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Escaping Eritrea and inventing Zumba

We hear about one woman's journey to escape Eritrea, how Zumba was invented by accident. Plus how a giant peace statue on a Japanese island, crumbled into a ghostly ruin.

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World Service.

We hear about the lengths one woman goes to to escape Eritrea, how Zumba was invented by accident and how a giant peace statue on a Japanese island, crumbled into a ghostly ruin.

Plus the arguments then, and the arguments still over the Good Friday Peace Agreement for Northern Ireland, and a picnic for peace that breached the Iron Curtain.

This programme contains descriptions of sexual violence.

Contributors:
Martin Plaut - Senior Research Fellow at University of London
Semhar Ghebreslassie - Eritrean graduate
Beto Perez - Choreographer and inventor of Zumba
Jane Morrice - Yes campaigner in 1998 referendum on the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement
Lee Reynolds - No campaigner in 1998 referendum on the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement
Yusuke Natsukawa - Local resident of Awaji Island
Goro Otsubo - IT worker who enjoys visiting weird sites around Japan
Walburga Habsburg Douglas - an organiser of the Pan-European picnic

(Photo: Zumba creator Beto Perez. Credit: Getty Images)

Available now

51 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Sat 8 Apr 2023 13:06GMT
  • Mon 10 Apr 2023 09:06GMT
  • Mon 10 Apr 2023 23:06GMT

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