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Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The shop that opened for hugs at Christmas
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Happy stories and positive news from around the world - our weekly collection
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Nicola Coughlan
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. I'm Nicola Coughlan and for BBC Radio 4, this is History's Youngest Heroes. Rebellion, risk and the radical power of youth. She thought, right, I'll just do it. She thought about others rather than herself. Twelve stories of extraordinary young people from across history. There's a real sense of urgency in them. That resistance has to be mounted. It has to be mounted now. Follow History's Youngest Heroes wherever you get your podcasts. Ryan Seacrest here. When you have a busy schedule, it's important to maximize your downtime. One of the best ways to do that is by going to chumbacasino.com Chumba Casino has all your favorite social casino games like spin slots, bingo and solitaire that you can play for free for a chance to redeem some serious prizes. So hop on to chumbacasino.com now and live the Chumba Life, sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary VGW Group void where prohibited by law. 18/ terms and conditions apply. Hi, I'm Eliza. And I'm Francisca. We're growing greener and you're listening to the Happy Pod on the BBC World Service. I'm Rachel Wright and in this edition you can come in and be a part of our family on Christmas. If you don't have a family to be with because it doesn't matter who you are or what you believe. We're Hindus, you know, but we still believe that we should celebrate everything. The family offering hugs in their shop on Christmas Day to help tackle loneliness. I think what I would like people to get from that movie is that in your life, whenever you're faced with a challenge or a sad situation, if you focus on that, your entire life is going to get dark and sad. One family's quest to find a lifetime of visual memories. Plus Slowly, slowly we thought about how can we move from Naples? What can we do in a rural area to feel happy? We meet the couple who want to encourage Italians back to the countryside and the restaurant in Paris where most of the staff have down syndrome. They feel like they are useful. They feel like they have a nice job that they like. They feel like they are like working like everybody else. Many people around the world will have celebrated Christmas this week with their friends and family. But for some, Christmas can be a very lonely and isolating time. So one family in London have set out to change that. Meet and deep a corner shop in Twickenham in the southwest of the capital, which opened its doors to anyone who didn't want to Spend the festive day alone. It's something they've been doing for the past 15 or so years. And typically most shops would be shut on Christmas Day. The shop is run by Mum and dad, Palu and Shashi Patel and their sons, Meetin and Deepen, hence the name Meat and Deep. I caught up with Deep and Patel and started by asking how the tradition began. They used to close, but then one day there was a young man from South Africa who was a student and at that time there wasn't much Internet or social media and it was Christmas Day, so he, he came knocking on the shutter early in the morning of the, of the shop and we live above it. And it was this young guy who was desperately looking for an international calling card to call his mother in South Africa because he was alone. So my father lifted the shutter up and let him in and then gave him the international calling card. He was begging basically at, at the door, in tears, this poor guy, because he wanted to talk to his mum because he was alone here for Christmas and his mum was alone there. And my mum and dad gave him the card, he made the call and they had a really nice conversation, said Happy Christmas and they felt together. And then my mum invited him in and he stayed with us, you know, in the shop for a little bit of food and things. And he said he's all alone and made him feel happy. So ever since we've been opening it every year and just saying you can come in and be a part of our family on Christmas if you don't have a family to be with, because it doesn't matter who you are or what you believe. We're Hindus, you know, but we still believe that we should celebrate everything. What kind of people come? Well, the kind of people that come vary from all ages and backgrounds, actually. We've got young people coming, older people coming, people from all over the world that are here studying, you know, they all come and just to be with somebody. Our shop is actually known as the Good Karma Shop. And that's because my father and mother decided to stop selling anything in our shop that harms anything. So, you know, we've a convenience store, people come in for pesticides and poisons for mice and things. And they said, no, no, no, don't use things like mouse poison because it makes the mice suffer. Use a humane trap and release them far away, catch them, you know, they wanted to show people, even little creatures, we have to be kind to. So when people turn up, what do they say to you? And, and how do they come across, lots of people come to the door and they're embarrassed to come in at first. So what they tend to do is they just linger outside and then one of us will go out there. We're all in full fancy dress and we've got disco lights all around and lots of Christmas music playing out. My mum makes 400, 500 samosas and dad gives out his great grandmother's blend of masala chai from India. And so he goes to the front and says, come in for a samosa and sort of invites them in that way. And then when they come in we say there's no, there's no need to do anything and nobody needs to buy anything. It's a shop. Obviously the only one rule is that if you come through that door, you have to have a hug. And what we find is that the hug is something so powerful that it actually breaks all the borders. Borders breaks down any kind of the ice with people, if you like, and everybody's just happier. So, you know, people come in and they're a bit nervous. As soon as they've had a hug, they're relaxed and they start talking to us as if we're their family as well. And we love it because it's amazing just how a hug can cross all cultures, all languages and all backgrounds. Would you encourage other people in other countries to do the same? Yes, definitely. I think that the world needs more love and more happiness. You only have to look at a newspaper in any country and there will always be something that is there that worries us and, you know, the state of the world. We just need more loves. So any opportunity you get, just say something to somebody, smile at somebody, give somebody a hug. And that one hug can make somebody's day and make a real difference to their lives. And if we can all do that, then we're making the world a better place. One hug at a time. Deepen Patel. Now, most of us love to travel and some people have a bucket list of places they'd like to visit. But one family did it all at once. Edith Lemay, Sebastian Pelletier and their four children set out on a year long journey around the world. And that's because three of the children were diagnosed with a medical condition that would ultimately make them go blind. So their parents wanted to provide them with a lifetime of visual memories. They've been telling Julian Wariker about their adventure, filmed for a new documentary. One thing that was really hard, with a diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa, is that there was nothing we could do. There's no treatment. So we wanted to find tools for the kids to help them for the future. Instead, we talked to a specialist at school and she told us that the best thing you can do right now is to fill their visual memory. That was the spark. Some of the places you visited and some of the adventures that you went on were particularly chosen, weren't they, by your four children? When we started planning the trip, we asked the kids, what activities anywhere in the world would you like to do? And that's when it started. And we had, I'd say normal things like eating ice cream. But we also got the odd answers, like Laurent, who was four year old and said, you know, I'd to drink juice on a camel. That's very specific. But at the same time we said, let's put it on the list and let's try to make it happen. The ages obviously vary. Your oldest is 11. Laurent you mentioned is four, the youngest. How much do they all know about the full story here? Before the trip, we told them all. With Mia, our reaction surprised us a lot because she was so calm and focused on solution. Even today she's so positive. What she tells us is I don't have to focus on the future. There's no reason to think about it because today my vision is still really good. So I'm going to enjoy the present moment, you know, face the challenges when they come. Obviously it's going to be tough. They're going to get down and have to get up again. But I think the fact that they're living with it, that they know it's, it's their condition, but they can make what they want of it is, is the positive spin on it. And when people watch this, what do you want them to take out of it? I think what I would like people to get from that movie is that in your life, whenever you're faced with a challenge or a sad situation, if you focus on that, your entire life is going to get dark and sad. But if you and your life is going to be more beautiful things. So if you focus on what remains and that what's beautiful, if you put your energy on that and you focus on making the rest of your life beautiful, then it makes everything easier. Clearly there might be some people listening thinking, this sounds great, but it probably was quite expensive. Is this kind of approach maybe not on the scale that you did it, but is this kind of scale, do you think, actually affordable for more people than perhaps they think it is? It doesn't matter what you do we chose this adventure. We were fortunate to be able to do it. But, you know, you can do it in your backyard. Try to do what you want to do, what makes sense for you, what is positive for you. And it could be something just, you know, next door. It's. It doesn't matter what you do, it's how you look at it and what you do with it. It was amazing to go in all those places, but the kid made us realize that you don't have to go see all the beauties of the seven Wonders of the World to see beauty. They were more excited most of the time to little kittens or cute beetles. And we realized that beauty was everywhere. You don't have to go that far. Yes, it's amazing, but you can do it around you. Canadians. Edith Lemay and Sebastian Pelletier from the documentary Blink speaking to Julian Wariker. Now, as a new year approaches, people traditionally reflect on their lives and sometimes decide on radical changes. Well, a couple in a small corner of southwest Italy have spent the past year doing just that. Elisa and Francesca have been inspired to open an eco lodge to try to reverse the current trend in Italy of people migrating from the countryside to bustling cities in search of better opportunities. The country is facing record breaking levels of tourism, but the couple want to remind people that they can be happy living close to nature. The happy pods, Ella Bicknell went to meet them. When we got to know each other, we discovered that we had a lot of similarities. You know, we loved spending time outdoors in nature. We'd go on camping trips slowly, slowly. We thought about, how can we move from Naples? What can we do in a rural area to feel happy, we created this idea of opening up an eco lodge. Nestled in Cilento national park lies Per de Fiumo, a hilltop village of olive trees and terracotta rooftops. I'm here to see Eliza and her partner Francesca on a small plot of land they hope will be the start of a big dream. You have time to breathe and be quiet, live a calmer life, in touch with nature. I had forgotten this feeling. In fact, maybe I'd never experienced it in a city when we have an event. So tomorrow we'll put out lots of picnic blankets around in this area under the two olive trees. And it's a lovely space. It's right to the top of the hillside. Yeah. So you can actually see right from here, a beautiful view as well, right across to the sea. With views like these, it's easy to see why the couple left their busy City lives in Naples to settle here. But like many rural Italian villages, Pirofimo faces an uncertain future, as Eliza explains, an aging population. All of the young people, after they finish school, they're going away, maybe to the north, maybe to cities like Naples nearby. And they're studying, they're getting a job, and they're staying there. They're not coming back. According to the World Bank, Italy's rural population is falling rapidly by 1% each year. As economic opportunities dwindle. Villages are becoming shadows of their former selves, damaging Italy's rich cultural heritage. All the people around it, all the old people, they go and they forage wild asparagus in April. They have a real respect for the nature around us. And knowledge. And knowledge. And knowledge. That's the thing that's a part of our project as well. Taking this knowledge and trying to carry it forwards. In 2021, the European Parliament announced that tourism could help address rural depopulation. Francesca, whose grandparents are from, agrees, but she hopes their eco lodge can make a difference in a more sustainable way. We want to live here for the rest of our lives because we want to build something meaningful. Not so. People just come here and chase their own dream. The hope is that this becomes a common dream, a dream that belongs to the community. These stairs, this is the first thing we built with Chicho. He's one of our neighbors. Over the past year, they've transformed the space from an overgrown orchard to a working piece of land, hosting a calendar of events. Guests can try yoga, bread, making, foraging, or simply enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside. And the second set down there to get down to the rest of the piece of land we built on our own. We took what we learned and we did it by ourselves. So as a kind of a positive way for us to learn as well, See one, do one, teach from exactly now we could teach it. Eliza and Francesca have called the project Growing Greener, and they've built up a large social media following. This is delicious. 20 people came up to us being like you, the guys from Growing Greener. I'm here because of you. The efforts are starting to pay off, attracting visitors from the local community across Italy and beyond. The biggest wow moment that I had was the first event that we held, and it was just a celebration. Nearly 200 people came that day. Do you remember? Every five minutes, we'd be talking to someone, we'd turn around and we'd look at each other, and we were like, wow. Siemo importanto vita le pesude cuy que chivedo? No. We are bringing life. The people here, they are very happy, very happy to see young women, young people who believe in this place. They see through us a second chance to make these places come to life again. As for the Eco Lodge, the couple are still searching for the right location. Italy's rural heartlands may be facing tough times, but with passion and creativity, Eliza and Francesca believe people like them can make a difference. Ella Bicknell reporting. Coming up in this podcast. So all these weaves are actually our traditional weaves from India and we are trying to use plastic waste best to weave those kind of leaves. Meet the people who are trying to upcycle plastic waste in India. I'm Nicola Coughlan and for BBC Radio 4, this is History's Youngest Heroes. Rebellion, risk and the radical power of youth. She thought, right, I'll just do it. She thought about others rather than herself. Twelve stories of extraordinary young people from across history. There's a real sense of urgency in them. That resistance has to be mounted. It has to be mounted now. Follow history's Youngest heroes wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, it is Ryan. And we could all use an extra bright spot in our day, couldn't we? Just to make up for things like sitting in traffic, doing the dishes, counting your steps, you know, all the mundane stuff. That is why I'm such a big fan of Chumba Casino. 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Our results speak for themselves. And always remember this, everybody is a somebody and nobody is a nobody. Visit forthepeople.com to learn about our Firm Morgan and Morgan. For the people injured, visit forthepeople.com for an office near you. At first glance, Le Reflet seems like just another chic restaurant in Paris with its exposed stone walls and modern cuisine. But go inside and you'll see that most of the staff have down syndrome, a genetic condition that can cause learning disabilities. They work both in the kitchen preparing the meals and at the table serving customers. Waiter Cyril says being given the opportunity to work at the restaurant has transformed his life. Thanks to everyone here. This restaurant has changed my life and it's also done the same for my family. My mother and father are very proud of me. I've worked here for five years. I like it a lot. I'm very happy. Everyone here is very smiley. There's a great atmosphere. This makes me feel really comfortable and I've got more joie de vivre. I feel I've gained a lot more self confidence. Cyril and the other staff with Down's syndrome are supported by colleagues like Vicky Jabot. She explained to Janat Janiel why the restaurant had been set up and how it works. The purpose of the restaurant is to work with young people with down syndrome. And the purpose is to show everybody that we're all the same, but they are a little bit more extraordinary and they work with us in the kitchen and in the service. So tell us about some of the staff here. They are all very different. I mean, they have all their character. And at the beginning it was a lot of work because some of them didn't know how to behave in the kitchen, how to behave in the restaurant. But they learn and it can be dangerous working in a kitchen. So how do you adapt the restaurant to make it safe for them? It's all kinds of different organization and it's make everything practical. It's a slow learning. For example, we teach them how to behave when. When you walk with a knife. You walk with a knife, long de ta chambre along the length of your leg. Exactly. When you walk behind someone, you say behind. When you move with something hot, you say hot. And when the waiters who have down syndrome are serving, you have special procedures to make it easy for them to take the orders exactly. Here, for example, we have the stamp, we have the little cards, we have the menu on little cardboard boards. And the servers explain to the customer, this is how it works. You make your choice and then you take the stamp and you stamp on the plastic card and you have three choice of starters, three choice of main plate and three choice of desserts. So the Entire process, process is easier so that these staff don't have to remember the orders. They can just take the card with the stamp on it. Yeah, but they are able to remember a lot of stuff. They remember. I don't know if there is a switch, if someone decides to take another dessert, if someone decide to take a coffee, all those kind of stuff, it's not on the little plastic, but they remember it. They are servers, they do a server job and from watching them work, how much of a difference does it make to their lives? They feel like they are useful, they feel like they have a nice job that they like. They feel like they are like working like everybody else and they're supported by other staff like you. So there is an atmosphere where everyone is working together as a team, whether you're disabled or not. We are a team, an extraordinary team. What's the response from customers to this? Everybody loves it. Vicky Dubeau talking about a Paris restaurant that employs staff who have down syndrome. Now a man from New Zealand has won the Spanish Scrabble World Championships despite not actually speaking the language. An impressive feat given the board game centers on players spelling out words with letter tiles for points. Nigel Richards beat opponents from across the Spanish speaking world to take the title. But this isn't the first time he's taken on competitors in a different language. As Isabella Jewell It's a game in which successful players need a rich vocabulary. But one man from New Zealand has shown that perhaps language is not a barrier when it comes to the board games. Scrabble. Nigel Richards added yet another world title to his name, winning this year's Spanish Scrabble World Championships in Granada. The player known as the Tiger woods of Scrabble bested more than 145 opponents from countries including Argentina, Venezuela, Spain and Colombia. But unlike them, he doesn't actually speak Spanish. That didn't hold him back. He only lost one game out of 24. In second place was defending champion Benjamin Olaiidzola of Argentina, who won 18 of his games. He described what it was like to play against Mr. Richards playing against Nigel well, I told my friends it was like playing against a robot. He's very thoughtful, very restrained, didn't speak much, but he's very precise and didn't make mistakes. It was a pleasure because he's the best player in history. A player with unique abilities. In 2015, Mr. Richards became the French language Scrabble world champion after studying the official word list for nine weeks. Recognised over his three decade career as the greatest player of all time. His games are analysed in YouTube videos watched by thousands of fans. In game three, Nigel was one of just two featured players to find the early top move of Exau Deer and was the only one to find the Tricky Chatungo. So how does he do it? His friend Liz Fegeland, a New Zealand Scrabble official, told me that Mr. Richards began memorizing the Spanish Scrabble dictionary a year ago. Mr. Richards never gives interviews and is known for being shy. So I asked Benjamin Olaidzola what he makes of his Scrabble technique, having sat across the board from the player. His method is basically to record all the words that exist, which is already a very powerful weapon considering it's the entire database of the Spanish language. It's more than a method, really, it's a gift. He has a kind of photographic memory. His mother told a New Zealand paper in 2010 that her son was never good at English in school. So he takes a mathematical approach to the game and clearly it's a strategy that pays off. Nigel Richards has won nearly 200 tournaments and holds multiple world titles. Isabella Jewell. Now, did you know that if we continue on our current path, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050? And most of that plastic is likely to be the very thin kind used in supermarket bags and packaging. That's because there isn't really an efficient system that can recycle it, so it ends up polluting both oceans and rivers. Now, environmental groups have welcomed a scheme in the Indian city of Pune which tries to reuse plastic bags and address the problem of rural unemployment. At the same time, Xavi Sachdev has been finding out more. I'm standing by the seafront in a pretty ritzy part of my city, Mumbai. But the seashore itself is a very different vista. There's a carpet of plastic bags and food packages across every inch of sand and mud. It's something I see daily and it continues to depress me because packaging waste is nearly impossible to recycle. Which is why I was really excited to learn about an organization that's doing something about this kind of plastic. In Pune City, about four hours from my home. I'm Amita Deshpande and I'm the founder and CEO of Recharkha. Charkha is the Persian word for the spinning wheel. And we use the charkha as one of our most important equipment to upcycle this plastic waste into these beautiful products that we make. And that's why it's ri Charkha. It's one of the oldest machines in the world, invented first in India more than 3,000 years ago and it's even on our national flag. Ri Jarkha have dusted off this rustic tool to make contemporary products like tote bags and lampshades, planters and table mats. It all starts in this yellow two story building that serves as their office and their store. One of their workers, Priyanka Thai, is sitting cross legged surrounded by plastic packaging from all over the country, including bags for bread, lentils, sugar, biscuits, tea, chocolates. Hard plastics are used for making things like baskets, but the majority, which are softer plastics, go into the handloom and charkha. She tells me with a laugh that her 2 year old has started picking up discarded plastic packets from the road and bringing them to her. The next stage unfolds at the workshop about an hour away. A dozen women are seated on the floor with various types of equipment around them. After the packets are sorted by color, some of the women use plain old scissors to make strips about a centimeter wide. This ribbon is loaded onto one of four charkhas or spinning wheels. This ribbon is then wrapped around a large bobbin and then at the loom a woman will start making magic by weaving them into sheets of fabric. So all these weaves are actually our traditional weaves from India and we are trying to use plastic waste to weave those kind of weaves. All the woven fabric goes back in rolls to the bungalow in Pune City where it's cut into all kinds of products they design in house, from cushion covers to purses and backpacks to toiletry bags. And finally, everything is photographed, listed online and displayed in their Mumbai and Pune stores. Rechar Kha employs 60 people. 48 are women artisans who work on everything from cutting to stitching the plastic into product. We upcycle about 2 to 3,000 plastic bags per day over a period of time. Now we have upcycled over, you know, three and a half million plastic bags. Javi Sachdev and you can hear more in People Fixing the World wherever you get your podcasts. And that's all from the Happy Pod for now. We'd love to hear about your happiest moments of 2024. From family events to global stories or any unusual plans you're making for the New year. As ever, the address is global podcastbc.co.uk this edition was mixed by Antonio Fernandez. The producer was Holly Gibbs. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Rachel Wright. Until next time. Goodbye. Foreign hello, I'm Katya Adler, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. Each weekday, we break down one big news story with fresh perspectives from journalists around the world. From artificial intelligence to divisive politics tearing our societies apart from the movements of money and markets to the human story stories that touch our lives. We bring you in depth insights from across the BBC and beyond. Listen to the global story wherever you get your BBC podcasts.