Voting for water and surviving a hurricane

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.

We learn why, in 2004, Uruguayans voted to enshrine water as a human right in their constitution - the first country in the world to do so. And environmental historian Ellen Arnold reveals how water has shaped human history.

Also, we tell the story of the fatal hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Pakistan, 40 years ago. And how the island of Antigua was devastated when Hurricane Luis hit the Caribbean in 1995.

We find out more about the abandoned Nazi photo album revealing the chilling normality of life at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Plus, how a Northern Ireland peace movement was born from one family’s tragedy.

Finally, in Sporting Witness, why Ghana’s sprinting superstar Alice Annum won the nickname ‘Baby Jet’.

Contributors:
Carmen Sosa - member of the water workers trade union.
Ellen Arnold – environmental historian.
Eli Fuller – Antigua resident.
Madhvi Bahunga - Pan-American Airways flight attendant.
Rebecca Erbelding – archivist and historian.
Gerry Grehan - chairperson of the Peace People.
Alice Annum - Ghanian sprinter.

(Photo: A woman casts her ballot in Montevideo, 2004. Credit: Miguel Rojo/AFP via Getty Images)