this is the news africa coming up on the program he's a black muslim immigrant from somalia majid magid was just 5 when he came to the u.k. now he's a member of the european parliament who says refugees deserve better. nuki treat people with compassion and we need to treat people with dignity nobody choosing to leave their family their homes the community. he's been discriminated against for being an i'll be you know in my lot but now he's using his newfound celebrity status as the musician to fight the stigma. julia you're welcome to the show he's a 28 year old somali refugee who fled his homeland at the age of 5 and moved to the north and bridge the city of sheffield he watched his mother being racially abused

as a child and his teenage years were troubled but then he became politically active at 28 my jihad was elected settled youngest and it's fast muslim a he's been hailed as a breath of fresh air by some while obvious described him as an insult to the people of sheffield in me my dad was elected as member of parliament for the green party but on his very 1st the other european parliament in strasbourg he says he was asked to leave because of the way he looked his response i know i'm different i'm black and my name is my git i don't intend to try to fit in get used to it. and magic magic joins us now from our studio in brussels majid welcome to the show now tell us how are you dealing with the challenges of being a black muslim immigrants from somalia and a member of the european parliament. you know just still of if i and i'm just being

me just doing me and you know as if this is nothing new it's not very exclusive syrup in parliament a lot the same challenges i've been dealing with when i was lord mayor of sheffield or before that so yeah i'm familiar with it but to be honest with them i'm just going with them and yeah it's fine to be honest of course is a bit tricky at times but it's cool when you see you're dealing with it by just being yourself how do you mean. by lynch because i think one of the hardest things especially being in the european parliament in such an establishment like that when everyone dresses the same all wherever you just kind of about the way they interact and behave for me the biggest challenge was being myself and been unapologetically myself and saying you know what i'm not going to betray my car if i am going to say who i am because this is what got me elected so when i was standing as a and he counted when i was lord mayor basically people wanted authenticity people need to see themselves in their politicians and representing their representatives

so for me it was i'm right this is how i stood this hour on my election and i'm in space are going to be me and of course i'm respectful is what i mean lots of people who are supportive and one and for me it's the issues that mild to most of us loved the climate change whether that be the immigration refugio crisis at the moment this is the issues i want to face and i should tackle head on let me take you back a bit walk where the most difficult and memorable aspects of you growing up immigrant in the u.k. . so i guess whether that be from this could also cause those a lot of challenges because clearly growing up in a city multicultural says and i'll be quite honest with you i would put a really diverse community where people spoke many different languages one of the be do have people from the yemen people from west africa and the caribbean and it was really quite excited about corsi comes on without me when i was out well

wherever that be even just for the media and i honestly like the way they demonize immigrants every day that of course we have is told not just myself and my family the way they demonize muslims and whatnot so that was a constant pressure because then people reflect when we go outside and i found what i have a city like specially when there is a lot more difficult for women because women visually look different so when my mother says the word abscond and they're out and about there is an easy target for them so women always have a saudi they have a lot more tougher than men now however all these experiences are that any value to you r.c. politician right now. yeah definitely grounded me this is a form of my politics all my struggles all my everything has made me who i am today and of course i reflect on not a lot of the times and the morals and values of coming from a minority background and what my think that literally led me to basically becoming

an m.e.p. and i'd be lying if i said you know what it's all through hard work you know hard work a lot doesn't get you far enough it's taken sacrify learning a lot like i was i thought 1st of my mother if i should bring him into the u.k. other fiji's or not be my friends who grant me the people of sheffield i like to meet people yorkshire at home so it's a collective thing you know and of course when i'm in the parliaments and brussels always i've been struggle bank i go when we've the way under supports and the responsibility on the love of all those people who supported me and all those people that voted for me now before you go how would you describe your relationship with your country of birth somalia i say is a strong one because i unfortunately i still speak the language fluently even though i came to the u.k. when i was 5 my mother did a very good job of instilling that culture not just from some of the clothes i wear the food we eat the language that i speak our with my moment one not so yes so it's

still a big problem for show ok now we write before you go 30 seconds refugee crisis is still going on what do you make of that we refugees are treated especially in europe quickly us is quite quite disgustingly you know honesty we need to treat people with compassion and we need to treat people with dignity nobody chooses to leave their family their homes their community if they had no choice and we really need to start treating people as people and not as numbers well said and in perfect timing magic magic the green party member of european parliament thanks a lot for your time. thank you very much money. now most rural households in africa depend on firewood vocal king but this is damaging the health of entire families according to the world health organization indoor air pollution kills about $4000000.00 people globally each year now in rwanda a group of women is changing that with the help of pigs.

well it's far from glamorous but this routine has proved beneficial to 14 year olds . in the district in north most households misfiled for cooking. clothilde has chosen to use bio gas instead she mostly uses the manure from her pigs. more than at 1st i did not like the idea of keeping peaks but now i say can get good of manure from the animals prefer pig manure because it's a little different from comb and here are a whole new set of corn filters homestead is about an 8th of an acre in size the buyer digested doesn't take up much space every day she and her husband collect manure and process it. first the menu is diluted with water

and stirred in a kind of mix. then the content is released into the bio dad just where the waste decomposes to produce the gas. from and from going from going to. a pipe connected to the bio digest and then delivers the gas to her outdoor kitchen. i used to use for a wood and the kitchen would feel if we smoke which was difficult for me it hurts your eyes making them red and sore she. more than 80 percent of households in africa rely on firewood for cooking wood burning stoves of the leading cause of indoor pollution according to the world health organization the risks of cooking with firewood a considerably higher than smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day putting the lives of millions of women and children at risk when i thought

about it. says she decided to switch to bio gas for health reasons. i like about by you guys is that i can leave something on the stools if i do the right amount of heat i can leave the food and good and do something you. didn't really want to one of the line you're still would have a shot. with a level percent of african energy there is hope that more will be convinced to make the switch to a safer feel source. now to the story of the malawian i'll be no basket who's using his newfound celebrity status to fight the discrimination many of us face last rose. has himself been a victim of violence but now with

a new album after performing with his message is more powerful than ever. yes lazarus chick one darley has used music all his life to escape the violence he's experienced because he's an albino. many believe albinism to be contagious or the result of infidelity and many of benaud's fall victim to the illegal trade of body parts it wasn't easy to make a living for lazarus busking on the streets of long way for small change and constantly feeling threatened but then an english tourist filmed him performing and everything changed the footage caught the eye of a music producer in london now lazarus has recorded an album and he's using his music to teach people that everyone is the same. a lot of people with albinism who live in remote areas aren't safe sometimes their doors

don't close or lock and it makes it easier for people to come and kidnap them and then do whatever they want with them. i hope my music will raise awareness about issues around how people with albinism are treated in malawi and hopefully change things along the way. despite his growing success lazarus still fears being targeted because of his albinism and he worries about his sons to have whom also have albinism who but a kickstarter campaign launched by the team that produced his album is raising money to build him and his family a secure house. and through his performing lazarus is fast building up a fan base which includes the singer madonna. and he produced a documentary about lazarus and has called him a powerful voice who won't be silence because of his albinism a voice that seems to be having an effect already on morgan does all of. it's true

that persons with albinism are invisible now society leisure's is work as a role model help society look at people with albinism as able people who can contribute equally in all spheres and we appreciate that he is raising awareness at different levels or the 2 of us would be the. answer is chick one daddy's album stomp on the devil will be released in september. that's beautiful allows us for almost premiere the other tribeca film festival in new york what the success would say that's it for now from dublin news africa you can catch all our stories on our website facebook page for the next fight and fight for not.

this you know a 1000000 men notice. what an up or closer promo suit that. goes over one of those cynical media or may seen us all up with all of our. vision of getting. it on what it. what i'm focused on in the sort of what i'm or what i'm going to run up for is a term of this you know i mean when you're monotonous incline your wedding parties on a moment to notice. i mean i'm going to end unanimous. the show could go because as you've said. i shouldn't have. gone on i've only said that i thought when i'm going to be a finding. here because i see if i say i said.