Global News Podcast - The Happy Pod: The Aussie astronaut reaching for the moon

Episode Date: September 14, 2024

The woman who's beaten the odds to fulfil her childhood astronaut dream. Also: a photography camp for children in Belize; and Moo Deng, the viral baby pygmy hippo.Our weekly collection of happy stories and positive news.

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. This is The Happy Pod from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jalil and in this edition... Dream big, dream audaciously and go for it.

We hear from a woman who's defied the odds to fulfil her childhood dream of becoming an astronaut. I used to love lying on the beach, looking up at the stars above me. That childlike curiosity gave me such a drive to explore them. Also, how a car accident prompted a photographer to share his skills with children in Belize. Life is too short to be so selfish. And I like to say in trying to figure out a way to heal myself, I figured out a way to change the world. We visit a school for older people in an Indian village and the wobbling online sensation that has won hearts in Thailand and beyond. We start with a woman who's made her childhood dreams come true with a giant leap

in the world of space exploration. After 13 months of rigorous training, Catherine Burnell-Pegg qualified with the European Space Agency earlier this year as the first astronaut to officially represent Australia. In the past, Australians who went into space had to do so under another country's flag. Catherine, who's 39 and has two daughters, had worked as a space engineer in six different countries before eagerly moving back home when Australia established its own space agency six years ago. And she hopes her achievement will inspire others to pursue careers in what are known as STEM subjects, science, technology, engineering and maths.

She's been speaking to The Happy Pod's Isabella Jewell. It's an incredible honour to be the first to represent Australia as a qualified astronaut. When I was a young kid growing up with the childhood astronaut dream, I never thought I'd have the chance to do so representing my home country. And so it's really pinched me staff to now be mission ready. And I'm excited, not just for me, but for what it can mean to unlock opportunity for more in Australia, our scientists, our engineers, our educators, and hopefully also lift the aspirations of young people across our country, whatever their

dreams may be. Take me back to when you were that young child who was focused on becoming an astronaut. What was it about space and being an astronaut that really inspired you? When I was young, it was for the adventure. I used to love lying on the beach, looking up at the stars above me. And when I learned that some of those stars were not just twinkly lights but actually entire planets worlds that humans had never explored that childlike curiosity gave me such a drive to explore them I was a kid that liked looking under every rock like climbing every tree and asking why a lot annoying all the people around me probably but that curiosity evolved into a real determination. When I was

a teenager, our school had our first career counseling session when we were about 14. And they asked us to write down three options. And I only wrote down astronaut. My school and my parents said, we'll go figure out what that would take, probably thinking that would help me see sense. But actually what I found out was that to be an astronaut is the culmination of any STEM career your passion takes you down. You can be a scientist, an engineer, a doctor, a pilot. You should be someone that enjoys, you know, sports and expeditions and have some time living internationally.

And that all just sounded great. So it progressed from the desire for adventure to the desire to contribute to helping have concrete steps forward in human discovery. And now as an astronaut, after having spent almost 15 years as a space engineer, I also really value space for how it can underpin our society and help improve life on Earth as well. You've not yet been to space. Do you have any planned missions coming up soon? Not yet. So I graduated from what's called basic astronaut training in April this year. So it's early days for me, but it's an incredibly exciting time to be an astronaut. Humanity is

going back to the moon, not to walk, but to work and to discover fundamental things about the formation of our Earth-Moon system that can help us understand things like climate change. The kind of research we can do in the unique environment of microgravity is research that cannot be done on Earth, whether that's research into new medicines or conditions or new materials, technologies like robotics. Fascinating stuff. And, you know, if you were to go to space,

what is it that would be the most exciting element of that experience for you? Oh, wow. To go to space, representing my country, representing humanity would be such an honour. I want to go, of course, with a spacewalk. Every astronaut would love a spacewalk, you know, to step out of that airlock and be surrounded personally by space outside the spacesuit and see the beauty of the planet we live on at the same time, you know, with a spanner in hand to go and do work out there would be amazing. Today, the ultimate destination for any astronaut is the moon. That would be the dream, I think, of most rookie astronauts like myself today. And what message would you give to other people, other young children, young adults who are looking to become astronauts in the future?

I tell them to absolutely pursue the astronaut dream. You know, becoming an astronaut is a cherry on the top of any STEM career their passion takes them to. And if they're in a STEM career, they're at the centre of discovery and have the ability to solve the great problems facing our world. When you're an astronaut, you're part of the solutions too. So for people that want to be an astronaut, dream big, dream audaciously and go for it. So who says maths homework can't be exciting? That was Catherine Bernal-Pegg talking to Isabella Jewel.

Now, we often ask you to get in touch with stories you think will make us all smile. And listener Susan Gilkey did just that, to tell us about a group of young people in Belize who are being given the chance to change their own lives. They're part of a photography camp set up three years ago to offer children from some of the most turbulent areas in the south side of Belize City the skills to compete with professionals from around the world. It was founded by the country's United Black Association for Development

with funding from the widow of a citizen of Belize who'd moved to the US, Breda Cliff Augustine. The Happy Pod's Holly Gibbs spoke to three of the students, Naveen and Sharif, who are both 10, along with 17-year-old Sodi, and to the main teacher, professional photographer Menlech Marin Coleman, who explained that the camp came about when he returned home to Belize to recover after fracturing his wrist in a car accident. I discovered that there was an opportunity here for me to impact the youth on a personal level, that if I could never shoot again, and the best thing that I could do was teach the children of Belize

a craft and a skill that can help them further this ability to take care of themselves the ability to fund their own community the ability to be historians in their own story. Wow so you took something bad that happened to you and turned it around into this camp that's amazing how does that feel in the moment I think it was it was all a part of my healing process but three years later looking at all the exhibitions these students are amazing photographers like absolutely absolutely amazing just raw god-given talent it feels amazing it's very fulfilling it's healing a part of myself that was deeper than just my risk. You know what I mean? Like giving back and impacting the community on a positive level and actually putting money in a photographer's pockets.

And Naveen, can you tell me a bit about your love for taking photos? Why do you like to take photos so much? I love taking photos because it helps me capture the moment and bring back memories that I probably wouldn't have just remembered in my mind. And I'm learning new things and making bonds with amazing people. And Sharif, how does photography make you feel? It makes me feel wonderful that I can meet new people, new people and friends that I didn't know my memories will be about. If I was not in the photographic app, I would don't know anything about pictures, taking pictures. What about you, Zody? When I started, I was a bit shy. I wasn't really too sure. I'm more of an artist person. So the photographic app opened my eyes to a new hobby. I want to do it more now. My camera has taken me all over the world.

So my goal is to create more photographers and more artists. I'm hoping by the end of the camp, each of my students will have professional portfolios, they'll have books done, they'll have pieces in international galleries. Belize is such a beautiful place. People come all around the world to shoot photos of Belize. How does it feel when you see your students' photography on display? What sense of pride do you get? It is amazing. Every year they completely blow me away.

There are photographs on the walls from the last exhibitions that I really can't believe a nine year old took or a 10 year old took. Words can't express how proud and amazed I am. Could you all tell me what your favourite photo that you've ever taken is? Let's start with you, Zody. I remember I saw this boat, sailboat, and it was just quite perfect at the moment and the sun was setting at the same time. So I quickly grabbed the digital camera

and I quickly snapped it. And when I looked at it, I just was like, wow, I did that. And I showed Uncle Menelik and he was like, you got it, oh yeah that's kind of my favorite photo my favorite photo that i ever taken is this year at placencia when one man is picking up a lobster two lobster and naveen we went on a road trip and there was this really old house it was the background was like a mountain and then the bottom was just landscape and it was really old.

It looked like it was burnt. And so I went on a certain angle and snapped the picture and it's definitely one of my favourites and one of the most experienced photos I've ever taken. And does photography make you happy? Yes, ma'am, it does. Yes, taking photos did make me happy because I experience stuff and I know how to take the perfect angle. It really does make me happy.

It makes me feel quite peaceful and there's nothing really bothering me and I'm just being myself. Photography is one of those things that it kind of never leaves you. Even if you don't do it professionally, all my students get used to seeing themselves in a positive life, seeing their community in a positive light and showing that to the world and also keeping their own histories.

We hold time in our hands. We are the ones that choose the moments to keep. And what's your message to other people about turning around a bad situation and giving back to your community? Life is too short to be so selfish. And I realised I could pity myself forever about, you know, never being able to shoot again or I could do something about it. And I like to say in trying to figure out a way to heal myself, I figured out a way to change the world in a small way, but impactful way.

I would say it's not about how you start, it's about how you finish. Menlik Marin Coleman and his students Naveen, Sharif and Zody sharing their love of photography. You can see all the photos from the camp over the last three years at keepitsimplyorganic.com. And if like Susan, you want to send us a story that's inspired you, the email address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. Now, it's been an upsetting year for animal lovers in Turkey after the government approved a law to round up the country's many stray dogs and put them in shelters. But one rescue centre says the move has also led to a surge in demand from people wanting to give them new homes abroad, as Chantal Hartle explains. also led to a surge in demand from people wanting to give them new homes abroad, as Chantal Hartel explains.

Meet Dali and Dizi. They once roamed the streets of Turkey, but are now enjoying life in their new adopted homes in the Netherlands. Turkey is estimated to have four million stray dogs, but existing shelters only have capacity for 100,000. So finding a safe place for all of them is a big challenge. Nilgul Sayer, who runs a shelter near Istanbul, says demand for adoption from people outside Turkey has risen since the law was passed.

We have around 20 or 25 dogs ready to fly. People will continue to reach out to us, she said. I hope that we will send more dogs soon. They will all have good homes. Sending dogs to the EU is a long and expensive process. The necessary paperwork and vaccinations can take a few months and cost in excess of $1,000. But it was a price worth paying for Deasy's new foster owner, Caroline Dillemont, who lives just outside Amsterdam.

She was mourning the death of her dog when she heard about the situation in Turkey and wanted to help. She said Deasy was now settled in her new home. She's very open, like an open book. She hasn't got any anxiety towards other dogs. She's really happy going outside, running around in the water or playing with other dogs also. She's really happy.

Back in Turkey, animal lovers have come up with other ways to protect street dogs. Some companies are adopting strays for their officers and a number of vets are offering free vaccinations for those who adopt animals from the streets. Well that report by Chantal Hartle. Coming up in this podcast. I do seem to be someone that can look at a problem and come up with a solution to solve it and I am a true believer that when communities work together great things can be achieved. The New Zealand woman who's brought a sense of community to her adopted home here in the UK. 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.

A new school in India is proving that age is no barrier to learning. It's been set up by two young women committed to empowering senior citizens in their village. Ashdeep Kaur from BBC Punjabi has been finding out more. This is Bebe Vapu School in Punjab. Its mission is to educate the elders of Ballo village. Bebe Vapu means mother and father, words that are fondly used to refer to older people in Punjabi. The school was started in January by two young women, Rajvinder Kaur and Jasleen Kaur, who wanted to make sure that no one in the village remained illiterate. Initially, the task was to teach them to sign their names. But after their enthusiastic response, the elders are now learning to read, write and even count.

Mohinder Singh, who's 85, is one of them. I have learnt to sign my name. I can count from 1 to 100 and I have learnt Punjabi alphabets. It was not difficult. I feel happy and not shy to write now. The school is run in the village library with more than 80 elderly men and women attending for three hours a day, six days a week. All the classes are taught for free.

Most of the students are over 60 years of age and could not attend school when they were younger, mainly due to poverty. 75-year-old Mohinder Singh is also one of the students here. I could not go to school in my childhood. I did farming. My family could not afford education. Now, I am taught how to read and write. Jaswinder Kaur, who is 75 years old, had also never attended school before.

She is now learning how to write. I used to see people read and write. I always wanted to learn and sign my name instead of thumb stamping. Once they learn to sign their names, the students get reward of 100 Indian rupees, which is equivalent to a dollar and 20 cents. But their teacher Rajvinder Kaur says it's the desire to learn more and be able to read their favourite books and religious texts that make them attend classes every day.

It's up to the villagers if they want to sign up. We have 80 students and we run two classes. First, our plan was to teach them how to sign their names. The elders themselves wanted to learn Punjabi alphabets and we are happily teaching them. That report by Ashtip Kaur proving that it's never too late to learn. Now, how well do you know your neighbours and would you be able to turn to them for support in difficult times? When riots broke out in the UK back in 2011,

Emma Rigby, who lives in North London, found herself longing for the sense of community she'd grown up with in New Zealand. Realising she had no one she could reach out to left her with a desire to make a difference, not just for herself, but for all the people living around her. So she founded a network called Love Your Doorstep in the area of London where she lives, Enfield. I asked Emma to take me back to the night of the riots. So we had burnt out cars, we had people breaking down brick walls and breaking into local shops and looting and people running around with masks on and dogs and it was just extremely scary that night. We had to barricade our front doors. I had two young children. And it was that night that I thought,

I don't even know who my neighbours are. This is crazy. But I kind of made a decision. I thought, well, two decisions. I thought, I either go back to New Zealand or take my kids home, or I'm going to stay and I'm going to change this. And it almost became like this personal mission of mine to bring our community together.

And it's been a personal mission of mine now for the past 13 years. And I understand that you have 30,000 members. That's quite an achievement. Yeah, I think what's amazing about our community is it's been organically grown over 13 years. So we've just hit 34,000. We really nurture the group. It's not really about numbers for us, it's about how engaged the community is and how much people are giving or how much we're able to point people in the right direction for what they need. So it really has been an organic growth of local people wanting to be part of Love Your Doorstep.

One of our projects that we set up five years ago off the back of Love Your Doorstep was the Love Your Doorstep Community Patrol. Very passionate about this. I was called into a local Enfield school because 19 of the young boys had been robbed for their mobile phones and money. Anyway, long story short, we decided, well, I decided to set up a community patrol scheme. Within five years, we've now got just over 150 volunteers, and they put that friendly face back on the street, and it's amazing what a really friendly person in a blue vest can deter. You know, if there's people around causing problems, they will normally go the other way. But I think the biggest thing for me is it's made young people feel safer and it's still allowing them to have their independence.

You must be so proud of this. I'm so passionate about my volunteers and, you know, the time they give up. They're such selfless people. Yeah, it's been a fantastic thing to be involved in. Something like this should be in every community. You're someone who came from halfway across the world to settle in London, and yet somehow you've done things that a lot of Londoners haven't been able to. Do you think it takes an outsider to come in and sort out an issue that perhaps people don't know how to deal with when

it's something they've grown up with? Potentially, it could just be my personality as well. Maybe I would have done this in New Zealand. Maybe I wouldn't have. It's so hard to tell. I've been here 20 years now. But I do seem to be someone that can look at a problem and come up with a solution to solve it. So I have in my time been called a disruptor on many occasions, but I'd like to think that the work I do is from a good place with good values. And I am a true believer that when communities work together, great things can be achieved. Emma Rigby, and if you have a story about someone

who's brought your community together, we'd love to hear it. Email us at globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. Art can be a source of happiness for many of us and around the world, Vincent van Gogh is certainly among the most loved of all painters. He's often remembered for the mental health struggles that led him to cut off his own ear and later to take his own life. But a new exhibition at the National Gallery in London wants to remind us that his life contained happiness as well. Vincent Dowd went to see the show. No Van Gogh exhibition would seek to disguise his sad end at the age of 37. But Van Gogh, Poets and Lovers focuses on the last two years of his life

to show there were moments of joy as well, even in his time at the Saint-Rémy Asylum in Provence, in the south of France, where he went seeking the mental balance he knew he lacked. Christopher Riopelle is the co-curator. He is exploring nature and exploring friendship with such inventiveness. The vast majority of Vincent's career is euphoric. With our tales of Wobegon Vincent, we miss the fact this was a man in control of his own life. This image shows the hospital at Saint-Rémy, but look how he transforms the garden. We have photographs of it. Those trees aren't there. He is inventing this wonderful space where these trees take on.

They're almost like giants dancing. Very colorful, particularly the range of greens and the way they play into the blues is really wonderful. But we notice in the lower left corner a woman with a beautiful parasol over her head, which is just a slash of bright red to animate the picture. Chris, we've come into a different room where the big centrepiece is the two images of sunflowers, hugely famous in terms of Van Gogh. A bit of a coup to get two images. It is indeed. This is the first time that the Philadelphia Museum of Art's great sunflowers has left the museum.

Why was Vincent obsessed with sunflowers? There are a number of reasons. He saw a lot of symbolism in them, the sun, life blooming, etc. They have so much sunlight, they kind of create a feeling of sunniness. You're blasted by sunshine looking at them, but you're also, again, so drawn to the physicality of the way he paints those things. Big, thick strokes of colour that stand proud on the canvas. Here in the next room, three pictures clearly from Saint-Rémy. Are they of different locations? I'm not sure. That is a surprising thing. He's in his house looking out a window at the exact same site,

same little house in the distance, same hills beyond, and yet you would really have to stand here for 10 minutes on your own to figure that out. But each one transformed in terms of colour, in terms of angle, clouds that seem to have their own independent life. There are different emotions he's playing with as well as different perspectives. Did he change his colour palette in the relatively short time he was in Saint-Rémy? The palette just gets brighter and brighter and purer. I mean, more and more you see just pure colours laid down on the canvas with incredible vivacity. He always realised he could do great things with yellow.

And one of the things we see in this exhibition is how wonderful he is with white. White really makes the surface dance. What do you suspect Vincent most liked painting? He loved being confronted by people, and there is a certain joy in the portraits as well but it's much more a sense of a face-to-face confrontation. If we look at his take on human beings close up they're wonderfully detailed and there's often a sort of spark to them. And that sense of a personal engagement is there. He loved people. What are people going to learn from this exhibition, Chris, that they haven't learnt before?

Vincent was in control of his own career. He was plotting his own career, how he and his friends were going to make it as independent avant-garde artists in the world. And yes, he sold very few pictures during his lifetime. 25 years after his death, he was the most famous artists in the world. And yes, he sold very few pictures during his lifetime. 25 years after his death, he was the most famous artist in the world. So he was doing something right. That report by Vincent Dowd on the joyous side of his namesake, Van Gogh. Now, she may only be two months old, but she's already amassed a vast fan base online in Asia, across Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. She's even got her own Wikipedia page. As a result of her growing fame, Time magazine has hailed her as an icon and a legend. Vanessa Heaney reports on this latest internet sensation. Lumpy little legs, podgy body and gappy teeth. She's not exactly the most obvious social media it girl. But Mu Deng, which roughly translates as bouncy pork, is a huge internet star.

And a baby pygmy hippo. When she was born two months ago at the Khao Kheo Open Zoo in Thailand, zookeeper Atenpon Nundi started posting videos of her. He thought he'd make her famous in Thailand, but never imagined how far her fame would spread. Now videos of Mu Deng wobbling adorably around her enclosure have gone viral. She has a fervent following of obsessed fans who monitor her every move, with one saying on X they'd been thinking about this queen all day,

while another said they didn't know anything else going on in the world right now except for Mu Dang. One makeup company in Thailand has even started telling users to wear their blush to look like a baby hippo. And cafes are producing cakes in her likeness. Not surprisingly, her fame has caused visitor numbers to double at the zoo where she lives near the city of Pattaya. And while some thoughtless people have thrown things to try and wake her up for their photos, she's attracted adoring visitors from around the world and even been welcomed by the Royal Thai Embassy, which described her cute appearance as soothing. Her birth is also good news for her endangered species native

to West Africa. Atapon the zookeeper hopes that Mudeng's cuteness will help raise awareness and encourage people to learn more about them. Vanessa Heaney on the hip baby hippo Mudeng and you can see pictures of the happy hippo in all her wobbly cuteness on the BBC News website. And that's all from The Happy Pod for now. We'd love to hear from you. As ever, the address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Sid Dundon. The producers were Holly Gibbs and Rachel Bulkeley. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Jeanette Jalil. Until next time, goodbye.

Life and death were two very realistic coexisting possibilities in my life. I didn't even think I'd make it to like my 16th birthday, to be honest. I grew up being scared of who I was. Any one of us at any time can be affected by mental health and addictions. Just taking that first step makes a big difference. It's the hardest step. But CAMH was there from the beginning. Everyone deserves better mental health care.

To hear more stories of recovery, visit camh.ca. 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 Podcasts Premium on Apple Podcasts

or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts.