Steve:
Welcome to the first edition of Wonderspace which was originally released as a video orbit on September the 1st 2020. Since then we have been asking the same 6 questions to people from around the world. Our questions revolve around life and wonder, places of reset and stories of hopefulness, which I think we need more than ever. The setting for all of our interviews is a virtual window seat on the space station from where we see everything from a different perspective. This week our orbit takes us over the coastlines of Western Africa and Spain and joining us in This ultimate window seat we welcome Jazz O'Hara who is the founder of the World Wide Tribe.

Steve:
They creatively highlight and champion the humanity behind world issues through podcasts and films and social media. I start by asking Jazz from this window seat 250 miles above earth which place city or country would you want us to fly over and why?

Jaz:
Very significant country for me is Izmir in Turkey. It's significant because it's the place I've spent a lot of time over the last 5 years and usually I would be there every summer and this year I haven't been able to make a plan, a travel plan, to go there because of travel restrictions. I've been thinking about it a lot. And talking of travel restrictions, Izmir is somewhere where Many refugees leave Turkey to cross to Europe and to do so they cross a small body of water the Aegean Sea in the Mediterranean in an attempt to get to the Greek Islands and usually that's Lesbos sometimes Chios or Samos and now you know I refer to it being small and it is for somebody who has the right documentation to get the ferry it costs about 20 euros it doesn't take long at all but it is not small if you're doing it in a rubber dinghy and many refugees do so and it's very dangerous for them, many refugees die on this crossing. And I'm just thinking about this place sitting here in this seat because those lines drawn on a map that stop some of us from crossing them but afford others of us to cross them.

Jaz:
They just seem more senseless than ever from this perspective.

Steve:
Jazz, give us a glimpse into your life story so far with an emphasis on what you're doing currently?

Jaz:
My time on this earth has been an absolutely beautiful whirlwind of opportunity and freedom and choice and I recognize the privilege in that the fact that I've had the opportunity to travel and meet incredible people and go to incredible places. So 5 years ago, I set up an organization called the World Wide Tribe, and that began after I visited the Calais jungle, a refugee camp in northern France, and I met some incredible people there and I shared their stories on social media and that was the beginning of this online community wanting to support refugees in various ways and varying capacities So we started to get together in supporting them with basic needs like tents and sleeping bags and over the last 5 years our projects have changed and our reach has grown and we've told the stories and amplified the voices of the people that live in these camps in many different ways, be that through film or photography or articles and most recently a podcast. And I have, as I say, been very grateful for the opportunity to come across during my time on this earth some very very incredible people with ultimate feats of endurance and resilience.

Steve:
Where on earth is your place of reset or recharge?

Jaz:
My place of reset on this earth is my mum and dad's house. They live in a village in Kent and when I walk through that door I just have this feeling every time of comfort and nostalgia and safety I guess and I would say that whoever you are walking through that door you can be sure to be welcomed with a hot drink and something that my mum's baked that day and you know for me it's a place where I can truly express myself and share what I'm experiencing in life at that time without judgment and with real love of the people that know me the most. Now the big family, I'm the oldest of 8, 4 of those are foster brothers, the youngest 4, and they're all refugees. They're from Eritrea, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Libya. So it's a houseful, it always has been.

Jaz:
And for me, that unit, that family unit has always been a real pillar of strength and a grounding influence for me. In terms of wonder, it's definitely my 4 youngest brothers that I mentioned before. That provide me with the ultimate endless wonder as they navigate their way through this new life in England. They do so with such strength in the face of adversity that they've previously experienced and they're definitely 4 heroes to me.

Steve:
What wonder of the natural world excites you the most?

Jaz:
What brings me endless wonder is the edible gifts that nature provides, you know, trees that bear fruit, bananas. They have this perfect packaging that they're like a snack that you can take anywhere and they just grow from a tree. It's just wild to me and that, you know, some people say that they're all you need to live off that they're full of all of these vitamins and minerals and you know coconuts you can get them when they're young and fresh and drink the water and scoop out the flesh and that's my favorite part when you can use that hard exterior from the outside as a spoon to get it out. I mean for me that is just the most natural beautiful high and I don't know if you've ever seen how cashew nuts grow but I remember being in absolute wonder at them what they look like when they come from the tree. I know it's not a fruit but I guess for me it's any food from our earth, living food that gets me really excited and makes me feel amazing when I eat it as well and I'm on a journey myself to explore the diversity of nourishment that the earth provides, that medicine for our bodies, that's the desire that I have to be more connected to that.

Steve:
Jazz, what is your story of hopefulness that's not your own about a person business or non-profit who are doing amazing things for the world?

Jaz:
So for me I'm very lucky that I've had many amazing people that have brought a lot of hopefulness to me. As I mentioned, my own little brothers are some of them. And to give you an example, I'll tell you about my first foster brother, Mez, who is an Eritrean refugee. And he left Eritrea when he was 12 to flee compulsory military service. He didn't know where he was going or where he would be safe and it took him a long time to get there.

Jaz:
It took him a year and in that year he crossed the Sahara Desert and he went 15 days without food. He lost friends along the way. He crossed the Mediterranean Sea. His boat capsized actually in the Mediterranean. He walked across Europe.

Jaz:
He lives in the Calais jungle. And that feat of endurance has just stayed with me when I ever face anything hard. I think about him, and I think about his life now and how he continues to work hard and never takes for granted the opportunities and choices that his life in the UK now affords him because he knows what it's like to not have those. There's someone else actually that's on my mind at the moment who has been bringing me some hopefulness this week because I just interviewed her for the World Wide Drive podcast. Her name is Wad Al-Khatib and she's a Syrian journalist and a filmmaker and a mother.

Jaz:
And she made the film for Sama, which is on 4OD and I recommend anyone watching it, but be prepared because it's very difficult to watch because she shares about her life in a lepo. For 5 years she documents her life during the siege, during a lot of death and destruction during that time. But also, all the while, she falls in love with a doctor called Hamza, and she gets married, and she gives birth to her daughter, Samma. And the film is just the most beautiful juxtaposition of life and death, and her story represents so much of what is beautiful and what is painful and the relationship between the 2. And she continues to fight to stop the bombing of specifically healthcare facilities in Syria.

Jaz:
So she continues to fight for something that she believes in that is very important for this planet. And for me, that has brought me a lot of hope that 1 person's story can do so much for so many.

Steve:
Finally, as we prepare to re-enter, what insight, wisdom or question would you like to share with us?

Jaz:
From this seat here, from the space station, I'm reminded that whatever our background or nationality or religion, that we're all united. We all live on this earth. We're all crew. Or on the same journey. And the wisdom that I feel like I've been recognizing time and time again during lockdown is actually the fact that there are many things that are out of our control in this life.

Jaz:
Coronavirus, when things will go back to normal, whether things will go back to normal. Things like that, you know, if we focus on them, they can be debilitating, they can block out what we can control, they can cloud our vision, and the things that we can control are the way that we deal with these circumstances, the person that we are, the person that we become, and we need those factors, you know, that we cannot control to be on the periphery of our vision so that they inform what we do but they don't blind us from growing and learning and becoming the person that we most want to

Steve:
want to find out more about Wonderspace, join the community or listen to other episodes the website is ourwonder.space. We would also encourage you to dive into the work of Atlas of the future, Positive News and Pebble magazine who are all brilliantly telling a different kind of story. I want to thank Jazz Ohara for her willingness to be a first guest on Wonderspace. I hope

Jaz:
you