The world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket. And we all know that the human experience can be quite challenging at times. So I love to find projects, initiatives, people, that make the world a better place. These projects and people give me hope and bring a smile to my face. And I hope they do the same for you. You’ll hear stories about people from all over the world, changing their societies. Every now and then I’ll have a chat with one of these initiatives and find out what drives them, what keeps them going even when things get a little tough. In addition, I'll throw in all I know about change - from your personal life to society. And maybe, one of the stories you’ll hear will motivate you to get active yourself. For we all can be changemakers. It starts in our own daily lives and then has ripple effect, spreading to our neighborhoods, cities, countries and the world as a whole. That’s what I believe, after all, I’m a voluntary optimist.
https://www.munawagner.com/themunalogues
episode 6: Rebels With a Cause - Stories from Uganda & Bosnia-Herzegovina
Courage. It's one of the essential ingredients if you want change: change yourself, your environment, or society at large.
Meet the Rebels With a Cause of this episode:
Francis Ogweng, a police officer and feminist who fights for gender equality in Uganda. "Dismantling the patriarchal culture of men is not easy as this is their comfort zone. To date many people make fun of me, they call me names, they think I am not a real man – but I don’t care, nothing they say discourages me."
About 8,000km up north from Kampala, Uganda's capital, you can find Jaice, a small town in Bosnia-Herzegovina - the home to students who fight to end (in their words) "apartheid in the classroom".
While these topics are anything but lighthearted, the Rebels With a Cause show that things can change, and anyone can contribute to changing their world. And if that doesn't spark hope, what will?
Sources:
The quot at the end of the podcast "You don't have to change the word. You just have to change your world." has been attributed to civil rights acitvist Joan Trumphauer-Mulholland; the quote "Courage is like a muscle, it is strengthened by use." is by actor Ruth Gordon.
Uganda:
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/uganda/#people-and-society; last downloaded 09/10/21.
Thomas Lewton, Thomas Reuters Foundation: https://news.trust.org/item/20180305110027-zqsiy/; last downloaded 11/04/18.
https://africa.unwomen.org/en/news-and-events/stories/2020/05/from-where-i-stand-francis-ogweng; last downloaded 08/10/21.
Bosnia-Herzegovina:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jajce; last downloaded 08/10/21.
Daria Sito-Sucic, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bosnia-protests-students-idUSKBN19B26P; last downloaded 08/10/21.
Keno Verseck, https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/bosnien-herzegowina-schueler-protestieren-gegen-getrennten-unterricht-a-1257765.html; last downloaded 08/10/21.
Guy Delauney, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48760442; last downloaded 09/10/21.