Original version

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Radio

World Service Radio

Migrated podcast image for: Outlook

Outlook

Factual: Life Stories

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

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

Outlook: Life and Death Decisions in Yemen

Magazines & Reviews

Smoke billows after an air strike on Sanaa

25/08/2015 GMT

Life and Death Decisions in Yemen

BBC World Service - Outlook, Life and Death Decisions in Yemen

The Yemeni doctor forced to decide which patients to treat

Dr Mohammed Hajjar talks about his struggle to keep his hospital in Yemen running, as war rages and vital supplies run out.

An extraordinary insight into what it's like to run a hospital in a war-zone. Yemen is under bombardment by a Saudi-led coalition which supports the ousted president, and is trying to stop his opponents, the Houthis, from taking over the country. The Saudis are imposing a blockade, and there are severe shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies.  Hospitals are struggling to keep going. Dr Mohammed Hajjar is in charge of one in Saada province, one of the worst affected parts of the country. He explains about the life and death decisions he is having to make. 

When Kunzang Choden was a child in the 1950s and 60s, there were no schools for girls in Bhutan. So she had to get to India - a journey that took twelve days on foot and horseback, through dense jungles and mountain passes. Several decades later, she turned that experience into a novel, ''The Circle of Karma', about a young village girl who's desperate to get an education. It became Bhutan's first international bestseller. Kunzang speaks to Outlook's Candida Beveridge.

Eman Mohamed has chosen a highly unusual career for a Palestinian woman - in fact, she says she is the first Gazan woman to become a photojournalist. Her photos of the conflicts in Gaza have been published in international newspapers and magazines. But there was a lot of resistance to her going into the business. She even had to bargain to get a camera when she was offered her first job.

The Bhundu Boys were massive in their homeland Zimbabwe - and across Africa - and were the first Zimbabwean group to make it big in Europe. They flourished after the country's independence in 1980, as before then, traditional African music had been banned from the airwaves. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to the band's former guitarist Rise Kagona at the Edinburgh festival.

(Picture: Smoke from an air strike on Sanaa, Yemen.
Credit: Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Outlook

Life and Death Decisions in Yemen

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service

About BBC World Service