Global News Podcast - The Happy Pod: Reindeer herder rescued from frozen wilderness

Episode Date: April 6, 2024

This week, the remarkable rescue of a reindeer herder from Lapland's frozen wilderness. Also: how music is helping refugees heal from war in Uganda. And how a young sumo wrestler has earned a place in the history books

Hello, this is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service, with reports and analysis from across the world. The latest news seven days a week. BBC World Service podcasts are supported by advertising. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Thank you. Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. That's Olivia. Her voice was in the film Moana, and she is welcoming you to the Happy Pod from the BBC World Service.

I'm Jackie Leonard, and in this edition, uploaded on Saturday the 6th of April, a remarkable rescue from a frozen ravine in Finland. This first thought was that, OK, it's not my time yet, so I get a chance to play with my children. How music is being used to help refugees heal from war. Music is a medicine to the soul and music is a universal language. The woman who turned a mugging in New York into award-winning art.

Okay great so this terrible thing happened I'm still kind of traumatized by it. But hey look at this beautiful poem I've made. And in Japan. Takeru Fuji clinches the championship. In a feat that hasn't been seen in over a hundred years. And we begin in a remarkable rescue in the frozen wilderness of northern Lapland. It is extremely cold there at this time of year and so when a reindeer herder went missing for two days after plunging into a ravine it could have ended very badly indeed. But that is where the skills of the indigenous Sami people come in. Our reporters Anna and Harry spoke to journalist and Finnish resident Erika Benke about the rescue and the remote area where it happened.

So it's Europe's last big wilderness. I drove for an hour and a half on that road without seeing another car or house. So it's very remote, not many roads, very difficult terrain. There are hills and it's heavily forested. And of course there's no mobile phone signal which made this situation even more difficult for the reindeer herder. Tell us about the rescue mission.

Yeah, so this reindeer herder, whose name is Aslak Ula Lensman, his snow mobile was caught up in an avalanche and he found himself at the bottom of this gorge. And the weather deteriorated. It was minus 30 degrees. He said that luckily he had some matches. Luckily he found some dry wood so he could make a fire. And he also had that space blanket, that thermal blanket that keeps you warm in extreme temperatures. So luckily he had that.

So he couldn't alert the rescue services, but of course he was hoping that his family and friends would raise the alarm and start searching for him, which is exactly what happened. So it's a very close-knit community. And when he was found by other reindeer herders, he was basically half frozen. They called the emergency services,

who came with a helicopter, but the helicopter couldn't land. So the reindeer herders kind of improvised a sled for him. So they used a plastic sheet. They wrapped some mattresses and warm clothes around him and somehow managed to lift him out and dragged him to a snowmobile where they could drive him to the nearest road and then an ambulance could come to the road. It's interesting because, as you've mentioned, there was an official rescue service that tried to reach him and had a helicopter. But actually it was the locals, it was the Sami people's expertise and local knowledge that meant that they were actually better prepared to rescue him. Exactly. He said himself after he was rescued that it was down to the Sami people's skills. And I can't emphasise enough how this local knowledge and the skills of Sami people that are handed down from one generation to the next, how important they are.

Sometimes without these old skills, you're just lost and you've never been found and rescued. The Sami people, they know the terrain, they know the conditions and of course they were best placed to find this man. And how is he doing now? Well, he was in hospital for a while, but he's out of hospital now. He's a young man with three children and he said his first thought when he heard the snowmobiles coming towards him was that okay it's not my time yet so I get a chance to play with my children and see my children. Erica Benker. Now part of an occasional series here on the Happy Pod celebrating the way people are preserving small and threatened languages around the world. This week, we head to Tokelau,

a tiny territory in the Pacific Ocean. That's Olivia Foai, singing in the island's language, Onganana Tokelau. She's a singer from New Zealand, but some of you might recognise her voice from the Disney movie Moana. The islands, which sit roughly 500 kilometres north of Samoa, are inhabited by just 1,500 people,

and Ongalangan Tokolau is classified as severely endangered. Olivia is of Tokolauan and Tuvaluan descent and has been using her music to promote the language of Tokolau. She spoke to Harry Bly about the importance of preserving the language and the pride she has in her heritage. My grandparents would always speak a combination, actually. They mixed everything up, so it was very confusing at first. My grandfather, Tokelau, my grandma, Tuvalu,

and they spent a lot of time and raised children in Samoa, and then they moved to New Zealand. So they would kind of switch between languages. But overall, once I realised the blessing it was I found it very enriching. Do you remember as a child when you first heard that language and you then made that decision to learn it? Yes well my father Opetai Fawai he made this band called Devaka and so he was always using the language in his music and so it always sounded so beautiful to me. And I got to hear my family, especially my auntie, Sulata Fuwaya Miyatu, she would sing in the language. And I always thought

it sounded so graceful and so powerful. And so that definitely inspired me to try and incorporate it and learn it. And it was tough because I didn't grow up speaking it. I only heard it in songs and had to make a real effort to try and teach myself. And let's talk about the song. What was your inspiration behind writing it? And what emotions did it evoke when you started singing in that language? The song My Enamor definitely was filled with so many emotions. I had never written a song fully before, so it was huge on many fronts. But it means from the past. The title, My Anamua, means from the past.

And so it was very fitting that it was all in a language that I had inherited from my ancestors. And it talks about stories from the past. It talks about lessons that we can learn from looking to the past. It talks about the power that we inherit from our lineage. It talks about the land and natural resources. And yeah, it was very, very important to write that in Nganganatakelau. Even though I was still quite scared that I would get something wrong, I made my best effort. And of course, you sang on the film Moana, a massive film that was popular with so many kids all over the world. How special was it for you to see not only Polynesian culture represented,

but also Ngana Tokolau to be heard as well in music? Well, that was huge because even of the Pacific Islands, Tokolau is a minority minority, you know, I think it's a population of 1,500. So to have that language in such a huge film and be celebrated as the broader Pacific Island family was so beautiful and made me and my family so proud. But the fact that it's not just about Tokelau, but it can be used as a vessel to celebrate all of the Pacific made me very happy. It's such beautiful music. Do you hope that it helps other people perhaps learn these smaller languages like Ngana Tokalau or Tuvaluan? Yes, of course.

I think as time goes on, it gets harder and harder to bring along all of these beautiful languages with us. And so we have to find spaces for them that they can have a new life in the future. And I feel that music is a beautiful place for these languages to have new life and to shine. Olivia Foie. Now to the story of Jamil and Tsar, two lions born in captivity in Ukraine and at last enjoying a new life in South Africa. They had already been rescued once by a Kiev wildlife centre from woefully unsuitable conditions,

but after Russia's full-scale invasion, they were in peril again. Enter the charity Born Free, which got them out of harm's way. Our reporter Ella Bicknell spoke to Will Travers, the president of Born Free. So these two lions, Sa and Jamil brothers, were born into a Ukrainian zoo nearly three years ago. They were in poor shape. They were malnourished. They were sickly. And then, of course, many animals' lives. In fact, the whole country was and is in jeopardy. But for these two lions, they were identified by a Ukrainian animal welfare organization who managed to spirit them away temporarily to a Polish zoo and then on to a rescue in Belgium called the Natura Help Centrum. This is like a jigsaw and you put all the different pieces together and if you've done it right you end up with a great picture and the picture now is a picture of health. These two lions are in beautiful rescue centre in South Africa where they will live for the rest of their lives.

They will enjoy the best possible life that we can offer them. If these lions had passports, they would have more stamps in them than probably the average human being. I think you're right. And of course, you know, it's not straightforward. It's not like you and I want to go somewhere. We buy our ticket, we get our visa if we need it, we sit on the plane, and get out the other end. Each crate is handmade, is bespoke for the animal. But then the crates are of a particular size. And when you get out the other end, you can't just put them on another flight because the door to the hold is too small. So they won't fit through the door, which is why we had to road transport

them from Johannesburg down to Chamoiry near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. For such a logistically complicated process, and emotionally, I imagine, it must be really rewarding to see them all settled in in South Africa. It is. And that moved nearly 60 big cats over the years. We've released dolphins as well into the wild. Every time we do this, it really is all about one. If you can make a difference for that one animal and tell that story, as we're doing now, people feel their spirits lift. I know that Zah and Jamil and the other big cats that live there for the rest of their lives will have the best possible rest of their lives. It's a second chance and it is certainly a life worth living.

Will Travers, the president of the charity Born Free. Now we heard a little earlier from Olivia about how she harnesses music to celebrate her culture. And this next report from a refugee camp in northwestern Uganda is about the power of music too. This time it's healing and unifying potential. Our reporter is Myra Anuba. Let me take you to Bidi Bidi in Uganda, one of the largest refugee camps in Africa. It's home to over 200,000 refugees, mostly from the civil war over the border in South Sudan.

That's Victor Alonzi, teaching a group of children to play a stringed instrument called an adungu. He's a teacher for the Salaam music program, set up by the refugee charity Sina Loketa. Well, music is a medicine to the soul and music is a universal language. We're using it as a great tool to foster social change. The reason as to why we have refugees in Bidibidi is because of the civil war. And the civil war really had a lot to do with this integration of normal pattern of the community. So we are doing music to build cohesion and to build peace among different communities. In the camp, we have tribes who could not intermarry. We had tribes who could literally not buy from the same market,

who couldn't go into the same schools. So when we started the music activities, it created a social environment where different young people started gathering together and realizing one interest, which is music. So as time

went by, we realized actually the element of hatred started vanishing. Many of the people here have fled from a violent and bloody conflict. So how does Victor use music to help them deal with this trauma? One of the ways actually music really helped to make people heal their traumatic conditions and depression and stress has been involvement in the activity. Young people started getting engaged in learning different instruments, in singing, in learning vocals. So this kept young people busy and their minds started creating, you know, a path of recovery other than getting depressed somewhere, other than getting into drug abuse. And then also coming up with, you know,

songs that brings about positive energy. There's one of the artists who recorded a song called Anina Del Salaam, meaning we need peace. This song talks about how terrible war can be and then how coming together and to speak against discrimination and to speak against conflict and fighting could actually help bring people together. Victor Alonzi in the Bidi Bidi camp in Uganda, ending that report by Myra Anuba. And for more on that and stories like it, just search online for BBC World Service People Fixing the World or wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

Still to come in this podcast... The medical students turning a hospital into a concert hall. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free.

Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. Now, this next story is an astonishing example of spinning positivity out of something really awful. You might have heard mention of Imogen Wade, a woman who turned her traumatic mugging in New York into an award-winning poem. I told people that the travel sickness pills made me stupid. I entered JFK with a red suitcase and no one to greet me. A man came up to me, dressed in black. I found myself in a car park by an expensive van and he was holding my luggage.

Get in, he said. There wasn't a single thought in my head. That's Imogen reading her winning piece, which beat nearly 20,000 other entries and earned her a $6,000 prize. She has been talking to our own Harry and begins at the dreadful moment when she realised that the blacked out van she got into at JFK airport wasn't a taxi after all. He locks the doors and I thought, well, I'm going to die now. And he just kept looking at me as if to say, like, I can do anything right now. And it was this unspoken undercurrent that we were going down this alley at five miles an hour in this tinted van. And he was this guy was massive as well. And he pulls up outside the back entrance to Grand Central. And I think, oh my God, I know where I am.

This is brilliant. He's going to let me out now. Fantastic. Just a weird guy. And I try and get out of the van and the door's still locked. And as it says in the poem, he turns to me and this is real. You know, he's in real life. He goes to me, don't get out because there are some really bad people around as if he's

trying to protect me but the only person he protects him from obviously is him so then he gets out quickly then relocks the door goes around to the boot pushes my suitcase forward makes me unzip it and then if my granddad had given me some of his pension money so this guy just said oh gave me this I can't remember the number now it was ridiculous number of money i had to give him but i happened to have it on me so i thought i'd rather give him all the money than be hurt he then helps me out of this van like he's kind of chivalrously holds my luggage leads me up to the door of the station and in real life he actually shook my hand and then he walked away laughing gets in his van and speeds off into the night leaving me you know on the door of the station feeling pretty shaken

take me through the process of writing this poem about what was a pretty traumatic ordeal yeah so so i'm a therapist. And so I think a lot about processes of therapeutic reflection and how art might be able to help people heal from things. And so there's something therapeutic not only about writing out what I went through, but also creating something beautiful. Well, my favourite phrase in life is,

when life gives you lemons, make poems. I like that. And I had made this poem that was a lemon and I remember thinking okay great so this this terrible thing happened I'm still kind of traumatized by it but hey look at this beautiful poem I've made let's go to the present day how did it feel to win the national poetry competition You got first prize for your lemon, your poem. What was that moment like? So they called me on the phone and I said, oh my God, probably about 17 times in a sequence without pause.

And then they replied, oh, well, we're so happy to hear how happy you are. And I said, happy? I'm very overwhelmed right now. I just didn't believe it because I have been writing poetry for about 15 years, since I was 10 years old. And my dream had just to be commended and then to actually have won it, especially for this poem, this poem that meant so much to me. I was really overwhelmed by it. And I actually emailed them and I said, Hi, I'm so sorry, but I think I blanked out on the phone call. Can you just confirm to me what you said?

Because I honestly thought, I just don't believe it. And they replied, uh, dot, dot, dot, you came first, exclamation mark. And I was, oh, brilliant. I've got it in writing now. It must be true. It must be true. Imogen Wade talking to Harry Bly. And we return to our musical theme now,

this time a group of Australian medical students who are using their very limited spare time and their talents to help others performing as a string quartet in an oncology ward on the Gold Coast to try to lift the patient's spirits. Stephanie Prentice has this report. The sounds of a string quartet, echoing through the perfect acoustic setting of a hospital corridor. We just found a few people who played string instruments. Amy is a medical student and violinist, and while she may not be able to operate on patients yet,

she wanted to help them in another way gathering with three other students to put on regular performances at the Gold Coast University Hospital. We wanted to make an ensemble together so that we could connect and play thinking of ways to do some good with our music. And the music is doing good. Patients who are stuck in bed say they can hear the comforting sounds and those who can move around come and get a front row seat. I've got various things happening inside my body that grow and probably eventually put an end to you. So what better way to go out than the beautiful sounds

of these young people in the string quartet. I thought I was in the wrong place. I thought, I'm not in a concert hall, yet it's live music, because you can always tell live music is compared to something that comes out of electronics and speakers. Experts say music can help humans with less individualistic thinking, like worrying about problems, something that can help people with cancer get respite from their condition as for the medical students they say

it's not easy balancing their schedule with volunteering but they always make the time for their fortnightly performance a lot of times in medicine if you don't give the time to volunteer you will spend it all just studying and And I think volunteering is a great opportunity to just take a step back. I think give back. Laura, who runs the programme, says it's here to stay, even when these students graduate. The music really does give them a sense of joy,

a sense of community and belonging, and that's for both the people listening but also the people playing the music. Despite the setting, there's nothing but smiles as the group wrap up, promising more front row seats to their fans for their next round of classics. And yes, they even take requests. That report by Stephanie Prentice. Now across to Japan and a triumph in the world of sumo wrestling. I think he's excited. What was going on there was

24-year-old Takada Fuji winning the sport sports premier competition, the Emperor's Cup in Osaka, becoming the first competitor to win on his debut for more than a century. This is Ryan. My name is Jake. My name is Mac. And they are from the Grand Sumo Breakdown podcast. They calmed down just enough to talk to our reporter, Jacob Evans. This is really like a once in a lifetime event that we've kind of seen for not only him winning in his debut, but how quick he did all of this. And likely we're not going to see this replicated in our lifetime with all the circumstances. So yeah, the way the divisions work in sumo is actually very similar to like association soccer. The top division referred to as makuchi is effectively like the Premier league if you don't do well enough you get

relegated down and lower divisions if you do well enough you get promoted to the next one up it's like a team getting promoted to the premier league like a year after being created and then winning the whole thing it's absolutely monumentous what this new wrestler did so how did the sumo world react to this was it a big surprise yeah i would say so like we said this is something that hasn't happened in over a hundred years and yeah a lot of people very very excited to see what this guy can do having risen so fast through the lower ranks and then the second he's in the top salaried ranks he wins the tournament and i understand takara fuji almost had to pull out of this competition didn't they yes on day 14 he injured himself against former ozeki asano yami he hurt his right ankle and i know a lot of us were like, oh, no, no, no, no, no. Don't let

the tournament end like this. Yeah, he went to the hospital, got it looked at, and it was very doubtful that he would show up. But regardless, he showed up. He definitely didn't look 100%, but he didn't look nearly as bad as he did right after the injury. He showed up on the last day, which was a surprise to everybody. And he beat a very solid competitor to clinch his title there. And so for you guys who love sumo and follow sumo, how exciting is it for you to see a new breed of sumo wrestlers enter the scene and see someone like Takara Fuji winning on debut? And also, you know, people noticing this and talking about sumo.

We love it. We've been watching sumo since 2016 and we've been podcasting since 2017 and really it seems like sumo is in a really unique era right now seeing this crop of takeru fuji really feels like these are going to be the guys that we're going to be seeing for the next decade defining the decade of sumo so it'so. So it's an exciting time. It's an exciting time to be sumo fans. The grand sumo breakdown team, Ryan, Jake and Mac. And our congratulations to Takara Fuji too. And that's it from us for now. But we leave you with an A-Way proverb sent in by James Agblevor in Accra, Ghana.

Good news is the ear's favourite dish. It certainly is, James. Thank you for sending that. If you have a story that you think belongs in the happy pod, do email us. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Nora Houle, and the producers were Anna Murphy, Vanessa Heaney and Jacob Evans. Our editor is Karen Martin. Thank you for listening. BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News,

AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free. Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts.