From Refugee to MBE

Available for over a year

Much of Akuja De Garang's childhood was spent fleeing fighting in what was the southern part of Sudan and she ended up in the UK as a refugee. She decided to return to her place of birth and has recently became the first person from South Sudan to be given a prestigious MBE award from Queen Elizabeth. It recognises the cultural and humanitarian contribution she's made to her country. Vadim Pikus loves music and has an enormous collection of vinyl records. But it wasn't always easy for him to get his hands on them. Vadim grew up in Ukraine when the country was part of the Soviet Union. Most Western music was banned by the Soviet authorities, so Vadim had to buy his Beatles and Black Sabbath records on the black market. In the Italian city of Milan there is a restaurant with a difference. The restaurant is situated in a prison and is entirely staffed by the inmates of the Bollate prison. Outlook's Alessia Cerantola went along to speak some of them. Wendy Baxter began climbing trees as a child and she's never stopped. Today she spends her working life climbing the emperor of all tree species - the giant sequoia of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the western United States. These trees can live thousands of years and grow to a height of more than one hundred metres. Despite her own fear of heights, Wendy climbs them to study the effects of climate change. Image: Akuja De Garang with her MBE Credit: WPA Pool/Pool