Choosing a Path

Choosing a Path

For millennia, people were born into cultural groups. Those groups sometimes moved and intermingled; some were conquered, others were absorbed, and beliefs and practices morphed and evolved. But who we were depended largely on the circumstances of our birth. Today, no matter where we live, we're exposed to nearly endless cultural options, and who we are is increasingly a matter of choice. Choosing a Path looks at people and cultures facing moments of decision about identity and the future.

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Feature stories heard in this hour

Roma Love Story
For the Roma (or Gypsies), child marriage has long been seen as a key to survival. But in 2004, eight Eastern European countries joined the European Union, whose laws forbid child marriage. Many Roma see this as a death sentence for their culture. But not Gyula and Marika Vámosi, of Pecs, Hungary. As Frank Browning reports, their marriage began as a love story, but turned into a campaign to change the world.

Maasai Schools
Ever since the British ruled East Africa, the semi-nomadic Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania have regarded government schools as a trap designed to rob them of their culture. But many young Maasai have begun to believe that that culture could use some improvement—
especially in the treatment of women and girls. And they're looking to the schools for help. Jon Miller reports.

To Perpetuate Life As It Was Meant to Be
One of the biggest problems facing natives of Hawaii is addiction to drugs—especially crystal methamphetamine, or "ice." Jon Miller visits Ho'omau Ke Ola, a community treatment program that looks to island traditions for a way forward. It's part of a broader movement that seeks not just to help native Hawaiians cope in society, but to make that society more sustainable and humane.

Bhutan: Seeking the Middle Way
Perhaps no country on earth has worked as hard as Bhutan to develop on its own terms. The goal of the tiny Himalayan kingdom has been to increase what King Jigme Singye Wangchuck calls "Gross National Happiness." For decades, that meant no advertising, no western clothes or other signs of earthly wealth. Then the king decided his people were ready for TV and the Internet. Karen Michel goes to see if he was right.

Sarvodaya: An Alternative Path?
Can development based on spiritual values, local activism and volunteer labor compete with a global system built on western market economics? That was the dream of A.T. Ariyaratne, founder of Sri Lanka's largest grassroots organization. Sandy Tolan reports on a decades-old, Gandhi-inspired movement that seeks to improve the lot of millions of poor people with local self-help programs steeped in Buddhist principles.

Related stories

Fighting the Water
On the tangled braids of earth and marsh that form the Mississippi Delta, the Houma Indians have lived for centuries, isolated by water. But now the land is dissolving beneath their feet, and many Houma fear that their unique culture will dissolve along with it. Some want the tribe to move en masse to higher ground. Others vow to remain until the water takes them away. Melissa Robbins investigates.

The Reindeer People
About 40 percent of all Mongolians are nomads, but officials there say they want most of them to settle down. Lorne Matalon and Allan Coukell traveled to northern Mongolia to spend time with the Tsachin people, a band of about 200 reindeer herders. With their herds dwindling and government support disappearing, the Tsachin have to decide whether to abandon their ancient way of life.

Series credits

Executive Producer: Jon Miller
Associate Producers: Lara Ratzlaff and Melissa Robbins
Senior Producers: Sandy Tolan and Alan Weisman
Host: María Hinojosa
Engineer: Robin Wise of Sound Imagery
Theme music: Samite, whose non-profit organization is Musicians for World Harmony
Website design: Jackie Cerretani of Lost Art Media

Thanks to (alphabetically): the AIR listserve, Jay Allison, Chris Ballman, Helen Barrington, Vincie Bertolino, Deb Blakeley, Peter Breslow, David L. Brown, Steve Burke, Bill Buzenberg, Betsy Gardella, Deborah George, Peggy Girshman, Nancy Hand, Beckie Kravetz, Loren Jenkins, Martha Little, Ingrid Lobet, Margaret Low Smith, Joyce MacDonald, Amy Mayer, Rebecca Nelson, Eric Nuzum, Keith Porter, Nancy Postero, Jeff Ramirez, Rod Richards, Marcus Rosenbaum, Didi Schanche, Steve Schultze, Stu Seidel, Jacqueline Sharkey, Bill Sokol, Sue Schardt, Bari Scott, Lynn Szwaja, Gwen Thompkins, Jeff Towne, Cecilia Vaisman, Gosia Wojniacka, Ellen Yuan.

Thanks also to the following people for granting interviews for the Worlds of Difference specials: Vohra Anupam, Hurriyet Babacan, Tyler Cowen, Wade Davis, Jonathan Friedman, Chip Gagnon, Barry Gills, Michael Hardt, Debra Harry, Mickey Hart, Ronald Inglehart, Pico Iyer, Mark Juergensmeyer, Smitu Kothari, Luisa Maffi, Ali Mazrui, Bill McKibben, Walter Mignolo, Ashis Nandy, Brendan O'Leary, Agnes Pareiyo, Kaiping Peng, Jules Pretty, Amartya Sen, Richard Chase Smith, Suresh Sharma, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Rhajib Vohra, Owens Wiwa, Mato Wyacopi.

Major funding for Worlds of Difference comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Polson Institute for Global Development at Cornell University and the Department of Journalism at the University of Arizona.

Homelands Productions is a non-profit journalism cooperative specializing in radio documentaries. Its mission is to illuminate complex issues through compelling broadcasts, articles, books and educational forums, and to foster freedom of expression and creative risk through the media arts.