For the Sake of Peace: young peacemakers in South Sudan

This week on The Sound Kitchen you’ll hear the answer to the question about the documentary at Cannes that won an Honorary Golden Palm. There’s also the Bonus Question, the Listeners Corner, and “Music from Erwan”. All that, and of course, the new quiz question, too. Just click on the “Audio” arrow above and enjoy! 

Sound Kitchen Podcast RFI

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday – here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You’ll hear the winner’s names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you’ve grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and listen every week.

Erwan and I are busy cooking up special shows with your musical requests, so get them in! Send your musical requests to [e-mail]  Tell us why you like the piece of music, too – it makes it more interesting for us all!

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

In addition to the breaking news articles on our site, with in-depth analysis of current affairs in France and across the globe, we have several podcasts which will leave you hungry for more.

There’s Paris Perspective, Africa Calling, Spotlight on France, and of course, The Sound Kitchen. We have an award-winning bilingual series - an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis. And there is the excellent International Report, too.

As you see, sound is still quite present in the RFI English service. Keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our excellent staff of journalists. You never know what we’ll surprise you with!

To listen to our podcasts from your PC, go to our website and click on the three horizontal bars on the top right, choose “Listen to RFI / Podcasts”, and you’ve got ‘em ! You can either listen directly or subscribe and receive them directly on your mobile phone.

To listen to our podcasts from your mobile phone, slide through the tabs just under the lead article (the first tab is “Headline News”) until you see “Podcasts”, and choose your show. 

Teachers, take note! I save postcards and stamps from all over the world to send to you for your students. If you would like stamps and postcards for your students, just write and let me know. The address is [e-mail]  If you would like to donate stamps and postcards, feel free! Our address is listed below. 

Another idea for your students: My beloved music teacher from St Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, Dr Gerald Muller, has been writing books for young adults in his retirement – and they are free! There is a volume of biographies of painters and musicians called Gentle Giants, and an excellent biography of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, too. They are also a good way to help you improve your English – that’s how I worked on my French, reading books which were meant for young readers – and I guarantee you, it’s a good method for improving your language skills. To get Dr. Gerald’s free books, click here. 

Independent RFI English Clubs: Be sure to always include Audrey Iattoni ([e-mail]) from our Listener Relations department in all your RFI Club correspondence. Remember to copy me ([e-mail]) when you write to her so that I know what is going on, too. N.B.: You do not need to send her your quiz answers! Email overload!

And don’t forget, there is a Facebook page just for you, the independent RFI English Clubs. Only members of RFI English Clubs can belong to this group page, so when you apply to join, be sure you include the name of your RFI Club and your membership number. Everyone can look at it, but only members of the group can post on it. If you haven’t yet asked to join the group, and you are a member of an independent, officially recognized RFI English club, go to the Facebook link above, and fill out the questionnaire !!!!! (if you do not answer the questions, I click “decline”).

There’s a Facebook page for members of the general RFI Listeners Club, too. Just click on the link above and fill out the questionnaire, and you can connect with your fellow Club members around the world. Be sure you include your RFI Listeners Club membership number (most of them begin with an A, followed by a number) in the questionnaire, or I will have to click “Decline”, which I don’t like to do!

This week’s quiz: On 28 May, the Cannes Film Festival was in full swing, and RFI English journalist Ollia Horton was there, sending daily postcards to keep us all up-to-date on the screenings she had seen.  In her third postcard, called “Give peace a chance”, she wrote about a documentary called For the Sake of Peace. I asked you to tell me the names of the two protagonists in the documentary, as well as a brief recount of what they are doing, and where.

The answer is: Gatjang and Nandege. They are both peace brokers in South Sudan. Gatjang is a referee in a refugee camp in Juba and uses sports to bring a culture of peace to youths from adverse tribes. Nandege, a young mother, becomes a successful mediator, against all odds. 

The film was produced by the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative – the WPDI – which was founded by the American actor Forest Whitaker. Whitaker won Best Actor at Cannes in 1988 for his portrayal of Charlie Parker in Clint Eastwood’s Bird. 

Whitaker founded the WPDI 10 years ago in Mexico, Uganda, and South Africa, to film portraits of young peacemakers who had been trained by his organisation. The foundation is now present in eight countries. 

For the Sake of Peace was awarded the honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes this year. The documentary was directed by Christophe Castagne and Thomas Sametin and was produced by WPDI. 

In addition to the quiz question, there was the Bonus Question, too: I asked you to share with us what makes you feel better on your lowest day.

The winners are: RFI Club member Atish Bhattacharya from West Bengal, India. Atish had the correct answer to the quiz and is also this week’s Bonus Question winner. Atish Bhattacharya noted that gardening makes him feel better when he feels blue. This is what he wrote: “When I am down and in the blues, I choose to spend time in my garden and take care of my plants. At the same time, I play music on my mobile phone. Sometimes it makes me believe that plants also love music. There are many plants in my garden, flowering plants, vegetable and fruit plants, cactus, succulents, and my favourite: my bonsai plants. They need a lot of care and love. Their happiness makes me glad and I feel better. And the happiness becomes doubled, tripled when my little daughter joins me and waters the plants with full enthusiasm. That's it. That's happiness.”

The other winners this week are all RFI Listeners Club winners, and two are from Bangladesh: there’s Khadija Aktar Najnin from Dhaka and Mohammad Mustansar Billah from Sunamagan. Hailing from Goa India, there’s Zenon Teles for the Christian - Marxist- Leninist-Maoist Association of Listening DX-ers, and last but not least, Timothy Ofori from Kumasi, Ghana.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “My Direction” by Nabil Khaldi, performed by Oud Caravan; “Rasayil” by Ibrahim Al Kashif and Al Lahn Al Khalid, sung by Ibrahim Al Kashif; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “Tour’s End” by Stan Getz, played by Stan Getz and the Oscar Peterson Trio, and “Final” by George Duke, performed by the George Duke Trio with guitarist Takeshi Akimoto.

Do you have a musical request? Send it to [e-mail]

This week’s question ... You have to listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, refer to Paul’s article “Women's Africa Cup of Nations: South Africa, Nigeria and Botswana into quarters” to help you with the answer.

You have until 29 August to enter this week's quiz; the winners will be announced on the 3 September podcast. When you enter, be sure you send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

[e-mail]

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

or

By text … You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen mobile phone. Dial your country’s international access code, or “ + ”, then  33 6 31 12 96 82. Don’t forget to include your mailing address in your text – and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

To find out how you can win a special Sound Kitchen prize, click here.

To find out how you can become a member of the RFI Listeners Club, or to form your own official RFI Club, click here.