GNP Show #1--Zebras and Western Union

Show 001A

Date:  May 14, 2011

Length:  58:59

Host: Peggy Wehmeyer

On this week’s show…

Micro-insurance makes a difference in Africa…a hospice with a heart for the poor in Texas…photographing Mexican migration…Western Union moves money…making tamales in Guatemala…”zebras” to cross the streets of LaPaz…touring guerilla hideouts in Indonesia…stopping elephant invasions…and blogging for survival in Kenya.  Those stories and more -- this week.

Coop Health Insurance (3:57)

The vast majority of people in Africa have no health insurance.  Many families just do without medical care or prescriptions because they don’t have the money.  If a major illness or childbirth occurs, families have to beg relatives, friends, and neighbors to cover the expense.  Jordan Davis reports from Dakar, Senegal on a program that provides micro-insurance to families.  For $2.50 a month, it covers 70% of hospital and doctor costs.  It’s a stripped down version of an HMO in the U.S. and it’s giving a lot of families in Senegal peace of mind when it comes to medical matters.  Jordan Davis reports.

Sunshine Haven (4:54)

Sunshine Haven is a hospice in Brownsville, Texas that accepts patients within six months of dieing regardless of their financial status.  The homeless and illegal aliens often come there.  Its founder says she doesn’t care if they’re legal or not -- they’re still entitled to dignity and loving care in their last moments on earth.  Will Everett reports.

Migration Photos (3:56)

The Rockefeller Foundation funded a project in the small village of Monte Blanco, Mexico where nine women were asked to photograph images of migration.  In all the photos, there’s sadness: old people or kids sitting alone.  Discarded toys.  Empty streets.

Even family gatherings have no young people in them.  That’s because 30% of the population -- mostly young men and women -- have left the village in search of work in the US or the cities of northern Mexico.  Conrad Fox reports one of the photographers now wants to become a journalist, but that means migrating to northern Mexico or the U.S. to earn enough money to go to college.

Western Union (4:51)

When telegrams became a piece of history, Western Union almost went out of business.  Now, it’s worth billions because Western Union is the largest money transfer system in the world.  New York Times reporter Jason DeParle talks with host Peggy Wehmeyer about the transformation of Western Union which has more offices around the world than McDonalds, Wal-Mart, Starbucks, and Burger King combined.

Tamale Maker (3:19)

“What’s Cooking?” this week on the World Vision Report are tamales made in Guatemala.  Reporter Amelia Shaw takes us into the kitchen of Melitza Deleon, a cooking instructor in Antigua who teaches how to cook Mayan recipes that have survived for thousands of years.

La Paz Zebras (4:16)

La Paz, Bolivia is notorious for its bad traffic.  Neither cars nor pedestrians follow the laws.  But officials in the Bolivian capital have come up with a rather unusual program to help restore some order amid the chaos and congestion. It involves impoverished teenagers -- dressed as zebras.  Ruxandra Guidi reports from La Paz.

Guerilla Tours (5:30)

There’s an unusual tourism service in Ache, Indonesia.  It takes visitors to jungle hideouts used by rebel soldiers during Indonesia’s almost three-decade long civil war.  The tour guides are former rebels.  Reporter Chad Bouchard hacks his way through the jungle to give us a taste of a most unusual tourist attraction.

Human-Elephant Interaction (6:50)

When people cut down forests to make room for roads and towns, it also cuts into the food supply for wild animals.  In parts of Asia and Africa, elephants have ruined crops and destroyed homes looking for food.  Host Peggy Wehmeyer talks with Matthew Lewis of the World Wildlife Fund on what can be done to stop rampaging elephants from running over people and crops.

Lone Blogger (3:45)

Kenya’s Massai Mara game park is known the world over as “the” place to see lions, leopards, elephant, wildebeest, and other exotic wildlife.  In fact, last year ABC viewers voted it as one of the alternative seven natural wonders of the world.  But this year the Massai Mara faces a crisis as foreign tourists stay away from Kenya following widespread violence earlier in the year.  So the Mara Conservancy, the organization that manages part of the park, has come up with an innovative solution to raise funds.  Richard Lough has a Reporter’s Notebook.