Baka Beyond

It's easy to deride the 24 hour news channels, which is why I often do so.
But BBC News 24 deserves some credit today for running throughout the day unique live link-ups between a school in Richmond, Surrey and a school of Baka Pygmy children in the Cameroon rainforest. The latter children had never seen a television before, let alone the internet but the two groups of children were able to ask each other questions about each others' lives.

One boy described how some boys apply a sticky gel to their hair to make their hair stand up. The children on the other continent were intrigued to learn how such strange tribal customs have survived into the 21st century.
Oh, sorry. The TV is behind me when I'm at the computer. That was actually one of the Richmond boys talking about rubbing gluey unguent into his barnet.
What did the Baka boys envy most? It wasn't the hair gel or the spray deodorant (or "eau de Cologne" as one boy said - God, you could tell this was Richmond). It was the school uniforms.