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I am looking at dog fighting in the USA for an Assignment programme which I am hoping to make in July.
The dog fighter, turned possible friend I am referring to, is of course Michael Vick – the NFL football player who was jailed for dog fighting after 66 dogs were found at his property and who is now being offered a hand of friendship from the American Humane Society which could help repair his reputation and show how remorseful he may be after his conviction over animal cruelty. Here’s that apology … do you believe he can change?
Vick has pledged to get involved in a campaign which discourages young kids who are walking around training dogs for fights, thinking that this is the gangster thing to do. I came across Tio Hardiman – who is doing amazing things to teach people a new way to live with their dogs on the streets.
I’m trying to set up a citizen journalism project with these kids in Sierra Leone. With the help of Virginia at BBC World Class and Alex and Janette at Plan International.
This boy in the photo is talking about how the hospitals don’t have enough equipment.
I’m trying to find out about some things that effect the kids and help them with their ideas on what they could report on.
These kids seem quite lucky as at least they are in school – although they say they’re having trouble paying their school fees because their relatives abroad have stopped sending them money due to the worsening global economy.
Perhaps they might want to talk about Freetown’s street children, or about child workers, like these reports of kids who worked in the diamond mines , there are also problems of child trafficking, the terrible health problems contributing to high child mortality rates , not to mention child soldiers.
Plenty of issues effecting kids in Sierra leone, it would be a great to finally get kids themselves telling their own stories. I hope that we can get this one off the ground. If you can help with contacts or advice, get in touch. I’d like to add a thanks to Florian who added his photo of a boy from Sierra Leone to the Your Story Flickr group.
I’ve had quite a few ideas for reports from you, comments that have been made on this blog here and also that have been sent in using this webform on the Your Story homepage.
Here is a selection of what I have received – let me know if you are interested in finding out more on any of them …
Firstly, I received a terribly shocking and graphic photo of a burned child. The person who sent it into me said that they wanted to bring the world’s attention to what is happening in a certain part of the world. I cannot verify where that photo was taken and even if I did, I would have to consider fully whether to publish it as we follow strict guidelines on what we show under the BBC guidelines on reporting suffering and distress.
Teenagers who shoot up drugs in Bangladesh. This is one of the story ideas from two people ; Someta and Farzana- who wrote about the issue in regard to how people in Bangladeshi society are viewing the problem – this is a topic I have not heard about before and so might work for us. Here’s some more info on this I found.
Moldova protests. Mark has been sending photos and video from Moldova on the student protests there. I also got a message of support for what they are doing from a student in Bulgaria. I passed on his details to the Europe Today programme who were covering the issue extensively with our correspondent Oana Lungescu.
Citizen journalism from Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. Celestin contacted Your Story. As a resident of Goma, he wanted to find out about trying to send material to us from there. Safety is the key consideration here as we do not want to put anyone in any danger if they decide they want to contribute. I am calling him tonight to find out more about what we can do safely.
Racism on facebook? I had a message about racist groups operating on facebook so trying to find out more on this. If you have come across anything, let me know.
America and Cuba making music together. Dr Peter Rovit from the University of Alabama messaged to say that he’s travelling to Cuba to work with Cuban musicians on two chamber music concerts. A signal that relations between the two countries really are getting better?
This is just a short selection of what we’ve had, if yours is not included please don’t be offended – I’ll talk about more story ideas in the next post or you’ll get an email from me directly. thanks and keep them coming.
Brentside High School, London
The BBC is handing the airwaves over to school children today. They are setting the news agenda across some TV and radio programmes, including for tonight’s World Have Your Say.
We will be linking up kids from London, Johannesburg, Nairobi and the US . Brentside High School kids came up with questions for discussion like,
Does sex education encourage teenage sex?
Is the portrayal of teenagers in the media fair?
Should children follow their own dreams or live their parents’ dreams?
Your Story is getting reports from young people around the world.
Mayra Avellar Neves was 15 years old when she organised a protest in a Rio de Janeiro favela. She organised a 300 children strong peace march – to get police out of the favela during school hours.
Now Mayra is 17 and fights for childrens’ rights. She got the Childrens Peace Prize from Desmond Tutu last year.
She’s recording a piece right now for Your Story, talking to local children about their lives.
There must be many brave kids out there who are, against the odds, trying to make the world a better place. Hopefully I can get some of these kids the recognition they deserve by getting their stories out there, and who better to tell those stories than the kids themselves. If you know any good stories like this, get in touch!
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