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True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives.

Outlook: Chen Guangcheng and Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah; Basma Hameed; Chen Guangcheng

05/04/2015

Chen Guangcheng and Trevor Noah

BBC World Service - Outlook, Chen Guangcheng and Trevor Noah

China's blind barefoot lawyer; Hip Hop Hijabis; Trevor Noah; Japanese didgeridoo maestro

China's blind barefoot lawyer; the Hip Hop Hijabis; comedian Trevor Noah; scar entrepreneur Basma Hameed; Japanese didgeridoo maestro

Chen Guangcheng is a blind Chinese political activist whose extraordinary escape from house arrest in 2012 made headlines around the world. The self-taught lawyer climbed over the wall of his heavily guarded home and evaded capture for days. He finally turned up at the American embassy in Beijing, and has now started a new life with his family in Washington DC. He has written a book about his experiences entitled The Barefoot Lawyer.

They say they're the first British female Muslim Hip Hop duo: Muneera Rashid and Sukina Abdul Noor are converts to Islam who use their music to spread a message of peace, unity and interfaith relations.

Comedian Trevor Noah is is a huge star in his native South Africa and is now finding fame on a global scale. He's just joined the cast of the successful American TV programme, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Trevor grew up in Soweto, the son of a black South African woman and a white father from Switzerland. Our reporter Matt Nelson went to meet Trevor in a Manhattan bar, as he took a break from another run of sold-out shows in North America.

As a small child in Iraq, Basma Hameed suffered horrific burns to her face in an accident in the kitchen. Over the years, plastic surgeons and specialist doctors worked to repair the damage but with only limited success. So Basma took matters into her own hands. She learned a form of tattooing so she could effectively colour-in her scar. Now living in Toronto in Canada, Basma has set up clinics where she is using her technique to help others.

Hiroki Morimoto, or Goma, is a didgeridoo maestro, but he's not from Australia, as you might expect, he's from Japan. He lost his memory in 2009 after a car accident and now, with the support of his family, has been able to carry on playing.

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