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Escaping Eritrea and inventing Zumba

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The History Hour: Escaping Eritrea and inventing Zumba

Discussion & Talk

08/04/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - The History Hour, Escaping Eritrea and inventing Zumba

One woman's journey to escape Eritrea and how Zumba was invented by accident

We hear about one woman's journey to escape Eritrea, how Zumba was invented by accident. Plus how a giant peace statue on a Japanese island, crumbled into a ghostly ruin.

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about the lengths one woman goes to to escape Eritrea, how Zumba was invented by accident and how a giant peace statue on a Japanese island, crumbled into a ghostly ruin.

Plus the arguments then, and the arguments still over the Good Friday Peace Agreement for Northern Ireland, and a picnic for peace that breached the Iron Curtain.

This programme contains descriptions of sexual violence.

Contributors:
Martin Plaut - Senior Research Fellow at University of London
Semhar Ghebreslassie - Eritrean graduate
Beto Perez - Choreographer and inventor of Zumba
Jane Morrice - Yes campaigner in 1998 referendum on the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement 
Lee Reynolds - No campaigner in 1998 referendum on the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement
Yusuke Natsukawa - Local resident of Awaji Island
Goro Otsubo - IT worker who enjoys visiting weird sites around Japan
Walburga Habsburg Douglas - an organiser of the Pan-European picnic

(Photo: Zumba creator Beto Perez. Credit: Getty Images)

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