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Oct 25, 2021 • 27min

Women leading change in NGOs

A man is twice as likely to rise to the top of an international non-governmental organization (INGO) than a woman. Kim Chakanetsa meets two exceptions to this rule. Amanda Khozi Mukwashi is the CEO of Christian Aid, an INGO that works to support sustainable development, eradicate poverty and provide disaster relief in South America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. She’s also the author of But where are you really from? Summer Nasser is the CEO of Yemen Aid, an INGO established in late 2016 by a group of Yemeni-American women in response to the crisis in the country where, according to the UN, 80% of the population need humanitarian assistance and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are acutely malnourished. Yemen Aid is one of the organisations providing humanitarian relief to thousands of people on the ground.Produced by Alice Gioia. IMAGES: Amanda Khozi Mukwashi, credit Christian Aid/Alex Baker Summer Nasser, courtesy of Summer Nasser
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Oct 18, 2021 • 27min

From start-up to success: Women rolling the dice in business

The stereotype in the entrepreneurial world is that women are too risk averse to lead companies. But is that true? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women who turned their start-ups into successful enterprises. Linh Thai is one of Vietnam’s top female entrepreneurs. She was brought up in the USA, after her mother fled their war-torn home country with Linh and her sister, who died during the journey. Her mum’s leap of faith inspired Linh to move back to Vietnam and become an entrepreneur. She is now a co-star on the investment reality show Shark Tank Vietnam and founder of TVL Group, a workplace skills training company focused on early- and mid-career professionals.Monica Musonda is a Zambian lawyer who decided to quit her high-flying corporate career to start her own company. She’s now the CEO of Java Foods, a food processing company providing affordable nutrition to the southern African market. She is one of the few Zambian women involved in manufacturing and agro-processing and she is a member of the UN Lead Group of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement.Produced by Alice GioiaIMAGES: (L) Linh Thai, courtesy of Linh Thai (R) Monica Musonda, courtesy of Monica Musonda
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Oct 11, 2021 • 28min

Sisters of skydiving

What does it feel like to fall through the sky? Two women who have broken barriers and mastered the art of skydiving from India and the United States tell Kim Chakanetsa the answer.The very first time Rachel Thomas flew in an aeroplane, she jumped out of it at 4,500 feet. Fast forward to 2002 and she became the first Indian woman to skydive and set foot on the North Pole. In her 25-year career she has completed 650 skydives in 11 countries, has been a judge at skydiving competitions and has received many awards including the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award. Danielle Williams is an African American disabled skydiver who is an advocate for greater diversity in outdoor adventure sports. She graduated from Harvard in 2008 and spent a decade in the U.S. Army. She has completed over 600 jumps, and in 2014 co-founded Team Blackstar Skydivers. This team, originally made up of six African Americans who linked up in a "black star" formation skydive, has now grown to a diverse group of over 330 skydivers in six countries. She is also the Founder and Senior Editor of Melanin Base Camp, an outdoor blog promoting diversity.Produced by Emily Naylor and Alice Gioia. IMAGES: (L) Rachel Thomas, courtesy of Rachel Thomas (R) Danielle Williams, credit Ro Asgari
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Oct 4, 2021 • 28min

Taking a leap into single motherhood

There are many different routes to parenthood. For a growing number of women that route does not involve waiting for a partner to start a family. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two mothers by choice about the joys and challenges of single parenthood. Marie Stern Olsson is from Sweden, where single mothers have only recently been given the same right as couples to access state-funded fertility treatments. She had her son through insemination in 2017. She believes that having a strong support network and a single parent-friendly welfare system made her choice possible. Supriya Deverkonda is based in India, where single people are allowed to adopt children, but there is still a strong stigma around single mothers. In 2013 Supriya decided to adopt a 5-month-old baby, defying cultural stereotypes around traditional family and marriage. Eight years on, she is still having to deal with bureaucratic hurdles and scepticism, but she says she wouldn’t have it any other way. Produced by Alice GioiaIMAGE (L) Marie Stern Olsson, courtesy of Marie Stern Olsson (R) Supriya Deverkonda, credit Arti Anand
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Sep 27, 2021 • 27min

Message in a mural

Street artists from Switzerland and Uganda talk to Kim Chakanetsa about creating public art to enrich lives and bring about change.The Swiss artist Mona Caron is best known for her multi-story murals celebrating the rebellious resilience of weeds. She first became a muralist in her adoptive hometown of San Francisco, and creates images on a massive scale in public spaces. She blends her artivism with social movements, and enjoys working in collaboration with kindred-spirited artists and activists.Fatuma Hassan is a painter, graffiti artist and muralist who lives and works in Jinja, Uganda. She says she's never met another female street artist in the country and people are sometimes shocked that she's climbing ladders to paint her murals on buildings. She likes projects that raise community awareness and celebrate the African woman. She's part of the Afri-cans festival and has created murals in Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Kenya.Produced by Jane ThurlowIMAGE (L) Mona Caron, credit Chris Carlsson (R) Fatuma Hassan, courtesy Fatuma Hassan
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Sep 20, 2021 • 27min

Musical theatre stars

Dazzling lights, fancy costumes, thrilling dance routines and the nightly applause of an adoring audience - what's it like to sing on the world's biggest stages? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two musical theatre stars about life on stage - and the challenges that Covid-19 restrictions have brought.Australian actress Jemma Rix is starring as Elsa in Disney’s Frozen the Musical. With no formal training she moved to Japan to start her career singing and dancing at the Universal Studios theme park in Osaka. This is where she was first cast at everyone's favourite green witch, Elphaba in Wicked - a role she went on to play on stage to great acclaim for eight years.Filipino actress Christine Allado has returned to the stage in London's West End after a break of 15 months when theatres were closed because of Covid-19 restrictions. She’s currently starring as Tzipporah, the wife of Moses, in The Prince of Egypt. She took a year out after university to work at Hong Kong Disneyland, singing some roles in Cantonese despite not knowing the language, and she’s never looked back.Produced by Jane ThurlowIMAGE (L) Christine Allado, credit Roberto Vivancos Studio (R) Jemma Rix, courtesy Jemma Rix
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Sep 18, 2021 • 49min

The Conversation with Helen Clark and Michelle Bachelet

What does it take to run a country? Kim Chakanetsa is joined by two international leaders who have championed women’s health, equality and empowerment throughout their careers. They will discuss their personal journeys, the impact Covid-19 has had on the wellbeing of women around the world, and why more women should join the political arena. The guests will also be taking questions from two young female activists and leaders in women’s rights, health and climate change. Michelle Bachelet became Chile’s first female president in 2006 and served a second term in 2014. In 1973, her father was detained and tortured under General Pinochet’s dictatorial rule. Two years later she was also imprisoned with her mother and then exiled for four years. When she returned to Chile, she became a doctor and worked with victims of torture. She is currently the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Helen Clark was the first woman to be elected as prime minister of New Zealand and the first woman to serve for three consecutive terms. After her premiership, she became the first female head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and last year she co-chaired an Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response to explore the global response to Covid-19. She’s also board chair of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH).
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Sep 13, 2021 • 28min

What can we learn from nomadic life?

What's the appeal of a nomadic existence with no settled place to live? The award-winning film, Nomadland shone a light on the sense of community, support and friendship that exists among people in the United States living in their vehicles and moving from place-to-place. How much do these modern-day nomads have in common with traditional communities around the world? Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women from Somalia and US about life on the move.Shugri Said Salh was sent to live with her grandmother at the age of six and enjoyed an idyllic childhood living as a nomad in Somalia: herding camels, raising goats, and enjoying nightly stories and songs of her ancestors. She fled her country’s brutal civil war living in refugee camps in Kenya before settling in California where she's now a nurse. She's written a book, The Last Nomad, about an almost-forgotten way of life full of beauty, innovation, and tradition as well as danger.Carol Meeks lives part of the year on the road in a converted van. After seeing the unhealthy food some fellow travellers were eating, she started a YouTube channel posting videos about how to cook tasty meals, cheaply on a small camping stove. She called it Glorious Life on Wheels and now interviews solo women living in their vehicles and travelling the US as they try to get by on meagre incomes.Produced by Jane Thurlow
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Sep 6, 2021 • 27min

Drag kings: The women performing as men

While drag queens sit brightly under the pop culture spotlight, fewer people know about drag kings, the mostly female or non-binary performers who create male characters on stage and poke fun at the patriarchy. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two drag kings who have found a community through performance and are using their characters to explore their own masculinity and femininity.Mētra Saberova is an artist and drag king from Latvia, who performs as Timmy, and also manages the Latvian Drag King Collective – hosting and performing at live and online drag shows. She wants to create queer-friendly spaces in a country with limited rights and protections for LGBTQ+ people. Giovana Lago is a drag king who performs as Don Giovanni in Brazil, as part of the Kings of the Night collective. She has a real interest in the history of drag kinging, and is also a burlesque performer, something she would never have tried if she hadn’t discovered drag first.Produced by Caitlin SneddonIMAGE DETAILS L: Giovana Lago as Don Giovanni (credit André Cardoso) R: Mētra Saberova as Timmy (credit Mētra Saberova)
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Aug 30, 2021 • 27min

Natural-born contortionists

Kim Chakanetsa explores the rich and long history of body-bending work and hears about the complex skills that you need to succeed.Sosina Wogayehu is a contortionist and juggler from Ethiopia. She started performing at the age of six in the streets of Addis Ababa. After a long career travelling around the world, she has moved back to Ethiopia where she’s now training new performers and planning on opening the first circus venue in the country. Leilani Franco is a British-Filipina professional contortionist. She holds three Guinness World Records: the fastest backbend walk, the fastest contortion roll and the most full-body revolutions in a chest-stand position. She made it to the semi-finals of both Britain’s Got Talent and Germany’s Got Talent, and she’s currently based in Hamburg, Germany.Producer: Alice Gioia (Image: Sosina Wogayehu (L) Credit: Ponch Hawkes; Leilani Franco (R) Credit: David Waldman/Barcroft Media)

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