Outlook Weekend: Disguises

Available for over a year

In 1964 Reg Spiers found himself stranded in Britain with not enough money to get back home to his wife and child in Australia. So he came up with an astonishing plan - to disguise himself as a box of paint and travel back home in the hold of a plane. He was helped by his friend John McSorley and they both tell Jo Fidgen their story. In Afghanistan it is very rare for a woman to become head of a village. But Zarifa Qazizadah has broken through the barriers to become leader of the 700 families who live in Naw Abad, near Mazar-e-Sharif. As she explains, she spends many of her evenings keeping an eye on the village by driving around on a motorbike disguised as a man. Aaron Haroon Rashid - or Haroon as he is known - is a well known pop star in Pakistan, but he is also the man behind a phenomenally successful cartoon character. The Burka Avenger has been described by Time Magazine as one of the most influential fictional characters in the world - she fights against extremists and criminals, wearing a burka. The animated series has been translated into 10 languages and is also becoming popular outside Asia. Eric Mararv manages Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is home to around 1200 elephants - as well as to gangs of heavily armed poachers who want them dead. Eric describes a situation more like a war zone and tells Jo about the moment he was shot by poachers a few weeks ago. (Photo: (L) Burka Avenger. Credit: Aaron Haroon Rashid. (R) Reg Spiers cargo crate that carried him home to Australia from England. Credit: N/A)