--:-- Asma Khalid: This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. America is changing and so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.
--:-- Tristan Redman: I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, DC. I'm Tristan Redman in London. And this is The Global Story. Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Andrew Peach: If you leave something behind at an airport, what are the chances you'll ever see it again? We have over 10,000 items that are lost yearly and only 30% that actually end up making it back to the owner. But what if it's something really important like a much-loved soft toy?
--:-- Stephanie Rayner: Hi, I'm Stephanie Rayner. And I'm Brian McShay. And you're listening to The Happy Pod. On the BBC World Service.
--:-- Andrew Peach: This is Andrew Peach and on the way, how Stephanie and Brian's engagement ring survived the LA fires.
--:-- Stephanie Rayner: We're both kind of in the mess of our home. My tears under my goggles and glasses.
--:-- Brian McShay: I remember saying at least we got engaged in this house.
--:-- Stephanie Rayner: We did, we were inside the house.
--:-- Andrew Peach: The couple, who met at Music College in 2013, told their story to my colleague Harry Bly.
--:-- Brian McShay: I had bought the ring a little less than a month earlier. It had been a big thing I'd been planning all year, trying to find the ring. I went shopping with her best friend to get the ring, and it was stashed in the corner of my desk drawer in my music studio.
--:-- Stephanie Rayner: When the house went up, I was really scared about being back to square one on the proposal. I just thought that like if I'm super lucky I'll be able to find a literal diamond in the rough.
--:-- Brian McShay: Stephanie can you tell me what it was like to return to the to the house or rather the remains of the house that day?
--:-- Stephanie Rayner: It's just completely leveled and I think both of us basically instantly were in tears and it was pretty unreal even though we're looking at it just to see everything you own, everything you've gathered. You know, I've had I had stuff since childhood that wasn't there. Just gone was an unreal experience.
--:-- Brian McShay: We'd kitchen colanders from Target, like not even real sifters. We had just kitchen colanders. And we had all the PPE that the National Guard was giving out these checkpoints in our house.
--:-- Stephanie Rayner: And I went straight to the spot where my desk was. I'm digging through and you find it. You see like a ring hanging out from something. And you pull it out, and it's a washer. And there's just all of these, like, false alarms and weeds to dig through. But just really just one time, you just pull in the ring, and on the end there's a diamond. And, I mean, it's all black except for the diamond.
--:-- Brian McShay: And, I was just in disbelief, and I was already on my knees, and I heard myself say, hey, showing her, will you marry me?
--:-- Stephanie Rayner: And I also remember being like, ah, dude, hey. I had a big plan for this originally like you get one chance I had a whole thought of how I was going to say this and hey was not what I had imagined presenting the ring with that's what you did that's what I did it did absolutely I just knew that I couldn't wait so I am glad that it was automatic yeah well I did hear him gasp first and then hey
--:-- Andrew Peach: The grandmas bringing solar power to parts of Madagascar. and why a former soldier and triple amputee wants to set a solo sailing record
--:-- Sira Thierry: The teacher is holding up different objects a screwdriver cables lamps and the students repeat after her to name them This is a classroom full of grandmothers who are learning how to install lamps and solar panels.
--:-- Andrew Peach: Most of the women never went to school or know how to read or write, but soon they will bring electricity to their villages. These classes are run by the World Wildlife Fund and an international NGO called Barefoot College, which trains communities worldwide to be self-sufficient.
--:-- Sira Thierry: Nearly 100 women have been trained here to install and fix solar panels, but they also learn about women's and children's rights, micro-entrepreneurship and health.
--:-- Andrew Peach: Before the training, I didn't have a real job, but now I know how to spell my name. I learned how to read or write other words as well. That's really changed my life.
--:-- Sira Thierry: When I came back from the training center, the other women admired me and I've become an inspiration for them.
--:-- Andrew Peach: At 43, Mom has four children and two grandchildren. I visit her at home in Kivalu while she's peeling vegetables for dinner.
--:-- Sira Thierry: The fishing village can only be reached with small wooden boats and only in the morning when the water between the mangroves is high enough to traverse it.
--:-- Andrew Peach: Like most villages in Madagascar, it's very far off from the electricity grid.
--:-- Sira Thierry: After finishing her training at the college, mum has come back here to bring power to her community. So mum is now installing a small solar panel on the top of a wooden hut.
--:-- Andrew Peach: She can't climb up there herself, so she's instructing all the boys and men around her, and she knows exactly what she's doing.
--:-- Sira Thierry: Before the WWF and the Barefoot College started training grandmothers in this village, people used petrol lamps, candles and torches to have at least a little bit of light after the sun sets.
--:-- Andrew Peach: One family would easily burn through 30 batteries a month. That's expensive and creates a lot of waste.
--:-- Sira Thierry: But that wasn't the only harm to the environment. People are now cutting fewer trees because we get our light from solar panels.
--:-- Andrew Peach: Before, we often made fires to have enough light to prepare fish for dinner.
--:-- Sira Thierry: The sun is shining all year round, even during the rainy season, so using solar panels is really good for us.
--:-- Andrew Peach: Mom's neighbor, Nivo, a teacher, received a solar panel in May. It can only charge phones and small electronic devices.
--:-- Sira Thierry: Yet for this family, having a reliable power source has been life-changing, Nivu tells me as she's preparing dinner for her family.
--:-- Andrew Peach: My daughter goes to school and now she has enough light to study after class. And we can now eat without worrying about insects in our food or things like that.
--:-- Sira Thierry: It makes my work easier too. I can prepare classes in the evenings.
--:-- Andrew Peach: has really changed a lot for us.
--:-- Andrew Peach: That report from Sierra Thierry, and you can hear more about renewable energy projects on People Fixing the World, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
--:-- Andrew Peach: Now, we all know how upsetting it can be for children to lose a much-loved soft toy.
--:-- Rachel Carson: It's crazy because we have over 10,000 items that are lost yearly and only 30% that actually end up making it back to the owner.
--:-- Andrew Peach: And so when my customer service team reached out to me and said, we should really put this on social and Bunny should go on some adventures, I was like, yeah, let's do this.
--:-- Rachel Carson: So in my mind, I'm like, how can we do this in the most eye-catching, creative way possible?
--:-- Andrew Peach: So bunny lived his best life his or her best life went out um on the baggage claim where they were found uh we went into our martini bar bunny was denied the martini i will say yes underage underage and then went around an airplane and just had a ton of fun all around the airport and then i posted it on social media and it was just incredible to see our community really rally around it.
--:-- Rachel Carson: Comment after comment was, I am so invested in the story. I need to find, we need to find this owner.
--:-- Andrew Peach: So what clues did you have? You knew that the owner lived in the Pittsburgh area because they'd landed there from holiday.
--:-- Rachel Carson: I had nothing. Oh, I see. Yeah, my customer service rep said, this bunny looks so loved. We really need to find its owner if we can.
--:-- Andrew Peach: But I had no clue if they lived in the Pittsburgh area, which they ended up living about an hour and a half outside of the Pittsburgh area.
--:-- Rachel Carson: The great grandparents who called and was like, do you have this bunny? We had, they had relatives that were commenting on the social feed and she left her phone there too and was like, I have this phone. Do you have this bunny?
--:-- Andrew Peach: You know, her son-in-law was seeing someone that was commenting on it. So it was really, it was a magical affair.
--:-- Rachel Carson: So, but has Bunny been, presumably, been reunited with Waylon?
--:-- Andrew Peach: Yes. Yeah, so her great-grandmother came and picked up the bunny and she was just so emotional in terms of, she never thought that we would be able to reunite her with this bunny again.
--:-- Rachel Carson: She wasn't even sure if it was left in Orlando. She had no idea that it had been dropped in the baggage claim area.
--:-- Andrew Peach: And, you know, I was showing her all the comments about how invested people were. And she got really emotional in terms of just how much people gravitated to this positive story.
--:-- Rachel Carson: And we're just wanted it back in little Waylon's arms. Yeah.
--:-- Andrew Peach: So Bunny effectively is retired now then, Rachel.
--:-- Rachel Carson: Bunny won't be doing as much as he she was at the airport then. Quiet life. Uh, retired for now. Happy home with the little owner.
--:-- Andrew Peach: But I mean, who knows what adventures will have people go on or have stuffies go on again.
--:-- Rachel Carson: I mean, I, as a parent, would be horrified if we left a stuffy at the airport.
--:-- Andrew Peach: So has Bunny been in touch since?
--:-- Rachel Carson: Bunny has sent photos. Yes. Of little Weiland with the bunny.
--:-- Andrew Peach: Yes. Yes. We are all very invested in the story still, but really happy that Bunny was reunited with
--:-- Andrew Peach: On the way in the happy pod, how going for a walk can improve your mental health.
--:-- Andrew Peach: There are so many studies to show going on like a 20 to 30 minute walk the difference it has on mental health but also your physical health
--:-- Andrew Peach: When you walking you feel more inclined to talk about stuff
--:-- Andrew Peach: America is changing. And so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.
--:-- Asma Khalid: I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, DC. I'm Tristan Redman in London. And this is The Global Story. Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Andrew Peach: Craig Wood was just 18 when he lost both of his lower legs and his left hand in a roadside bomb while serving with the British Army in Afghanistan.
--:-- Craig Wood: 16 years later, he's hoping to become the first triple amputee to sail solo, non-stop, across the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to Japan.
--:-- Andrew Peach: Before setting sail, Craig talked to my colleague Shavnam Yunus-Jule and told her why he decided to take on this challenge.
--:-- Craig Wood: I want to try and change people's perception on what people with disability are capable of achieving. And when people look at me, they might not think that I could sail across an ocean, never mind on my own.
--:-- Andrew Peach: So I'm hoping to dispel some of them's thoughts.
--:-- Craig Wood: Yeah, so why sailing then in particular? Was it something that's already been part of your life then?
--:-- Andrew Peach: Yeah sailing was a really logical choice for me because i actually live on the boat that i'm sailing across the ocean so i've been sailing around the world for the past eight years now it just made so much sense for example we just did a 600 nautical mile passage from costa rica to mexico as the sun was setting my son and daughter would sit next to me we'd watch the sunset there's dolphins in the background it really is so magical
--:-- Andrew Peach: We got to the marina and And the guys in the marina were asking what planet it was amongst themselves. And my son, who's three, he was like, oh, it's Venus. Because we've been looking at stars for the last six days and pointing out each one.
--:-- Craig Wood: Yeah, so he's like learning it. It's pirate fashion, but he's learning it.
--:-- Andrew Peach: Why is it that you decided to spend so much time on a boat then, basically living your life out there? What does it give you?
--:-- Craig Wood: For me specifically, it's a levelling platform. my skill set may equal able-bodied person's skill set so that completely levels the playing field for me it means I don't have to walk very far to do any of that sort of stuff I'm a water baby anyway so it all really just suits my lifestyle I like minimalist things and I don't feel like I need a 10 bedroom house to feel like I'm winning I've got a four room catamaran and purely content.
--:-- Andrew Peach: For this challenge you're going to be on your own for quite a long time so how are you preparing for that?
--:-- Craig Wood: I haven't been basically because I don't think you really can the only way you can prepare for it is do a little bit longer each time you're away but I'm quite like well I may as well just stick it out and do the do the passage and then take it as it comes.
--:-- Andrew Peach: I'm quite fortunate enough to be able to when I feel like I'm missing my parents for example I'll just call them on video and that eases all that feeling however when it's with my children it is very much you know daddy where are you I want to hug you you know when they're sad it really pulls on the heartstrings I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye to them off of the dock one bit because yeah I'll probably be a blubbering mess but uh yeah I'm very much looking forward to seeing them when I arrive 70 days later but it's going to be difficult yeah
--:-- Andrew Peach: what do you think will be your biggest challenge then will it be missing the family or is there anything else that you think that is really going to test you out there
--:-- Craig Wood: my biggest fear really is the the unknowns I think health and safety is probably the biggest thing and then it's probably weather if I hit some bad weather that's not being forecast and uh and then yeah then it'll be the the pure emotional missing my family and um but that that just gives me more incentive to get there quicker and and doing one piece you know and do things correctly to be able to get there and see my family.
--:-- Andrew Peach: So I think that's more of a positive driver.
--:-- Craig Wood: Just how much of an achievement will you feel when you've completed it?
--:-- Andrew Peach: I think that specific part would be more feeding my ego. And it will be a great sense of achievement, don't get me wrong, but I'm not aiming for that.
--:-- Craig Wood: I think I'd feel a lot better and a lot more like i've i've achieved what i set out for if someone said i didn't know if i could sail until i saw you and then i tried sailing or i didn't know i could do something until i saw you and you really helped i think that's where i'd be like oh wow i really i really did what i wanted to but i mean hopefully i am inspiring and yeah it's really important if i can inspire people then i want to be able to do that effectively and inspire as many as possible yeah for sure it's quite important
--:-- Andrew Peach: Craig Wood talking to the bbc sports hour program which you can find wherever you get your podcasts
--:-- Andrew Peach: We heard earlier about brian and stephanie getting engaged in the unusual surroundings of their burnt out home our next story also involves a couple who found love in circumstances not normally associated with romance a car accident our asia pacific editor Celia Hatton has been telling Rebecca Wood the unexpected story.
--:-- Celia Hatton: So we have to go back to December 2023 when a man whose name is Mr. Li, he was driving through a city in China's central Hunan province and he suddenly crashed into a young woman who was riding an e-bike and you can see photos that he took from the scene.
--:-- Rebecca Wood: She is shown on her back lying in the road and she's talking on a mobile phone and she looks like she's in great pain.
--:-- Celia Hatton: But what he says from that incident is that it struck him immediately how calm she was and how she didn't blame him. She wasn't yelling at him. In fact, she told him not to worry, even though it was clear she was in pain.
--:-- Rebecca Wood: She went to the hospital right after and it was discovered that she'd broken her collarbone and she was actually in hospital for quite a few weeks after that recovering.
--:-- Celia Hatton: And so how did, from this accident, how did love then blossom between the pair?
--:-- Rebecca Wood: The man says that he committed to paying for the woman's medical care. But beyond that, he actually started visiting the hospital, not just once, but every single day for weeks.
--:-- Celia Hatton: He would visit and he would bring her breakfast. And the couple started spending a lot of time together.
--:-- Rebecca Wood: And actually, after 10 days or so, the woman said to have professed her interest in this man, telling him that she liked him in a romantic way.
--:-- Celia Hatton: But he has told Chinese media that he felt a little uncomfortable because he was actually 13 years older than her. She was around 23. He was around 36.
--:-- Rebecca Wood: So he just wasn't too sure.
--:-- Celia Hatton: But shortly after getting out of hospital, she then asked if they could go and see a movie together.
--:-- Rebecca Wood: And he says that he thought that was the least he could do because he knocked her over
--:-- Celia Hatton: And this be the happy pod without a happy ending. So what happened next?
--:-- Rebecca Wood: Well, basically, the two became inseparable. And they admitted that they just really enjoyed their time together long after her broken bones had healed.
--:-- Celia Hatton: And so the woman then found out that she was pregnant last fall, and they just got married last month.
--:-- Rebecca Wood: And they say that they're really, really happy together.
--:-- Celia Hatton: And the man admits that he was actually in debt when they first met, when he crashed his car into her.
--:-- Rebecca Wood: And her parents had offered him a dowry of around $26,000 when they were getting married, But he refused it because he just wanted to marry her.
--:-- Celia Hatton: But they insisted to help him set up his business and to help pay off his debts.
--:-- Rebecca Wood: So financially, they're a little bit more secure.
--:-- Celia Hatton: But they really talk about the fact that they really do love each other.
--:-- Rebecca Wood: And not surprisingly, this story has caught a lot of attention on social media.
--:-- Celia Hatton: There have been quite a few well-wishers online as well, haven't there?
--:-- Rebecca Wood: Yeah, lots of comments on Chinese social media talking about how this is a collision that sparked love.
--:-- Celia Hatton: Some people joking that this man will pay eternally for this car accident that he got involved in.
--:-- Rebecca Wood: Some people even joking the fact that if you're single, you should go out if you want to find love. Leave your house, even if it means getting into a car accident.
--:-- Celia Hatton: Celia Hatton reporting.
--:-- Andrew Peach: Now, to a group that's tackling loneliness and mental health issues all through the simple idea of going for a walk.
--:-- Jack Glass: It was set up by a Scottish couple in Glasgow to help people make friends and benefit from the restorative powers of getting out into nature.
--:-- Andrew Peach: One of those who joined the group, Sam, explained what it meant to him.
--:-- Sam: I think as I've gotten older and I've finished university, socialising is a lot more difficult. I think you have to take active steps to get involved and meet people and that can be really nerve-wracking.
--:-- Andrew Peach: So I think loneliness can be almost like an epidemic as a result of just how much effort you have to take and when you're working as well, you have so much responsibilities, you have so much things to think of that it's hard to make time for it.
--:-- Sam: I think making that first step to come out and connect with others is incredibly important to me.
--:-- Andrew Peach: It's helped me beat people that I otherwise wouldn't. Both coming and being able to socialise with new people, but also knowing in your head that you've got something to look forward to at the end of the week.
--:-- Jack Glass: It was set up by Jack Glass and Billy Ann and Mandeville, who got the idea after they were left feeling isolated by the Covid pandemic.
--:-- Andrew Peach: The social kind of anxiety that was caused by Covid, a lot of people are still recovering from that and maybe are a bit nervous to talk about it.
--:-- Billy Ann: Maybe you hit 30 and you're like, I don't have as many friends. Look on social media and obviously social media is real tinted glasses. And so you're seeing the best parts of people's lives and it makes you feel like, oh, I'm not where I want to be.
--:-- Andrew Peach: We really want to try and make sure we're removing the stigma and talk about being lonely and making it not feel embarrassed.
--:-- Billy Ann: Because I've felt it myself where I've felt embarrassed to say, I don't have a friend that I could just message to say, do you want to go for a coffee? And that is perfectly normal.
--:-- Andrew Peach: So we started Walking is Mental really to get outside. It's something easily accessible for all.
--:-- Billy Ann: We make sure that we are near transport links. So we really find people who might feel isolated or they might have low incomes and it's free.
--:-- Andrew Peach: And that's really the main thing is that anyone and everyone can come and we do different kind of levels and ability level walks too.
--:-- Billy Ann: And we get outside, we get the fresh air. And I think so many of us are stuck inside and it gets us out and talking to people and confidence building ultimately.
--:-- Andrew Peach: You know, there are so many studies to show just that going on a 20 to 30 minute walk, the difference it has on your mental health, but also your physical health, and even stuff like, you know, when you come home from a walk like this, you sleep better.
--:-- Billy Ann: When you're walking, because your endorphins are going to go and you feel more inclined to talk about stuff, it feels a bit less intense than sitting in a room.
--:-- Andrew Peach: And sometimes if you're walking forward and you're talking to someone beside you, it feels a bit easier.
--:-- Billy Ann: It's absolutely made a change in my mental health I think I found my purpose and I think really it's finding that routine as well helping others and really seeing other people and how positively their impact is it makes me keep wanting to do this
--:-- Andrew Peach: When me and Billy were starting it our thing was like if even one person comes to a group and they go away feeling great that's one person that we've helped and it's really we get messages from people that have come to the group saying this is exactly what I needed.
--:-- Andrew Peach: Now as the seasons change, for many of us getting out into nature can bring extra happiness at this time of year with warmer weather and blossoming flowers of spring or a welcome autumn chill in the air after a long hot summer.
--:-- Andrew Peach: We'd like to hear what you love about this time of year.
--:-- Jean Lanham: Hello, I'm Jean Lanham and I live up in Ayrshire in Scotland. I'm a garden designer. My studio is a converted outhouse in the garden.
--:-- Andrew Peach: My desk sits up against a big picture window looking onto the garden, which includes a very old gnarled pear tree and the bird box, which is often home to a family of blue tits.
--:-- Jean Lanham: I never know if they'll return. The bird box is attached to the top of a post in a corner of the pergola, which is next to a weeping birch and has a climbing rose and a honeysuckle clambering up it.
--:-- Andrew Peach: At this time of year, after brushing my Labrador, I attach her fur to a branch on the pear tree with a clothes peg for premium nesting material for the birds.
--:-- Jean Lanham: I'm not sure whether this is an added attraction to this particular nesting box, but I like to think so.
--:-- Andrew Peach: As I worked at my desk yesterday, I was delighted to see a pair of blue tits flitting through the branches of the birch tree, landing on the tangled old climbing rose, and as one sat on a branch of the pear tree to look out, the other flew to the bird box and started the spring cleaning, ready for nesting this year.
--:-- Jean Lanham: They're back again. Such an absolute joy.
--:-- Andrew Peach: and if the changing seasons are bringing you joy in your garden or when you're out and about we'd love to hear about it drop us a voice note the email address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk
--:-- Andrew Peach: That's all from the happy pod for this week this edition was mixed by mark pickett the producers were holly gibbs and rachel barkley the editor is karen martin i'm andrew peach thanks for listening and until next time goodbye
--:-- Andrew Peach: America is changing. And so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.
--:-- Asma Khalid: I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, DC. I'm Tristan Redman in London. And this is The Global Story. Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
