[cr-india] 'MOUNTAIN LIVES': new radio series *free* at InterWorld

[George(s) Lessard]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
From:           	IWR Network <network at interworldradio.org>
To:             	IWR Network <network at interworldradio.org>
Subject:        	'MOUNTAIN LIVES': new radio series *free* 
at InterWorld Radio
Date sent:      	Thu, 20 Feb 2003 13:26:56 -0000

NOW AVAILABLE at www.interworldradio.org
 
********** Mountain Lives **********
 
Behind the fanfare that will accompany the 50th anniversary of the 
conquest
of Mount Everest this year, another event will quietly take place. The
grandson of one of the Sherpa guides who accompanied Sir 
Edmund Hillary on
that successful ascent is Tsering Gyaltsen, and in March he's 
opening the
world's highest Internet café - at Everest base camp. The café will 
benefit
the thousands of trekkers and climbers who now stamp their way up 
to base
camp every year. More significantly, outside of the tourist season, 
Gyaltsen
intends to connect the local town of Namche Bazaar and nearby 
villages to
the internet.  His idea is to provide services such as distance 
learning
programmes for local students and help stop the brain drain of 
young people
from the region.
 
For many mountain communities around the world adapting to 
modern times is a
familiar story, as they experience changes in climate, human 
activities such
as tourism and the increase in local populations.  The changes are 
all
putting pressure on mountain environments and mountain culture as 
never
before. And although mountain regions contain many of the world's 
most
precious resources, such as minerals, fresh water, and a huge 
diversity of
animals and plants, the people who live there are some of the 
world's
poorest. Eighty per cent live below the poverty line.
 
Last year the UN international Year of the Mountain highlighted the
vulnerability of mountain environments and their inhabitants - and
celebrated them too. And at IWR we commissioned a radio series to 
do the
same thing. We asked our correspondents in the Himalayas, 
Chiapas,
Appalachians and the highlands of Lesotho to visit local communities 
and to
listen to people's stories - about how they identify with their mountain
homes and how they're responding to change.
 
Visit www.interworldradio.org to listen online to all to the features in 
MP3
and Real Audio format and download high quality versions for 
rebroadcast.
 
*** The Appalachian Mountains of the United States ***
 
The Appalachian mountains - originally home to Native American 
Tribes - have
seen successive waves of immigration.The black gold - that's coal - 
buried
in the mountains first attracted the big mining companies last 
century.
They're still there now, turning profits which never seem to trickle 
down
far enough to the locals. There's a deep distrust of the outside world 
in
some of these communities, distrust of a world which sneers at them 
and
their way of life as backward 'hill billies'. Sandra Sleight Brennan, a
local journalist and historian, has been listening to stories from 
people in
the region over the years and she's been able to win people's trust. 
In
these three pieces, she explores people's feelings about living in 
these
hills, hears about how the latest mining technology is ripping up the
mountains and also about a new scheme which might allow the next 
generation
to reap its own rewards from the mountain forests. 
- A Sense of Place: Voices of four generations [Dur: 6'33"]
- An Appalachian Tragedy? [Dur: 6'42"] 
- Seeds of the Future [Dur: 5'34"]

 
*** The Himalayas in Nepal ***
 
The Himalayas are the youngest and highest mountain chain in the 
world.  The
word Himalayas means abode of snow, and eight of the highest 
peaks in the
world are crowded into the dazzling slice of the range which runs 
through
the kingdom of Nepal.  Conditions along the higher parts of the 
range are
simply too inhospitable to support human life but the opening up of 
the
mountains to western climbers and trekkers has provided a source 
of income
to locals living at lower levels. But not all residents benefit and there 
is
a steady stream of people leaving their mountain homes to seek an 
easier
life in the Kathmandu valley and the subtropical Terai region. Conflict
between Maoist rebels and government forces has accelerated this 
exodus. We
hear from Manisha Aryal about a family of cowherders who have 
moved down
into the Kathmandu valley and from Hemlata Rai about the Sherpa 
woman who
took on the greatest physical challenge of scaling Everest, or 
Sagarmatha as
it's called locally.  
- A Sense of Place: The Cowherder's Story [Dur: 6'00"] 
- Tigress of the Snow [Dur: 5'55"]

 
*** The Mountains of Lesotho ***
 
The mountain people of Lesotho have long been used to coming and 
going
between their highland homes and the low lands in order to 
supplement their
meagre agricultural incomes. In these two pieces Thabo Motlamelle 
meets
mountain people who are now resident either all or part time in the 
capital
city, Maseru - Tsietsi Kori, a man of all trades who misses mountain 
life
but enjoys the city comforts and Puleng Ntsala who dreams of 
becoming a
traffic officer back in her home mountain village. 
- A Sense of Place: Tsietsi Kori [Dur:4'56"] 
- A Sense of Place: Puleng Ntsala [Dur:3'24"]
 

*** The Chiapas Mountains of Mexico ***
 
The Chiapas mountains of Mexico are covered in cloud forest and 
are
inhabited by the region's indigenous peoples - Maya Indians. In 
1994, the
Zapatista rebel movement rose up from these hills and made 
headlines around
the world with their demands for an end to the misery and 
marginalisation of
the local indigenous people. The Chiapas are still the heartland of 
the
Zapatista movement, which draws strong support from the tens of 
thousands of
subsistence farmers in the hillside communities. The tensions are 
created by
a clash of cultures and values which Luz Ruiz explores in her two 
pieces
from the region. 
- A Sense of Place: Corn is our Life [Dur: 5'00"] 
- The Weaver's Tale [Dur: 4'30"]
 

*** Mountain links ***
 
The International Year of Mountains Home Page:
http://www.mountains2002.org/home.html
 
Media information, tools and contacts for journalists and anyone 
wishing to
help protect and strengthen mountain communities:
http://www.mountains2002.org/media.html


------------

The IWR Team

---------------------
InterWorld Radio 
CLICK to get ready-to-broadcast 
radio news and features *free* at
http://www.interworldradio.org

9 White Lion Street
 London N1 9PD
UK
Tel : +44 (0)20 7278 1111
Fax : +44 (0)20 7278 0345 
e-mail : network at interworldradio.org
-----

------- End of forwarded message -------