Stephens about the night of the abduction and what life was like after she was freed. Erica also speaks with experts to find out if Boko Haram is still a threat to those living in Nigeria.Contact:Twitter: @ericavellaEmail: erica.vella@globalnews.caCaptive - https://www.tvo.org/video/documentaries/captive-feature-version  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In April 2014, Grace Danladi Saleh had moved to her husband’s hometown of Chibok, Nigeria.He husband, Idrisa Danladi Saleh, was the town’s doctor and cared for the community.On April 14, 2014, Grace said she heard loud noises and their home began to shake. Her husband went to investigate.That night 276 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram and in the days and weeks following the abductions, international outrage began to mount.A campaign called Bring Back Our Girls became the rallying cry in Nigeria and abroad, with the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag tweeted by hundreds of thousands of people, including former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama.On this episode of Global News’ What happened to…?, Erica Vella finds out what happened the night of the abductions, but also looks into how the insurgency group started and how the Bring Back Our Girls campaign helped shed light on an issue that had many people in Nigeria living in fear.Contact:Twitter: @ericavellaEmail: erica.vella@globalnews.ca Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aymen Derbali knew he would be late for evening prayers, but he decided to go anyway.He left his home in Sainte Foy, Que., on Jan. 29, 2017.When he arrived at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, he took a spot in the back corner to not disturb others but within minutes, he said he heard a loud noise.That night, six people were killed and 19 seriously injured when a gunman burst into the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, Derbali was one of them.The attack stunned the country and was condemned as an act of terrorism.In the months following the shooting, Canadian Muslims voiced fear around discrimination and there was a heated debate erupted in Canada over the concept of Islamophobia.On this episode of Global News’ What happened to…? Erica Vella speaks with Aymen Derbali about that night. She also looks at what happened to the man who was responsible for this tragedy and finds out if Islamophobia played a role in the tragedy.Contact:Twitter: @ericavellaEmail: erica.vella@globalnews.ca Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Flint Michigan water crisis garnered international attention in 2015 after it was discovered that residents were being poisoned by the water running through their taps.A year earlier in 2014, the city switched its water source from the Detroit water system to the Flint River as a cost-saving solution while awaiting the building of a pipeline from Lake Huron which hadn’t been completed yet.Many people living in the city questioned the decision before the switch which officially happened on April 25, 2014, and Lewis said she remembers noticing an immediate difference in the water.Residents began reporting various illnesses and several people had died from a Legionnaires outbreak.It was later revealed that the city didn’t treat the water with anti-corrosion agents that might have prevented aged pipes from leaching lead into the water system.On this episode of Global News’ What happened to…? Erica Vella revisits the water crisis to find out how it all began and what has happened since. She also speaks with the community members who pushed for change and finds out where they are now.Contact:Twitter: @ericavellaEmail: erica.vella@globalnews.ca Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brazil was among one of the countries most affected by the Zika virus in 2015 and 2016 but Dr. Carlos Pardo, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, said the virus emerged in the 1950s.Zika virus is an arbovirus — a type of virus that is transmitted by certain kinds of insects like mosquitos. The ades Aegypti mosquito, which is primarily found in tropical climates, is a known carrier of the virus. It can also be sexually transmitted.In 2015, Germana Soares, who lives in Brazil, was infected with Zika virus. Soares was 12 weeks pregnant when she became ill, but at the time, doctors believed there was no harm to the baby.In November, just before she gave birth, Soares said local news stations began reporting a link between Zika and microcephaly with women who were pregnant.Days after his birth, doctors confirmed the diagnosis; Guilherme had microcephaly.Pardo said only 20 per cent of infected people show symptoms, but the risk rests with pregnant mothers as Zika is known to also cause Congenital Zika Syndrome and microcephaly in fetuses.Microcephaly occurs in these children when their mothers are infected with Zika while pregnant, he said. The fetus develops viral illness and eventually encephalitis.The World Health Organization estimated at the height of the epidemic, there were over 216,207 probable cases of acute Zika virus disease reported in Brazil, and thousands of babies were born with complications.Anis Institute for Bioethics, a not-for-profit organization in Brazil, has been one of the leading organizations advocating for women and families affected by the Zika epidemic.Luciana Brito, researcher and psychologist for Anis Institute for Bioethics, said since the beginning of the epidemic, over 19,000 babies have been born with suspected Congenital Zika Syndrome.On this episode of What Happened To…?, Erica Vella revisits the 2015 Zika epidemic and finds out if the virus is still a threat. She also speaks with the families impacted virus who share what life has been like.Contact:Twitter: @ericavellaEmail: erica.vella@globalnews.ca Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eleven years ago, Haiti was rocked by a seven-magnitude earthquake that killed, injured and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.Franciscot Auguste was living in the country at the time with his mother and four other siblings.He said Jan. 12, 2010, started out like a normal day that is until he realized the shaking he was feeling was an earthquake; he acted immediately and ran outside of the building.20 seconds after he escaped the three storey building came crumbling down and he heard chaos around him.Shock and adrenaline coursed through Auguste; he escaped death by seconds. He thought everyone made it out safely, but his brother was still unaccounted for.13-year-old brother, Peterson Auguste, was killed by the earthquake.In the days after the earthquake international foreign aid began flooding into the country; more than $13-billion was pledged to help rebuild the small Caribbean country.On this episode of Global News What Happened To…?, Erica Vella finds out what happened to the money that was raised. She also finds out what happened to Franciscot Auguste and how his life changed after the earthquake.Contact:Twitter: @ericavellaEmail: erica.vella@globalnews.ca Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the Global News What Happened To...?, journalist Erica Vella revisits the story of Alan Kurdi and the Syrian refugee crisis (Part 2)In 2012, Ruba Bilal was living in Damascus, Syria with her husband and two sons; she had reached a level of stability in her life, but the country where she had lived her whole life was in the middle of a dangerous civil war.Bilal said she was an activist in her community and worked on providing aid to people who were in areas that were under siege, but her family had concerns that she would be taken and detained because of the work she was doing.That year, Bilal and her family felt tensions beginning to mount and she said they made the decision to temporarily relocate to Lebanon.As the civil war continued, it was clear Bilal and her family would never have the chance to return to Syria and she submitted an application to LifeLife Syria, an organization that connects Syrian refugees with potential sponsors in Canada.In 2016, she learned her family would be coming to Canada as privately sponsored refugees.Bilal and her family were one of thousands who came to Canada in 2016, after the federal government made promises to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees.The commitment came after a photo of two-year-old Alan Kurdi garnered international attention on the dangers refugees undertake to seek safety.Kurdi and his family were attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea by boat after fleeing war-torn Syria. On the journey Alan, his brother Ghalib and mother Rehana perished; Abdullah Kurdi, Alan and Ghalib's father, was the only one to survive.On this episode of Global News What Happened To…?, Erica Vella speaks with Bilal about how she and her family adapted to life in Canada. She also finds out what happened to the Kurdi family and if the federal government has continued its commitment to resettle refugees in Canada.Contact:Twitter: @ericavellaEmail: erica.vella@globalnews.ca Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In early September in 2015, a photo of a young boy lying lifeless on a beach in the Mediterranean captured the world’s attention. The picture showed two-year-old Alan Kurdi lying face down in the sand.Kurdi and his family were attempting to cross the Mediterranean by boat after fleeing war-torn Syria, but on the journey Alan, his brother Ghalib and mother Rehana perished; Abdullah Kurdi, the family’s father and husband, was the only one to survive.Tima Kurdi, Abdullah’s sister and Alan’s aunt, spoke about the night the family boarded the boat in Bodrum, Turkey.Tima said she went to grab her phone and noticed she had dozens of missed calls; she called her sister-in-law who was living in Turkey.The journey the Kurdi family took was one thousands of Syrians attempted at the height of the civil war.On this episode of the Global News What Happened to...? journalist Erica Vella revisits the story of Alan Kurdi and the Syrian refugee crisis and speaks with Tima about the Kurdi family’s devastating journey and finds out how the photo of Alan mobilized Canada to take action and help thousands of Syrians fleeing persecution.Contact:Twitter: @ericavellaEmail: erica.vella@globalnews.ca Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the Global News What Happened To...? journalist Erica Vella revisits the 2013 Lac Megantic train derailment.In the early hours of July 6, 2013, a train carrying petroleum crude oil crashed into the centre of Lac Megantic, a small town in Quebec.The downtown core erupted in flames; 47 people perished, 2,000 people were evacuated from their homes. The tragedy marks one of the worst rail disasters in Canadian history.The incident happened at 1:15 a.m. July 6, 2013, when a runaway train with 72 oil tankers — owned and operated by the now-bankrupt railway company Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway Ltd. (MMA) — barreled into the town at over 100 km/h.Along with the 47 deaths, much of the town was also destroyed.The Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation into the derailment and found 18 factors led to the Lac-Megantic disaster, including poor training, mechanical problems and sloppy safety oversight, a Transportation Safety Board (TSB) investigation concluded.Three men, Tom Harding, Richard Labrie and Jean Demaitre, were charged following the derailment, but in 2018 a jury had found the men not guilty.On this episode of Global News What Happened To...?, Erica Vella visits the town of Lac Megantic to speak with people who witnessed the tragedy over seven years ago. She describes what the town looks like know and finds out if any changes were made to ensure a derailment like this never happens again.Contact:Twitter: @ericavellaEmail: erica.vella@globalnews.caIf you enjoy Global News What Happened To...?, please take a minute to rate it on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts, tell us what you think and share the show with your friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following years of drought, Australia was ravaged by sweeping bushfires that began in 2019; 33 people were killed and thousands of others were displaced.Bushfires are an annual threat during Australia’s dry summers, but this wave of fires came early, catching many by surprise.The speed of the fires, coupled with the consistently dry conditions, created a situation firefighters struggled to control.New South Wales, a coastal state, was the hardest hit. The region located in the eastern part of the country is home to about six million people.Nathan Barnden, who has been working as a volunteer firefighter for the New South Wales Rural Fire Service since he was 16 years old, knew the 2019 fires were going to be bad ones.According to Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, more than 10 million hectares of land was affected.The World Wildlife Fund estimates the bushfires killed or displaced nearly three billion animals, including 143 million mammals, 2.5 billion reptiles, 180 million birds and 51 million frogs.The devastation motivated people around the world to donate.The Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service — also known as WIRES — received more than $90 million to help native Australian wildlife.In this episode, Erica Vella speaks with Barnden about his story, learns about the animals and land that was destroyed and finds out how the country is recovering since the massive blaze a year ago.Contact:Twitter: @ericavellaEmail: erica.vella@globalnews.caIf you enjoy Global News What Happened To...?, please take a minute to rate it on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts, tell us what you think and share the show with your friends Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices