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This programme contains scenes which
some viewers may find upsetting

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and deals with Sexual Abuse,
including first-hand
testimony of sexual abuse.

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Hello and welcome to Global Eye
from the BBC World Service -

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journalism that goes
beyond the headlines,

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investigations and stories of hope
and resilience.

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I'm Rebecca Hanschke.
This week we're here in Indonesia.

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Vast forest fires here
are sending toxic clouds

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of smoke across the region,
affecting people's health,

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threatening wildlife
and contributing to climate change.

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Also on the programme,
the brave schoolgirl speaking out

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about abuse at her
Indonesian boarding school.

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We go undercover to track down
her teacher evading justice.

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And how a small act of kindness
is bringing comfort

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to people uprooted by war
in Lebanon.

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Indonesia is no stranger
to natural disasters,

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volcanic eruptions and earthquakes,

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but right now it's facing
a very different disaster.

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A man-made one.

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Vast areas of land are burning

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across Borneo,

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Sumatra and Papua,

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the smoke covering the region
in a toxic haze,

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spreading to neighbouring
Malaysia and Singapore.

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These fires happen every dry season
when forests are slashed and burnt

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to make way for farming land

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and vast pulp and paper
and palm oil plantations.

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It's illegal for companies
to clear land by burning,

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and the Indonesian government
is vowing

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to hold companies
found responsible accountable.

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But Indonesians have heard
similar promises before,

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and every year, the fires
and the toxic haze returns.

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And this year,
they're particularly bad.

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One of the contributing factors
is El Nino -

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that has caused
a hotter, longer dry season.

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El Nino is a natural climate pattern
that begins in the Pacific Ocean.

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Normally, steady trade winds
push warmer surface water west

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towards Indonesia and Australia.

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But during an El Nino year,
these winds weaken,

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allowing warmer water to spread
eastward across the Pacific.

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That changes weather patterns
around the world,

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and in Indonesia,
it's meant a prolonged drought

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that has created ideal conditions
for fires.

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Many of the fires are
burning in peatlands -

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wet, swampy ecosystems

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that have built up
over thousands of years.

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The ground is made up of thick
layers of dead plants and trees,

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and it stores huge amounts
of carbon.

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But when it's cleared, drained
and set on fire,

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it releases all that carbon dioxide,

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carbon monoxide and methane
into the atmosphere.

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A cocktail of greenhouse gases
and toxic air pollutants

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that's been called a carbon bomb,
contributing to climate change.

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For the communities living
in the haze,

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it's causing serious
health problems,

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particularly for children
and older people.

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And the fires are
devastating for wildlife,

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such as the critically endangered
orang-utans,

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whose forest home is
already rapidly disappearing.

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I'm pretty sure that this orang-utan
just, uh, got hypoxia,

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which is caused
because of the smoke,

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very thick smoke in the area
and different fires

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around the village

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where we found him,
when we rescue him.

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And I'm pretty sure that it was just

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that he just didn't
get enough oxygen

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and then fainted.

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He was pretty unconscious,

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just because he didn't get
enough oxygen in the brain.

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Firefighters are battling
to put them out,

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and the government has deployed
the military to help.

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Volunteers have also
joined the fight -

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many of them from the indigenous
Dayak community.

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They're facing
a very difficult situation.

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In the past, the only thing that's
put them out is the arrival of rain.

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Environmentalists say the failure
to prevent this predictable

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and reoccurring disaster is
a failure of political will,

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and are calling for better
protection of Indonesia's peatlands,

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the Earth's great carbon vault.

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Like parents across the world,

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many here in Indonesia save up
to send their children

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to boarding school in the hope
of giving them the best education.

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And as Indonesia has the world's
largest Muslim population,

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they're mostly Islamic boarding
schools known as pesantren.

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For most, they're places
of friendship,

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faith and learning,
but just like in the UK,

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behind the gates of some
of these boarding schools

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is a much darker story -

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cases of sexual abuse of students
by their teachers.

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Now, one former student
bravely speaks out

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and BBC Eye goes undercover to track
down her teacher evading justice,

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exposing the powerful
institution protecting him.

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This is Bechi,
whose case shocked Indonesia.

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Bechi was first reported
to the police in 2018,

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but the school - and his
father who founded it -

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are politically powerful, with
thousands of loyal supporters.

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This helped protect Bechi
from arrest for years

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while he made a series
of public denials.

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In 2022,

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after years of organised resistance,
he was finally detained.

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He was put on trial
for the rape of one student.

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But the court found him

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not guilty of rape,

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only guilty of the lesser
charge of sexual assault.

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He was sentenced to seven years
in prison.

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But BBC Eye can now reveal

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the allegations against him
go much further.

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Ira is speaking out publicly
for the first time

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about what she says happened to her.

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Bechi has never been charged
with crimes against Ira,

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and now we understand
he's been secretly released

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after serving just three years
of his seven-year sentence.

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Nun Sayuti was once
the school's lawyer.

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Bechi had ordered him to make
the rape allegations go away,

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but when he started investigating,

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he says he realised he was defending
the wrong side.

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Salam Alaikum.

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To gather evidence, Nun secretly
recorded Bechi boasting.

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After she reported Bechi
to the police,

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Ira also faced a wave
of intimidation and threats.

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Fearing for her safety,
Ira says she reluctantly agreed

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to sign a statement
retracting her allegations.

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After signing, she says her father
was given the equivalent

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of around 4,000 USD by
one of Bechi's family advisers.

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A culture of power
and intimidation

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has hidden the scale
of Bechi's alleged crimes.

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The effort to expose this

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has been led by another former
student at Shiddiqiyyah - Ayu.

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She collected testimonies
from at least 11 women,

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including Ira,

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who say they were sexually assaulted
or raped by Bechi.

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She says some told her they were
hand-picked

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for rituals he held
in a secluded forest.

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Ayu says some of them were also sent
for private meetings with Bechi.

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Ayu says many of these students

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were too scared
to pursue their own legal cases.

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But one did, ending in Bechi's
conviction for sexual assault.

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In that case, Ira did bravely
testify as a witness,

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but she has never had
her own day in court.

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Wearing secret cameras,
BBC Eye undercover reporters

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are trying to track down Bechi
to get recorded proof

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he's been let out of prison early.

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We're heading to Bechi's
family house for Eid -

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the most important day
in the Islamic year.

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Hours pass...

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...then a VIP car arrives.

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And out of the front door
steps a man in black in a mask.

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It looks like that's Bechi, followed
by his father in a wheelchair.

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After prayers, our reporters
risk entering the house...

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...and reach a side room

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where Bechi is blessing
loyal followers.

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Approaching on their knees
like everyone else,

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finally, they come face-to-face.

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It's unmistakeably him.

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Salam Alaikum.

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Ira's got questions for Nun,

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the school's former lawyer
who switched sides.

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Ira has rebuilt her life
and now has a family of her own.

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Her friend Ayu,
who supported her and others

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in their fight for justice,
is going to study abroad.

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They both refuse
to be defined by this.

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You can watch the full version
of Catching My Teacher

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on BBC iPlayer or the
BBC World Service YouTube channel.

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And you can also listen
to the multi-part podcast

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that tells the story of
how the students turned detective

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to uncover their teacher's abuse.

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It's a story of friendship,
love and who you can trust.

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Search for World Of Secrets
on BBC Sounds

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or wherever
you get your BBC podcasts.

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Here's some more
World Service content

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that made an impact this week.

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BBC News Hindi investigated
India's so-called "paper parties" -

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political groups that receive
millions of pounds in donations

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but do minimal campaigning and
field only a handful of candidates.

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Are they being used as fronts
for massive tax evasion?

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Opposition parties are now
calling for investigations.

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And you can read
our full investigation

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on the BBC News website.

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And as concerns over AI safety grow,

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this week's Weekend programme
on the World Service

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spoke to researcher Joe Benton,

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after he resigned from
the AI company Anthropic,

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saying the pace of change could be
"catastrophic" to humanity.

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Catch the full interview
on BBC Sounds,

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or wherever you get your podcasts.

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While many of our stories focus
on the challenges people face,

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this next report is about
how communities respond

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in times of need.

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For many families in Lebanon,

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war has meant
the loss of their homes

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and the daunting task
of rebuilding their lives.

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Since the fighting
intensified in 2024,

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thousands have been displaced,

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often depending on the support of
volunteers and local communities.

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Among them is one young Lebanese man
and his family,

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who founded Pillows of Hope,

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an initiative aimed at bringing
a measure of comfort

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to those whose lives
have been uprooted.

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Thanks for joining me in Indonesia.

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Global Eye will be back next week.
Goodbye.