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 contact us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk. 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)
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23:26
Malawi's waste warriors
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 contact us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk. 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)
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23:18
Working with our minds
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 contact us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk. 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)
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24:13
Helping Chile's stolen children
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 contact us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk. 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)
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23:51
The classroom tablet revolution
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 contact us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk. 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)
South Africa