Worlds Apart

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Worlds Apart 2010.

After 25 years on air, Worlds Apart is coming to an end with the retirement from RTE of its presenter and producer Rodney Rice. But Rodney has one short offering before he goes.

Realising that the programme has been story and issue driven, he thinks the audience might have an appetite for learning more about ordinary in life in Africa, the developing continent he has visited the most. So he chose Malawi as a representative microcosm of the whole and he received a warm welcome from villagers happy to talk about their culture and customs, lifestyles and concerns.

So for an intimate look inside the African village, Join Rodney on Radio 1 at 6.30 on the four consecutive evenings of April 6 - 9.

April 6: The importance to Africa of traditional culture - time spent with the Ngoni people of northern Malawi.

April 7: The Gule Wamkulu - the Big Dance of Chewa tribesmen and life in the villages of Malawi.

April 8: The two big concerns - agriculture and health. Rural Malawians are wholly dependent on susbsistence farming - and on staying healthy enough to engage in it.

April 9: The way ahead - education is a key to any country's future, so how is Malawi facing the challenge and what do its people expect for their future?