World’s largest e-waste dump
#video #Africa

Agbogbloshie is one of those places you’d never want to visit. Ever. It’s where your previous generation iPhone goes after Apple presents the new one.

Electronic goods containing toxic chemicals are supposed to be recycled properly. However, it’s too expensive and used electronics are mostly disposed of in places like Agbogbloshie.

Tonnes of e-waste from Western countries and Asia are delivered to the former wetland near Ghana’s capital Accra. The e-waste doesn’t just lay there, some 80,000 locals work here day and night, collecting scrap metal. They call it Sodom and Gomorrah that feeds and kills them. They can earn $3-5 a day for one meal a day, but the terrible air pollution makes it very dangerous.

Emmanuel is one of the metal scrappers at Agbogbloshie.

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What do baby elephants dream about? 🐘💤
#video #Africa

Little Limpopo is like a human baby! He has to be bottle-fed, sung a lullaby to, covered with a blanket and patted before going to sleep. What a cool job his nanny has!

Limpopo is an orphaned baby elephant. He lives in a special elephant nursery in Zimbabwe, where one family of conservation enthusiasts take care of orphaned infants.

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Living off-grid 
#video #USA

These sustainable houses will take your eco-consciousness to a whole new level! They are built from recycled and natural materials and are completely off-grid. Architect Michael Reynolds calls them ‘earthships’.

He started building his eco-houses in the 1970s. They don’t need access to water, gas or electricity. Earthships store rainwater and the sun’s heat, treat sewage and garbage, maintain a comfortable temperature inside and generate sustainable power. What else do you need?

He has since built an entire community in a New Mexico desert, where he lives with like-minded people and teaches them to build earthships from scratch. Could you live in a sustainable house like this?

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A disabled street cleaner becomes a fashion model
#video #Russia

Russian street cleaner, Yura, is an orphan and disabled. His life has never been easy: he was tricked into huge loans and spent a year in forced labour. But one day he woke up a local star.

His flatmate, a photographer, snapped a few pictures of Yura and shared his story on Instagram. People sympathised with Yura's naivety and raised money to pay off his debts. Yura has kept his job sweeping streets, but he’s now in high demand for photoshoots. His secret to being so photogenic? ‘Yura remains himself and stays natural’.

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Imagine you traveled 40 years into the future?
#video #USA

That’s how Otis Johnson felt after he got out of prison at the age of 69. Otis spent 40 years behind bars and it was a whole new world to him on the outside. When Otis was let out on Times Square, he gazed at people wearing headphones. Now he’s gradually getting used to video billboards, people dressing differently, premixed peanut butter and jelly and Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Otis was convicted of the attempted murder of a police officer, but he has maintained his innocence throughout the years. Otis could’ve walked out 15 years sooner. All it took was to plead guilty, but he disagreed. It’s an amazing story, check it out after watching this shortie.

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Trading daughters for cows in Africa 🐄
#video #Africa

What does an engagement party look like in rural Tanzania? Men gather to negotiate the dowry, and it will be paid in cows! She's young and uneducated? Take 15 cows, but if your daughter is already 13 and likes going to school? 'You'll get no more than 5!

They say here that cows are more valuable than daughters, because unlike girls, cows stay with the family. Educated girls are not in demand, because, ‘they want a say in everything’. It is against the law to marry off underage girls and any father caught doing so could face up to 30 years in prison. Even so, child marriage is still commonplace in much of Tanzania. Kristina was married off at 13, but luckily, she was rescued. Her father escaped jail time, but she says he was still very upset about having to give the cows back.

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‘Best grave’ championship
#video #Hungary

Ever considered grave-digging as a fun, competitive pastime? At least that’s how the Hungarian Gravediggers’ Association sees it.

Teams race to dig a perfect grave. It has to be exactly 1.6 m deep, 2 m long and 80 cm wide. Surprisingly, competitive grave-digging is quite a sight. Otherwise how would you explain people coming to watch and cheer?

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Russia’s ‘Papa Bear’ dies, but his legacy lives on
#video #Russia

When bear cubs are separated or abandoned by their mothers, they have very little chance of surviving on their own 🐻 Russian biologist Valentin Pazhetnov dedicated his life to rescuing little bears and preparing them for life in the wilderness.

He came up with a unique method that allows cubs to be raised by humans but remain wild. Specialists at Valentin’s Orphan Bear Rescue Centre provide baby bears round-the-clock care but avoid bonding with them. “The main thing about our method is to preserve their fear of humans,” Valentin said.

Valentin’s centre, which is now run by his son and grandson, is considered a world leader in bear rehabilitation. They’ve helped over 200 bears return to the wilderness where they belong.

In early June, Valentin tragically died at the age of 84. You can learn more about Valentin Pazhetnov’s work in our documentary. Click below to watch.

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Why don't I want to have children?
#video #USA

Craig Davidson doesn't want to have children, and it's not because he doesn't like babies. So when his wife, Leilani, told him she's not interested in having children, Craig went along. Now he says it was the best decision they've made because they get to spend more quality time with each other and take care of their three dogs.

Leilani's decision not to have kids was made before her marriage. Watching a documentary about human overpopulation one day convinced her not to reproduce. They aren't just childfree by choice. Craig and Leilani are vegan, and drive an electric car and have solar panels on their house.

Did you know that childlessness by choice sparks' moral outrage' from others, according to several sociological studies?

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Lonely death cleaner
#video #Japan

Lonely death cleaner is a real job in Japan, which is experiencing a loneliness crisis. More and more elderly Japanese with no one to check on them die alone in their homes. In Japanese, it’s called ‘kodokushi’.

When neighbours discover the deceased weeks or months later, it’s usually a gruesome scene. That’s why an entire ‘lonely death’ cleaning industry sprung up.

Cleaner Masatomi Yokoo shows his typical kodokushi cleaning process.

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#video #USA

The Ku Klux Klan is one of the US oldest white supremacy groups with some peculiar traditions and rituals. One of them is the KKK's odd outfits and noscripts that are more at home in a Dungeons & Dragons game.

Despite their bizarre aesthetics, the KKK has terrorised Blacks and other minorities for more than a century. Unfortunately, it's still active and not banned in the US.

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40 years a man
#video #Egypt

Sisa is a woman, who pretended to be a man for more than 40 years. She was young and pregnant when her husband died. For an illiterate widow with a child in Egypt’s male-dominated society, Sisa had no choice but to remarry. However, Sisa disagreed!

She shaved her head and started acting as a man. She was prepared to take any manual work. Now in her 60s, Sisa still works as a shoe shiner, runs a small kiosk in Luxor and remains the matriarch of her family.

“I know she’s a woman, but I treat her as a man, because she works like a man,” a local said.

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Kidnapped into marriage
#video #Kyrgyzstan

In Kyrgyzstan, women are sometimes kidnapped by their future husbands. Some would say it's romantic, but it's anything but romantic for most victims of forced marriage. A total stranger kidnaps a woman or a stalker she tried to avoid and is taken into his family's home.

The kidnapper's female relatives attempt to convince the victim to accept the marriage. While their families rescue some, others don't get help. 'So what if you were kidnapped?' Victims are often shamed for being kidnapped and sometimes raped.

The practice is called 'ala-kachu', which translates 'take and run'. It's illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine. However, stereotypes persist, and cases go unreported.

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A house for a red paper clip

Ruslan, a blogger from Siberia, decided to repeat the 2005 experiment of Canadian Kyle McDonald and get him and his family a house in exchange for a red paper clip.

“Here’s the plant’s entrance where I came every day. I went through there… I hate monotony: go to work, go home, go to work, go home. You hardly notice time flying by…” says Ruslan.

Well, this adventure kept him entertained. A series of unconventional exchanges led him towards his dream house and taught him life lessons on the way. Ruslan quit the job he despised and moved to a large city to look for a better life.

“This paper clip made me realise what I am really capable of, what people really like in me,” admits Ruslan.

Tune in for the on-air premiere right now!

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