The Conversation

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Migrants: Cynthia Masiyiwa and Mahboba Rawi Aug 17, 2015

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Mahboba Rawi was a teenager when the Soviet-Afghan War broke out. She led protests against Soviet control in her high school. After she was nearly arrested, she decided to flee the country. Along with millions of others, Mahboba made the ten day walk to the border with Pakistan, not knowing whether she would ever see the relatives she was leaving behind again. Eventually, she married an Afghan-Australian man and settled with him in Australia. Life took another tragic turn when her son drowned in an accident. His death moved her to set up her own charity, Mahboba's Promise which supports impoverished children and widows in Afghanistan.

Cynthia Masiyiwa left Zimbabwe ten years ago when the country was in political and economic crisis. Worried for her future, her parents sent her to live with her sister in the UK. Cynthia thought the UK would be a "land of opportunities", but she quickly experienced several setbacks. She disliked the cold climate, the "frosty" behaviour of Londoners - and then her mother died. As the only black student in her class, Cynthia was shocked to experience racism; in fact she jokes that running from bullies helped her become a 'champion sprinter'. Later she gained the confidence to challenge the prejudices of her peers and eventually her classmates became her allies. Now she works for Citizens UK helping other young migrants to navigate the immigration system and even persuading the government to improve it.

(Photo: Cynthia Masiyiwa. Credit: Cynthia Masiyiwa) (Photo: Mahboba Rawi. Credit: Rob Tuckwell Photography)

Agony Aunts: Criselda Kananda and Xinran Xue Aug 03, 2015

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Agony aunt Criselda Kananda found out she was HIV positive 16 years ago and was given two years to live. Determined to change her fate, the South African discovered that most of the information available about the illness was full of stereotypes and judgements. So she made it her mission to help others and became a well-known radio and TV presenter, offering advice on health and well-being. But this is not an easy job. She reveals that in order to cope with other people's pain and emotions she gives herself a 'cry day', followed by 'laughter therapy'.

For almost a decade, the acclaimed Chinese author Xinran Xue hosted a call-in radio show that made her famous in her country. She offered advice to thousands of women on how to cope with traumatic experiences like domestic violence. As an agony aunt Xinran says that her callers inspired her and she learnt from their experiences. However, she became so affected by their stories that she left China in 1997 and settled in London. Since then, Xinran has published seven books, which include some of the issues she heard on her radio programme. In her latest title, Buy Me the Sky, she turns her attention to Chinese children born under the one-child policy, implemented in 1978.

(Photo: Criselda Kananda. Credit: Metrofm; Xinran Xue. Credit: Juliana Johnston)

Entrepreneurs: Maureen Kamari and Serah Kanyua Jul 27, 2015

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Maureen Kamari's cakes were always a hit in her office. They were so popular with her colleagues that they started to pay her to bake birthday cakes. Maureen realised she could turn her skills into a business and set up Amari Quickbreads, a bakery delivery service. She also passes her kitchen know-how on to other would-be cooks by giving training sessions. However, Maureen reveals that her path to success hasn't always been an easy one and she's had to learn how to recover from failure quickly.

Serah Kanyua has also learnt some tough lessons on her business journey. She was known for having an eye for style at university and people would ask her to hunt out clothes for them. She got together with some friends and turned her passion for fashion into Closet49, an online start-up, which connects women who want to buy and sell clothes. Serah says persistence, determination and courage are key to being your own boss and making it work.

Pilots: Niloofar Rahmani and Esther Mbabazi Jul 20, 2015

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Captain Niloofar Rahmani is a pilot in the Afghan Air Force. Although there were female helicopter pilots before her, she is the first woman in the history of Afghanistan's military to fly a fixed-wing plane. The 23-year-old takes charge of cargo planes which are used to carry people and supplies to conflict zones. She was inspired, she says, "by my father's dreams." After Niloofar's story was first publicised she began to receive threats from the Taliban and others in Afghanistan who thought her career choice was inappropriate for a woman.

First Officer Esther Mbabazi is the first Rwandan woman to qualify as a commercial airline pilot. As the daughter of travelling missionaries her ambition to fly was formed as a 4-year-old passenger, entranced by the on-board crew and atmosphere. Now at 26 Esther regularly flies routes all over Africa but sometimes her passengers say they won't fly with a female pilot. She tells them that they're "welcome to jump off, and good luck getting a refund!"

Presenter: Kim Chakanetsa

Pictures: Niloofar-Rahmani. Credit: Shah Marai, AFP, Getty Esther Mbabazi. Credit: Esther Mbabazi

Lawyers: Jane Serwanga and Niranjali Amerasinghe Jul 06, 2015

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Jane Serwanga started her career with ambitions of being a high-earning commercial lawyer, but a revelation that the law can discriminate against women inspired her to enter women's rights law . Now she works with Equality Now, an international women's rights advocacy organisation. She might be working on a case defending the rights of one woman to inherit property or be safe from violence, but she and her colleagues will be thinking strategically about how to use that case to bring about changes in the law that benefit all women.

Niranjali Amerasinghe grew up in Sri Lanka during the country's civil war. She was inspired to become a lawyer after watching the role that the law played in attempts to resolve disputes and prevent further conflict. As the director of the Climate Change Program at the Centre for International Environmental Law in Washington DC, Niranjali travels the world attending conferences and negotiations trying to convince governments and big companies to make promises that will protect the environment. She also advises communities affected by environmental damage on how to use the law to defend their rights.

(Photo: Jane Serwanga (left) and Niranjali Amerasinghe)

Singers: Lisa Fischer and Kanika Kapoor Jun 29, 2015

Show notes

Grammy award-winning backing singer Lisa Fischer has been performing with The Rolling Stones since 1989. She says duetting with Mick Jagger is electric, "he's unpredictable and he's exciting and he's mischievous". Lisa grew up in a musical family and trained to be an opera singer, but soon swapped the theatre for the New York club scene. She describes Luther Vandross as her mentor; he taught her to "wait, listen and don't sing while I'm trying to teach you the part". Lisa says the key to being a good backing singer is to listen to what the artist says, and to "what they don't say".

Kanika Kapoor is an award-winning performer who has made her name as a 'playback' singer in Indian cinema. Leading actresses in the all-singing, all-dancing Bollywood musical blockbusters mime to her vocals. Kanika says you have to "become" the actress, because "body language has to come out of your vocals". She was classically trained from a young age, but her voice has only recently become the soundtrack of some of India's biggest films. She sang the song Lovely for Deepika Padukone in the hit movie Happy New Year and recently won the Filmfare award for Best Female Playback Singer, for the song Baby Doll.

(Picture: Lisa Fischer (left). Credit: Djeneba Aduayom. Kanika Kapoor (right) Credit: Tim Whitby/Getty Images]

Paralympians: Elizabeth Stone and Vanessa Low Jun 22, 2015

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Elizabeth Stone has swum for Team USA in three Paralympic Games and has won three medals. Her achievements are all the more surprising because she started life in a Georgian orphanage. Elizabeth got her first prosthetic at 4 years old and not wearing it in the water is part of the reason she loves her sport. Her sporting fame led to an emotional reunion with her birth family in Georgia. Elizabeth is now considering whether to take up the triathlon.

Vanessa Low joins us fresh from setting a new world record. The German long-jump star lost her legs as a teenager after being hit by a train. It took almost 3 years for her to walk confidently on her prosthetic legs and she talks about her disappointment in the way they looked and felt. Now Vanessa is training hard for the 2016 Paralympics in Rio but points out that without adequate funding she can barely afford to pay for her running legs.

Presenter: Kim Chakanetsa

Ballerinas: Lorena Feijoo and Kitty Phetla Jun 15, 2015

Show notes

Lorena Feijoo is a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. Lorena was born into the world of ballet in her native Havana. Her mother was a dancer with Cuba's National Ballet and she remembers being looked after by the costume managers whilst her mum was performing. Her sister Lorna also followed in her footsteps and Lorena is now married to a dancer, she has performed with both of them. Lorena's career has taken her to Europe and America, but she is always grateful for the free ballet training she received as a child in Cuba.

Kitty Phetla grew up as a tomboy in a township in Soweto and did not know what ballet was until the age of nine. She was given the option of joining a ballet or karate group and thought she would not do the 'obvious' thing and went for ballet. Kitty danced with the Ballet Theatre Africans and is now a senior soloist and choreographer with the Joburg Ballet. Kitty is known for performing The Dying Swan, a piece made famous by legendary Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Kitty's version has an African twist though, instead of wearing a white tutu, pink tights and pointe shoes, she breaks with tradition to perform in an all-black costume to become The Black Dying Swan.

(Photo: Lorena Feijoo (left) Kitty Phetla (right). Credit: Erik Tomasson, Susanne Holbaek)

Racing Drivers: Tatiana Calderón and Ramona Karlsson Jun 08, 2015

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Colombian Tatiana Calderón has gone from a teenage go-kart champion to a Formula 3 driver who reaches 280 kph at top speed. Her sights are set firmly on Formula 1. Tatiana is mentored by one of F1's most prominent women, the test driver Susie Wolff, and she describes how that's helped her handle other people's doubts about her abilities. Aggression on the track, training hard in the gym, and technical know-how are Tatiania's tactics for achieving her dream to get spotted by an F1 team.

Ramona Karlsson is one of Sweden's most successful rally drivers, and is now a rising star in rallycross - where the races are shorter, the acceleration "explosive", and where there is wheel-to-wheel contact between the cars. Off the track she has had to overcome extreme shyness to approach sponsors and run her own team. She managed to do it, spurred on by her passion for racing cars and her determination to correct sexist attitudes towards female drivers.

Tatiana Calderón. Picture credit: shoot-pro.de Ramona Karlsson. Picture credit: Glenn Mattsing

Presenter: Kim Chakanetsa

Emergency workers: Maria Luisa Catrambone and 'Gardenia' Jun 01, 2015

Show notes

When Maria Luisa Catrambone helps to treat children who have serious burns and bloody injuries she says you need to control your facial expressions carefully and not show any sign of shock, so you don't scare them. This is something the teenager has learnt to do when going on rescue missions with the Migrant Offshore Aid Station - saving men, women and children from drowning in the Mediterranean Sea, where thousands of migrants have lost their lives trying to reach Europe in the past year. Maria feels this work is her "calling" and worked hard to convince her mum and dad, who set up MOAS, to let her join them.

Our second guest, who we've called 'Gardenia' for security reasons, works with the Syrian Civil Defence, a group of unarmed volunteers who rescue and treat victims of bomb blasts and sniper attacks. Gardenia has worked in a field hospital in Syria's southern city of Deraa for the past few years. She says if someone's lost a leg you have to reassure them "it's ok" to lose a limb, even though she knows it's not ok. Gardenia only lets herself get emotional about what she sees when she gets home "because you cannot cry in front of their eyes". Even before the conflict in Syria Gardenia knew she wanted to help save lives, so when she saw people dying in front of her she knew she had to help.

Maria Luisa (lhs) credit: Migrant Offshore Aid Station Medic with blood stained hands credit: ANWAR AMRO / AFP / Getty Images

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