In the Democratic Republic of Congo, armed militias have been waging war against the population for decades. Rape is a daily occurrence. Many of the women become pregnant and give birth to a child. Neither their families nor society accept these children. Social workers care for rape victims and their families.
The feature was nominated for the Juliane Bartels Media Award 2014.
For 40 years, the Swiss nun Lorena Jenal has been living and working in Papua New Guinea and fighting against witch hunts here.
The German Catholic relief organisation missio has proclaimed August 10th as International Day against Witchcraft. It is to be celebrated in memory of Christina, who was accused of witchcraft in Papua New Guinea – and managed to escape. Especially women are accused, persecuted and in many cases tortured and killed.
In the Philippines, under President Duterte, drug addicts and criminals are being extrajudicially murdered by paramilitaries. Government critics also fall victim to this practice. Among them are said to be four Catholic priests. Now a nun fears for her life.
Around 2,700 large and small dams are planned or already under construction in the Balkans to promote hydropower generation. According to many conservationists and scientists, this is not always out of ecological necessity.
Staying with people abroad and getting to know their lives: “Servas” has been making this possible since 1949 – long before “AirBnB” and “Couchsurfing” tourism. Now the peace organisation is turning 70.
Northern Ireland is in the spotlight because of the upcoming Brexit, and not only because of that: it is the 50th anniversary of the start of the Northern Ireland conflict. What does Brexit do to the fragile peace between the northern part of Ireland, which is part of Great Britain, and the Republic of Ireland in the south? How people in Northern Ireland see their future: a situation report,
Due to ocean warming, the corals on the Great Barrier Reef could die. Scientists therefore want to make the corals more resistant to environmental influences.
A private initiative in support of women and their children
Renate Ellmenreich, a retired pastor and former development aid worker from Germany, founded Widows Care. The organisation assists women in Nigeria who have become victims of violence by the radical islamic Boko Haram.
Punk, glamour and ballet – Michael Clark has been able to combine these worlds in a congenial way for more than thirty years. Hailed as an exceptional dancer, the openly gay Clark has always been considered a “bad boy,” a rebel and a rule-breaker. Now he is back in Berlin as a choreographer. His Michael Clark Company is showing his latest piece “to a simple, rock ‘n’ roll . . . song”.
Tilmann Waldthaler, born in Munich, Germany, in 1942 and raised in South Tyrol, Austria, is a cook – and a cyclist. An ingenious mixture. Because wherever he went on his round-the-world cycling tours, cooks were always in demand. The now almost 80-year-old has cycled hundreds of thousands of kilometres in persuit of getting to know foreign countries.