your story you are trying always to understand this new culture. are not the visitor not the guests you want to become citizens. migrants for. the subtle. hello and welcome to focus on europe i'm glad you could join us today we want to introduce you to extraordinary europeans regular people working to overcome hurdles to improve the lives of others take for instance paris there is no shortage of luxury in the french capital posh boutiques and hotels are abound and it's images like these that have made paris beloved at the world over but what we rarely see

are the predictions whose lives are far removed from this glittering fairy tale the gap between the haves and have nots is growing bigger and not far from the shiny facades live the homeless or costars as they are known there they can be seen sleeping in entrances or over subway shafts to protect themselves from the cold the homeless are visible yet invisible and some parisians choose to ignore their existence but for those living rough like. having a voice is important so he's using social media to bring awareness to homelessness . knows what it means to lead an insecure unstructured life he spent more than 3 years hanging out with this group of homeless people at the plus center in paris. he used to have a well paying job as a semi. but after his wife left him he started drinking and when he could no longer

pay the rent he ended up on the streets. this is one of the places i slept ok. but a few weeks later they installed these typically anti homeless barriers. they're placed deliberately so no one can sleep rough here. the residents are a bit ashamed of the barriers but they're glad there are no homeless people sleeping here. to take their son they didn't bother anyone but it was dirty. and i'm not sure what to think. it doesn't look nice but at least perhaps now they're living in better conditions than this entrance where there was lots of garbage. and homeless various have popped up all over paris after christian tweeted angrily about barriers that have been set up here where people sometimes live because there is warm air from the subway he was able to make

a change. in. the city of paris had put in iron rods to prevent access you can still see the traces. they would have stopped people from being able to sleep there in winter when it's cold. dry posted it on twitter and the next day the city authorities removed the iron rods. christian posted his 1st tweet 3 years ago after his possessions were soaked by street cleaners it was winter and he wrote this is how the homeless are treated in paris within a few months he had more than 30000 followers. i tweet in the morning to say hello to the planet and at night to talk about what was going on on the street. so i take

a picture of my sleeping bag and say good night guys then go to bed and. people would have good night see you tomorrow. i thought it was cool if someone. with his tweets christian was able to draw attention to the main problems homeless people face in paris something his friends appreciate his friendly i know doesn't have a phone she get one he'd have to overcome too many hurdles that appear insurmountable to him. and i don't even have a bank account you know i do but at blog. you think you might papers are at the lost and found office and i have to pay a leaven uro's to get them back and on top of that they'll ask me for my papers but i don't have them. people who live on the streets often feel like pariahs but christiane post has given them a voice and his activism has spread beyond paris people sent him pictures of

barricades from elsewhere in france. this one is from no bone in the south. will flow through it's true that the social media have a certain power that can be negative for big brands will they go home mark. will see in the next few days that events will say will certainly get rid of those barriers. is busy. christiane is glad that his tweets can change things for the better his own situation has now changed for the better to he's found accommodation at least for the time being with a christian aid organization. what does it feel like to be treated like a stranger in your own home it's a reality for tens of thousands of afro turks a minority who feel invisible despite having lived in turkey for centuries few in

the country are even aware of their existence and often mistake them for foreigners almost afro turks like yeltsin yannick know very little about their family history turkey is the only home he's ever known and yet he leads his life feeling like an outsider yelchin yearns to learn more about his ancestors and uncover the missing links in his family tree. on his way to work chain yannick stops by to check on the syrian refugee families in the neighborhood and ask them how they're doing and if they need anything. they call him yelchin brother yeah i don't know if she can get what you need is turkish but in his hometown is mir he's often himself taken for refugee specifically he's an afro turk a descendant of african slaves brought here in the mid 19th century by the ottoman empire. on the streets and even in his own leather workshop he's been called black in a derogatory manner or turkish for arab. these

remarks even come from my own acquaintances although they're meant to stroke a year might go by without any remarks like that at all and then i might hear them 10 times in one week. but turks of african origin like nick are growing more confident once a year they celebrate a festival in izmir with people coming all the way from the americas and africa. is mir's mayor also came to underscore his liberal image but many passers by are still surprised that afro turks exist. really because people here i wasn't aware of them. very few of the efrat turks themselves know their roots forced assimilation has consigned their history and culture to oblivion now their descendants want to change that some years ago they founded an association for the purpose. of community for them with

stood up so now we have been able to say who we are as likely of course we're turks were born here but there's more to it something was always missing. in a disadvantage suburb of izmir the yannick family sits down to breakfast like most afro turd. they are of modest means they have little time to delve into their past . believes his ancestors came from tanzania but that's about all he knows all about what you're going to do but even if you do want to research it hard in any documents from that time can be found. through. the children haven't learned anything about the history of the african slaves in school leaders it's not even mentioned but they've had their experiences with day to day racism in the better mr callable called home about i really don't like to be in crowds. followed by feel uncomfortable and frightened. and. you know when i was

a kid it was worse than budgeting additionally i would try to hide under a chair called. head at. the annual afro turk festival concludes with a big picnic the yonex try to get together with other efforts turks more often these days. since food here is turkish. music too. but recently grass skirts and brightly colored shirts have become popular. nobody here can afford an actual trip to africa so they're happy to see more and more africans visiting turkey he should know. whenever we meet people from nigeria or sudan here in turkey we invite them over and have them tell us all about their home countries and cultures of them the committal. of course we'd like to travel to africa or so. maybe someday destry more come true if you good mix that is

. but yeah nick wants to bring about change here in turkey in 2018 he ran for parliament as a candidate for a left wing party. but he didn't collect enough votes to become the 1st afro turkish representative in the grand national assembly. hello. we're already more visible in many areas of society. now it's time for us to go into politics time for a black president told minister just a black but it. would look almost like you to. go to new nick thinks the time is right some 160 years after slavery was abolished afro turks are demanding their place in turkish society. they live underground and multiply by the millions raps are a plague in many european cities like lisbon the portuguese capital is struggling to contain rodents which are notorious for spreading diseases so how to control the

infestation pesticides traps neither option is ideal so city officials came up with a plan they're calling it a natural predator to sniff out the vermin. they prole through the streets in silent pursuit of their prey. lisbon's cats are helping sort out the city's rodent problem. some 6000000 rats live here and the feline forces are out to get them. and to r.j. and her colleagues from the organization animals on the street go around picking up feral cats. then they relocate them in places where the rat plague is at its most severe. with cats being a pre-date. so the smell of the cats keeps the rats away from the surface so it's

a good thing for them to do you give them a home and in exchange they keep the rats a way from your house. the lisbon authorities are keen to build up a copy troll but rounding up the city's feral cat colonies is anything but easy. to not go for this attempt fails. and her team make another attempt ideally they'd like to catch the entire colony can't make friends so it's usually much easier to relocate a colony if you put friends together cats that usually sleep together play together. brothers all sisters and then if you do it individually. lisbon is home to thousands of cat colonies. residents have mixed feelings about them some people think they're useful others can't stand them. it's a scandal there are far too many cats. over you really you

really are or are you one of my neighbors even find a sling shot at the cats. rule and the cats help keep the city. claim they don't harm anyone but the rats. the cats aren't . ombudsman for animal rights. she's one of the initiators of the rat control program. the cats when. people win and of course the rats because this is and that's a way to control rats in the city well redskin of course being afraid of cats and they just disappear from the places where they are seen. success one cat is trapped you get panicked that has no idea that this will work out well.

before colony is no longer welcome where they belong. because. the neighborhood is not ok and they're facing dangers like poisoning or abuse or if the entire building where they lived is coming down for new construction they have to move. this school in central lisbon is the new home of a cat colony. cumorah she is at home here now. the tomcat has a kind of educational mission for the new arrivals. and. i think it's important for them to have to gain respect for animals and it's always good for both so we talk so much about 50 cent ship and this is also

a way of creating this awareness for for animals. and to our taste thinks this is desperately needed. she says the cat patrol is just a 1st step. i think this is a tip of the iceberg of more you main and green ways of solving these issues. these cats are pioneers so to speak a lot is expected from them. but they're taking it easy as the hunt begins. cats do things on their own time it was the day the music died for europe's leading instrument makers one of fierce storm tore down thousands of trees and if you please north there were fears the industry could be devastated the precious would involve the c.m.i. used for violins and pianos had practically vanished overnight but the community

couldn't let it go and embarked on a mission to salvage the wreckage now it's running a race against time to save the lumber from the wood chipper. fabio on you benny always enjoys working with wood particularly if it has a nice texture. the wood is smooth and even that's just the right kind for making musical instruments. but a major wind storm knocked down almost all of the trees here involved a few. problem has been coming to this area for 13 years to find just the right kind of wood for centuries the forest has provided wood for violence guitars and pianos the wood gives the instruments an excellent sound and resonance but now fabio is trying to save what he can. but.

this trunk has or good diameter and a good texture. but this crack here shows that the tree split when it was knocked over so i can't use it. but i meant it although being. fabio wants to save as much what is he can before it's ruined by bark beetles and other pests. i love this kind of work and i love these trees. this is my passionate fight with. me. the wood is processed at fabio small factory down in the valley this is where mountain spruce is converted into tone wood and residents wood. fabio's customers include a number of major companies that produce musical instruments. this finally cut tone wood will be used to make violins it's been sorted by age and quality. more than 300 years

ago antonio stradivari crafted his violins from wood similar to this. but right now fabio is trying to recover as much wood as he normally does in 4 years and it's going to cost a lot of money to store it. so he's asked customers and private clients to pay $300.00 euros in advance per tree trunk to cover storage costs. that's why he's choosing only the best work right now. yes good job i've got to examine every trunk carefully to determine which piece of wood would be best for each instrument and how many pieces i can get out of a truck that i might get out of me the only winner florrie.

only top quality wood will be processed fabio keeps a close watch on all of the tree trunks even in the sawmill. here the trunks are precut along the grain this wood will be used to make sound boards for pianos. saw mill owner franco saber is sorry that so many trees were lost in the wind storm . it took those trees 11020 years to grow to maturity and then the storm ruined everything it's sad and know it will take another 11020 years for the forest to grow back. customers who appreciate fabio skill and experience will support him during these tough times. i know you. respond via has an extremely important job he's the only one who can find this kind of high quality good violin makers like me couldn't do it but we're

all part of the process of creating a musical instrument so we have to trust each other. every step of that process must be spot on as fabio's tone what is made into a violin. the idea that there's a. right i'm happy when the client is pleased with the instrument. i call the manufacturers and the musicians deserve a lot of credit too. but people seem to forget that it's my word that makes the instrument. fabio on e bay nice customers certainly haven't forgotten and for the time being he'll continue to salvage as much what is he can from the valid if you have a site so that he can keep providing top quality material for world class musical instruments. or grandmothers are held in high esteem in russia unlike many other cultures

attending status is a position of great honor yet many elderly women are being abandoned as younger family members live away the small town of star obey show is home to a unique place where young and old live side by side they are not related by blood but do share a longing for companionship far away from russia's capital moscow the elderly and disabled have found a safe space where stigmas are left at the door. when you're making pancakes every step needs to be timed just right. that's what deanna could you learned from her boarding home grandmother spent long a gram of the pair found each other 12 years ago when they started living together in a unique russian residential home. my this is my family and sometimes they get pretty cheeky. it's

a special home they share a yana and her surrogate grandma live together with 30 other children and over $100.00 pensioners. they're all in one big housing complex where they spend their lives together. most pensioners live here because their relatives no longer want to care for them and most young people are here because their parents are no longer allowed to care for them many were alcoholics who lost custody. as a result many of their children were born with disabilities. with no other family to rely on young and old alike would be lonely if it weren't for this haven. where you can hear or read to you. you would think. my entire family died in 1993 in a car crash it was horrible. i almost lost my mind. back then i didn't want to live

anymore. i would have preferred to die with my family. this unique home where young and old live side by side was founded 12 years ago. it's an start of a shop in russia's bosh court to stand republican bicycle and it's one of a kind in the entire country. that. actually does establish i children are happy that they have loving care taken and live in a loving environment the kids don't need to feel ashamed if that disability. they can get through life with their heads held up. just like other children without disability. because that's it because. these residents are lucky their home is widely acclaimed. thanks to funding by the state donors and volunteers the facilities are in create condition.

new other russians with disabilities or special needs are as fortunate human rights activists have repeatedly reported cases of abusive caretakers corrupt directors insufficient fire safety measures and a lack of funding in other homes. but often the public is unaware of this grim reality as most homes are isolated from the outside world. yes the director says this is long overdue to change. i did to save us still remains a huge barrier between people with and without disabilities in our society parents from the soviet generation do not want their children socializing with kids that have special needs. but this home where young says one pension as live side by side still shows that it is possible not store basically the same walk under the same

sun and to ordinary people when you got to listen to health care. though of course with people of all ages residing here it's not always smooth sailing. living together and caring for each other can be challenging. still everyone here is very close they are eager to share their lives rather than just co-exist. or when i see children i forget all my problems. they just vanish. and all i see are the good things some of them. but. the day of the special residential home winds down with a small dance performance. life is good because here russia's most vulnerable are not left to fend for themselves.

they say you can't use your family but they are proving otherwise thanks so much for watching focus on europe do let me know your thoughts about this week's show on twitter all the best and bye for now.

a celestial be. spiritual message. from. the fire of the human form. and quietly and when. i. became a joke writer. 15 minutes. equal

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play . this is do we do use life for real and syrian forces pound is live province residents flee for their lives government troops backed by tanks are mounting a ground offensive on the last pockets of resistance hundreds of thousands of people in rebel held areas have taken to the road many heading into 2 words the turkish border which has been closed also coming up to germany citizens should overcome their differences and show more mutual respect that's the christmas message of the german president.