People Fixing the World 4px20

Barcelona in Spain is famous for its beautiful streets, lined with tall apartment buildings. But the architecture is a problem for many people who have lived for years in upstairs apartments but who now find the stairs unmanageable. In 2008, a survey found that in one district there were 300 people who could not leave their homes alone. A group of volunteers decided to do something about this and got hold of a special wheelchair with caterpillar tracks, so it can be used to take people up and down stairs. After an initial pilot scheme they launched a local service called “Let's Go Down to the Street”, to help elderly residents go shopping or meet up with friends. Sixteen years on, the service is offered across the city. Plus we visit a home for senior citizens in an unlikely location: a university campus. The Mirabella complex at Arizona State University in the US offers its residents the chance to sample the college lifestyle – from lectures to shows and sports fixtures. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. We first podcast this episode in February 2024. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: William Kremer Reporters: Esperanza Escribano, Anthony Wallace Series Producer: Jon Bithrey Editor: Penny Murphy Sound mix: Gareth Jones (Image: Barcelona resident Teresa being helped down the stairs, BBC)

Shipping containers are a staple of global trade, helping in the transport of all sorts of goods by sea across the world. But their relatively cheap cost and sturdy structure lends them to many other purposes. In this episode we look at a start-up business in the UK that uses shipping containers to store carbon captured from the air in the production of building materials. And we visit a school for poorer children created out of shipping containers that sits in the middle of a busy intersection in Mumbai, India. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: William Kremer India reporter: Chhavi Sachdev Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Hal Haines (Image: Myra with Nicholas Chadwick from Mission Zero outside a shipping container in Norfolk, BBC)

What do you do with your waste if you live somewhere that doesn’t have the infrastructure to deal with it? Turns out there are some really simple solutions. Presenter Myra Anubi is in Malawi where she meets the cafe owner in the capital Lilongwe who has set up a recycling hub as well as the women making valuable compost from food scraps and animal dung. Plus Myra visits the Kibébé workshop in the Dzaleka refugee camp where refugees are finding employment and meaning by turning used materials into clothing and toys. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: Richard Kenny Malawi producer: Marie Segula Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Hal Haines (Image:Norah Baziwell and her team of compost makers in Lilongwe, BBC)

Mindfulness meditation, which involves becoming aware of the breath in the present moment, has been a core part of Eastern contemplative practices for thousands of years. Over recent decades however, it’s ‘exploded’ throughout the West as scientists have sought to prove the physical and mental benefits of regular practice - like feeling calmer, less stressed and feeling better able to manage emotions. This week we look at some of the more surprising places where these simple techniques are having a big impact. In Kenya, we learn about the ‘mindfulness revolution’ that took place in a men’s high security prison outside Nairobi after a group of inmates and guards were taught mindfulness techniques in 2015. They soon started teaching each other and ten years later it’s spread to prisons throughout the country and beyond. And we visit Baltimore in the US, where a non-profit organisation has been teaching mindfulness and yoga in inner city schools for over twenty years, giving children growing up with violence and deprivation the tools to manage their emotions and heal trauma. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: Zoe Gelber US reporter: Ben Wyatt Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Gareth Jones (Image: Students in Baltimore practicing yoga, Holistic Life Foundation)

During the 1970s and 80s, thousands of Chilean babies were illegally kidnapped, trafficked and adopted. The practice was widespread during the rule of General Augusto Pinochet, who encouraged overseas adoptions to reduce poverty. A network of adoption brokers, hospital staff, social workers, judges, priests and nuns facilitated this trafficking. Today many of Chile’s ‘stolen children’ are trying to trace their birth families - and their mothers are also looking for them. Hundreds of them have been successfully reunited with the help of a small Santiago-based NGO called Nos Buscamos. Using DNA testing kits, and a range of other techniques and technologies, they help track down families separated for decades. We meet Constanza del Rio - the founder of the project - and hear from the families they’ve helped to bring back together. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Jane Chambers Producer: Viv Jones Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Hal Haines (Image: Jimmy Thyden-Lippert González embraces his mother Maria Angelica González, credit: Nos Buscamos)

From Malawi, Myra Anubi takes a look at ways that technology is improving children’s education. Malawi has free primary schools - but almost 90% of 10 year olds are unable to read properly. So the government is distributing tablets to schools up and down the country. They use software that helps kids to learn maths and reading at their own speed and in their own language. Tests have shown that literacy and numeracy are improving and the children come to school more often. Myra also visits the world’s first 3D printed school. In Malawi there aren't enough school buildings. Is 3D printing the solution to bringing better classrooms to where they are most needed? People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: Richard Kenny Malawi producer: Marie Segula Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Andrew Mills (Image: Children at Takumana school, Malawi using tablets, Richard Kenny/BBC)

Bias in the way medical research is carried out means that new medicines for diseases such as cancer – as well as the tools used to diagnose patients with some conditions – are disproportionally tested on people of European heritage. This can lead to those not represented in the data being misdiagnosed as well as some treatments not working as well as they should. From the Ghanaian scientist helping to develop cancer treatments which work better for African people, to the team in England using AI to diagnose dementia in communities where English isn’t widely spoken, in this programme we will meet the solution-seekers trying to make healthcare more equal. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer/reporter: Craig Langran Egypt reporter: Nadine ElShiaty Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Hal Haines (Image: Dr Yaw Bediako in a laboratory, Yemaachi Biotech)

Myra Anubi is ed by BBC Access All presenter Emma Tracey to look at new technology that could help blind people in their everyday lives. Glide is a new mobility aid – it’s a device with wheels and cameras that aims to provide blind people with an alternative to white canes and guide dogs, while using AI to give them more information about their surroundings. Emma tries the gadget out in Los Angeles. She also looks at a device that is much simpler but in its own way revolutionary – the BrailleDoodle is a tactile tablet that makes it easy for blind children to learn braille, create art and understand graphs and diagrams. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Emma Tracey Producer: William Kremer Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Annie Gardiner (Image: Emma Tracey walks across a road in LA with the Glide device, BBC)

This week we look at two projects that show how sport can be a powerful tool for social inclusion. We go rowing with some refugees in Seville, Spain, and discover how being part of a crew has helped both adults and kids feel part of their new community. And we a special scheme in southern England that uses football coaching to break down barriers between police officers and local young people. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: Claire Bates Reporter/producer: Craig Langran Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Hal Haines (Image: Rowers on the Guadalquivir river, Seville/BBC)

There are more people alive and living for longer - but with that comes more people experiencing failing health. While some of this is inevitable, some can be reversible through rehabilitation. The WHO says 2.6 billion people could benefit from rehabilitation services but in low and middle income countries fewer than half receive these services. We’ve found three projects which help promote independence and a better quality of life. We hear how training doctors and nurses in basic rehabilitation skills is changing lives and communities in rural areas in countries as diverse as Uganda, China and Fiji. We find out about the bracelets which look set to reverse some effects of Stroke and open the door to recovery. And we meet the online community of physiotherapists who are helping mentor new physios around the world. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer/reporter: Claire Bowes Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Andrew Mills (Image: Azizova Mizhgona is given advice by physiotherapist Parvona Sheraeva,WHO/Tajikstan)

The global rhino population has fallen by 95% since 1900, mainly due to poaching. Now an atomic approach is being used to stop the poachers in South Africa by placing radioactive material into the horns of rhinos. We journey to the South African bush to meet the scientists - as well as the rhinos being protected. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Ayanda Charlie Producer: Katie Solleveld Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Annie Gardiner (Image: A rhino with its face covered, being guided by two vets in the Waterberg reserve, South Africa, Ayanda Charlie)

How do you stop people chopping down precious rainforest? In the Indonesian part of Borneo, researchers for a conservation charity discovered that local people were chopping down the rainforest around them for an incredibly understandable reason – they needed to pay for medical treatment for themselves and their children. So they started a project that would hopefully protect the forest and help the local communities at the same time. They built a health centre and gave people a big discount on medical care if they stopped chopping down the trees. Ten years on, we visit the forest to see what happened next. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. We first podcast this episode in December 2023. Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Ade Mardiyati Producer: Craig Langran Series Producer: Jon Bithrey Editor: Bridget Harney Sound mix: Hal Haines

In the red light districts of Kolkata, India, there exists an extraordinary youth club. DIKSHA, as it’s known, looks after the children of sex workers when their mothers are working. While they’re at the youth club, girls and boys learn about their rights and are empowered to take control of their futures. Since the club started in 2001 it has worked to prevent girls from ing the sex trade, and helped reduce the stigma facing children in the wider community. Reporter Puja Bhattacharjee meets the people behind the club and the families benefitting. This programme contains adult themes. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: William Kremer Reporter: Puja Bhattacharjee Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Annie Gardiner (Image: A group chatting at DIKSHA, BBC)

Around the world, rubbish is collecting in our gutters and waterways, with millions of tonnes being washed out to sea every year. As the soup of ocean debris kills and injures millions of marine animals, we look at two projects trying to make a dent in the problem. We discover a Greek project which has enlisted thousands of fishermen around the Mediterranean to collect rubbish from their nets, rather than throw it back. They then sort it and hand it over for recycling when they return to port. We then travel to Accra in Ghana where a group of volunteers called the Buz Stop Boys are busy clearing the streets of rubbish. They hope their noisy grassroots movement will inspire others to take responsibility for public places and stop rubbish being washed out to sea. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: Claire Bates Greece reporter: Daphne Tolis Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Gareth Jones (Image: A Greek fisherman with debris recovered from the sea, Daphne Tolis/BBC)

Globally, energy production and use is responsible for around 75% of the world’s carbon emissions, with around a third of that on electricity and heat alone. To tackle climate change, we need to get more energy from renewable sources, so this week we’re taking a look at some of the more surprising ways people have come up with to harness clean energy from the world around us. In the United States, we see what happened when a group of concerned mothers forged a surprising alliance with a gas company, and worked together to get clean energy from the ground beneath their feet. In Madagascar, we meet the grandmothers bringing solar light to their remote villages, plus we visit Wales, where an innovative new technology is harnessing power from the tides – by flying “kites” underwater. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer/reporter: Zoe Gelber Madagascar reporter: Sira Thierij Senior Producer: Richard Kenny Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Hal Haines (Image: Solar Mamas at work, BBC/Sira Thierij)

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one in every 100 people in Gaza have a life-changing injury because of the conflict. It’s currently impossible for most to leave the strip and get medical treatment but a team of Jordanian doctors has been able to enter Gaza and fit war victims with cutting-edge prosthetics which clip on quickly and easily. The BBC’s Yolande Knell in Jerusalem has been hearing from innovators, doctors and those who are being helped about how the new technology works and how it could help in other parts of the world, either in conflict or in healthcare provision more generally. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Yolande Knell Jerusalem producer: Anastassia Zlatopolskai London producer: Craig Langran Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Annie Gardiner (Image: A man in Gaza being assisted as he walks with a new prosthetic leg, BBC)

Sex is one of the few things in life that is available to everyone and is free. But achieving enjoyable sex is not possible for many. Some people are held back by fear, ignorance or culture - others don’t know or understand their rights around sex. For years public health campaigns focused on warning people about the downsides of sex - danger, disease and death - but increasingly the work is focused on the reasons people have sex. We're in Brazil where we meet Ana Autoestima. She’s a ‘virtual friend’ who provides positive advice about sex to women living some of the poorest neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro. We also visit Iraq to find out how a project is helping women who’ve suffered from female genital mutilation or FGM to enjoy their bodies and sexuality. And we’ll hear from Kenyan celebrity and musician Kaz Karen Lucas whose mission is to change the way Kenyans think about sex. This podcast contains adult themes. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: Claire Bowes Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Gareth Jones

Billions of people struggle to make ends meet a lot of the time. We look at ways in which people who don’t have much money or are in financial distress can make what they do have go further. We visit savings and credit groups which are helping women to start businesses in Guatemala and see how a cooking at home scheme is helping to save cash - and improve diets - among some of the most vulnerable people in the UK. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: Claire Bates Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Hal Haines (Image: Glendy Mendez and her food stall, Jane Chambers/BBC)

Many agricultural workers don’t have the eyesight they need for the work they do, affecting both their comfort and their ability to earn more money. They're among the billion plus people who have visual impairments but can't get the assistance they need. We visit a coffee plantation in southern India where workers are being given glasses on the spot. As well as easing eye strain, the intervention has been shown to increase workers' pay significantly. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email [email protected]. And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: William Kremer Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Annie Gardiner (Image: An Indian worker being given an eye test, Shruti Kulkarni/Vision Spring)

In the farming community of Los Negros in rural Bolivia, the river is their life and livelihood. So when that river started to dry up, it made life very hard. They blamed the villages upstream for not looking after their precious water. This conflict could have turned ugly. But with the of a local charity, what came out of it instead was a ground-breaking agreement. After years of negotiations, the town at the bottom of the river agreed to the communities upstream to protect their forests and keep the river healthy. The idea is now the blueprint for water sharing agreements between communities across the continent. We first podcast this programme in November 2023. Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Jane Chambers Producer: Bob Howard Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Hal Haines Editor: Penny Murphy Email: [email protected] Image: Senor Rogelio Valverde sits by his water source