GNP 007 (Half Hour) Emmanuel Jal and Spleen Sandwiches

Piece Description

On this week’s show:

• A women’s center in Kabul attracts all ages
• Cutting wood for a living in Nepal
• Flowers to eat in Mexico
• The music of Emanuel Jal
• A spleen sandwich for lunch

Family Guidance (4:20)

In Afghanistan, violence against women and girls is widespread.  The violence takes all forms:  domestic abuse, forced marriage, rape, and honor killings.  Now an organization called Women for Afghan Women has set up a family guidance center in Kabul.  It’s become a haven for women of all ages…even lovelorn teenage girls.  Will Everett reports.

Woodcutting Trip (4:03)

In the village of Kaskikot, Nepal, a gas stove is no longer an oddity.  Many people have them these days.  But with oil both scarce and expensive, fire is still the best way to cook and stay warm.  Reporter Laura Spero has spent the last seven years traveling to Kaskikot, living with a woman she calls Aamaa, or mother.  It’s Aamaa who lights the fire each morning and makes sure the rice cooks over it twice a day.  That’s a lot of firewood, and someone’s got to bring it from somewhere.  Laura recently accompanied Aamaa and a crowd of neighbors to gather wood in the forest.  She sent this reporter’s notebook from Nepal.

Flowers (4:14)

In the United States, it’s traditional to put a bouquet of flowers on the dinner table, but we don’t think of eating those flowers.  Not so in Mexico where you’re almost as likely to find flowers in the food as on the table.  As Mary Stucky reports, Mexicans have been cooking with flowers – and eating them -- for centuries.

Emanuel Jal (7:30)

Singer Emmanuel Jal is one of the lost boys of Sudan. He was lucky to be adopted by a woman who, he says, saved his life.  She died in a car accident not too long after adopting him, but she set him on a course that changed his life profoundly.  Peggy Wehmeyer spoke with our global guide to all things music, Ish Mafundikwa, about Emmanuel Jal and his amazing life story.

Spleen Sandwich (3:46)

In Sicily’s capitol, Palermo, fast food is available on nearly every corner with nary a golden arch in sight.  Sicilians devour what they call street food at affordable prices for a population that’s struggling to get by.  One in every three Sicilians lives below the poverty level.  Many fill their bellies with chickpea fritters, fried rice balls, and even spleen sandwiches.  Nancy Greenleese went in search of the internal organ snack.