Episode 4 Queen's Baton Relay

In October 2013, an epic journey began.

In the build-up to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer,

the Queen's Baton Relay set off on a truly global voyage...

..travelling to each of the 70

Commonwealth nations and territories...

..and touching lives around the world.

One heart, one love, everywhere!

Adventurer Mark Beaumont is following the baton.

What an amazing view from the high point.

I can see the entire coastline.

With just six months before the Games begin,

he will discover how athletes

from some of the most remote nations on the planet

are preparing to compete.

We're quietly confident that we'll do really well.

He will meet the people and the communities

that make the Commonwealth what it is today...

We use what we have, which is our culture,

and we have to keep our culture.

..people whose lives are changing...

You've got to look at the future. What is there for your kids?

..and who are changing lives.

We all have the passion to help others to do things,

-not because of ourself.

-All part of the Commonwealth

and all connected by the Queen's Baton Relay.

This leg of the relay takes the baton

through the island nations of the South Pacific.

Spread over the vast Pacific Ocean,

they are some of the most isolated

and sparsely populated countries

on Earth...

..and soon, athletes from across this region

will be making the long journey to Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games.

For them, it's a chance to prove that when it comes to sport,

small countries can make a big impact.

Small countries like Kiribati.

A chain of islands spread over thousands of miles,

Kiribati may have competed in every Commonwealth Games since 1998,

but it has yet to bring home a medal.

There is one sport, though, which, if it were a Commonwealth event,

they would be sure to win hands down.

When the wind picks up,

people all over the islands head down to the beach for one thing.

Model boat racing is a big hobby in Kiribati.

And Mark isn't one to resist a challenge.

Perfect!

That was a winning run!

I can see why you get very competitive.

It's a popular pastime

in a country with such an intimate connection to the sea.

But for Kiribati and other nations

across the South Pacific, the ocean

is also the biggest threat to its way of life.

The highest point on these islands

is just three metres above the water.

And with rising sea levels linked to climate change,

people here are facing up to their biggest challenge yet.

We came to this side of the island in 1980.

And we don't have this water splash into the buildings,

as you can see over on the other side.

And...this channel here used to be dry land, nothing but dry land.

For you, what do you think the future will be like?

One of my granddaughters, the little one, told me the other day,

"Grandpa, are you going to build us a boat?"

"A boat for what?"

"When the island is covered with water, we have a place to float in."

You know, our little ones are affected mentally.

The landscape of these islands is changing dramatically,

and the government has warned that if sea levels continue to rise,

then Kiribati could become uninhabitable within 30 years.

It would mean not only the loss of these islands...

..but the loss of a unique island community.

From Kiribati, the baton

heads south, to the Cook Islands.

WHOOPING

The Cook Islands has put on quite a carnival atmosphere

for the Queen's Baton Relay.

This is the coastal road around the main island in Rarotonga,

and each village has been represented by different sports.

These are the rugby guys.

It's a country where almost everyone seems to belong to a local team.

We're the Arorangi team.

The village that you're in is called Arorangi,

and we're the women's cricket team that plays for the village.

But their most successful sport is netball.

It's one of the most popular events at the Commonwealth Games.

But in the Cook Islands, it's huge.

One in 18 people here are members of a team.

The game is particularly strong in the South Pacific,

partly thanks to the success of teams like Australia

and the New Zealand Silver Ferns,

who are the two top-ranking teams in the world.

With stars like these in your back yard,

it's easy to see why young players are inspired to sign up.

We're a really big community over here,

so I think it's just good for all of us to get involved.

And the young girls look at the Silver Ferns and the Aussies,

so I think they just highlight the netball around the world,

so that's why we're all playing it here.

Today, the Cook Islands are hosting an international tournament.

And when your country looks like this,

it's not hard to convince teams to come from far and wide.

At its height, the national side was ranked fifth in the world,

but recently, they've fallen on hard times.

And in a crushing blow, they failed to qualify for Glasgow 2014.

For their coach, Margaret Matenga, it's all down to one thing.

I've had a problem for years

when I developed our players.

You get to that stage, and then they leave for education,

further education overseas.

And then they get into teams overseas and we miss out.

The Cook Islands have an unusual problem.

Its residents also hold New Zealand citizenship,

which means the players here can leave to join their national side.

But Margaret believes her team is turning a corner.

We've just played Singapore and they are a very good team,

we played them in a three-test series and we won the series.

So, that group, that team is the best we've had for a very long time.

But I've just noticed some talent at this tournament, so...

they might be added into the already strong team that we have.

With the chance to play for one of the biggest teams in the world

just a short flight away, hanging onto its players will always

be a problem for the Cook Islands.

It's not easy, but if coaches like Margaret can convince them to stay,

then there's a very good chance this team will make it to the next

Commonwealth Games in 2018.

But the Cook Islands isn't the only

small nation with big aspirations.

CHEERING

-Welcome to Tonga.

-CHEERING

One heart, one love, everywhere!

CHEERING

And if there's one sport that's captured this nation's heart,

it's boxing.

Boxing is the ultimate sport in Tonga.

That's where we get our medals.

Tonga won two bronze medals in the last Commonwealth Games.

An incredible achievement for a nation with just one boxing ring.

And Mark has come to see how the next generation

are preparing for this year's Games.

Boom-boom.

Osika Finau is Tonga's big hope for the Commonwealth Games this year.

Where do you normally train? What's the facilities?

Here. You're looking at the facilities

and where we train.

So, we just have our punching bag

and then our skipping ropes,

gloves, and for weights, we use push-ups.

For Sione, Osika's coach and father,

Tonga's poor facilities are holding its future champions back.

As far as facilities, easy answer.

There is no facility for boxing in Tonga.

Look at our ring - it is five years old

and it has been outside all those five years.

Despite this, Tonga continues to produce champions.

At 22, Osika is just starting his boxing career,

but he has already developed his own distinctive style.

-OK.

-No kicking!

LAUGHTER

He's laughing.

I think that the personality of a Tongan contributes to

their interest in boxing.

Being a man, you should be tough,

you should never back off from a fight.

I think that's the key issue that makes a Tongan unique.

It's the heart.

LAUGHTER

You see...what I mean? It's hard for you to punch the man.

Yeah, he's moving too fast!

LAUGHTER

In me, the first time I stand in the ring in every fight...

I feel a little bit scared, but once I get punched...

I have confidence.

I'm really all about going forward, never going back.

When we were in New Zealand, they say...

boxers eat - I don't know - maybe six or seven times a day,

when they train. But here in Tonga, I eat only once a day

and that's late in the night-time,

-cos we are very poor, we don't have the money for everything.

-Yeah.

But it doesn't matter what you have.

What matters to me is what I know I can do.

They have two arms, two legs, one heart. I have the same.

But there's something else that the sport gives young men like Osika.

Street violence, often between rival schools,

is a serious problem in Tonga.

Is there a lot of fighting? And is boxing a good way to teach

people not to fight, because you are disciplined?

Yeah, uh... Is this your first time here in Tonga?

-Yeah, first time.

-Then you haven't heard.

If you were here longer, then you'd maybe never ask me that question.

Cos, like, boys from our school and boys from other schools -

they meet up and they fight in the streets

and it's like a big thing here.

I was in a school that used to fight like that.

But now, I've been trained to box and stuff...

I see that it's really childish

and boxing helps you to discipline yourself.

Discipline is what's helping these young men.

And it's what Osika hopes will help him go all the way

in Glasgow this summer.

From Tonga, the baton travels east,

to the tiny island nation of Niue.

And today is sports' day.

HE EXHALES

I think we got bronze!

This is Niue's national stadium, which is also the high school,

the high school ground.

It might look like a small sports' day,

but I've counted about 150 people here, which is about

a tenth of the population -

this is the Commonwealth's least populated territory.

RUN!

THEY ALL SHOUT

Home to 1,500 people, the island of Niue is a remote, coral atoll,

just 11 miles wide.

It might be small, but Niue is a keen sporting nation,

with athletes who aren't afraid to dream big.

My dream is to maybe get a gold medal, or a silver medal!

At least a medal in the Commonwealth Games and, yeah...

But most of the games played here

won't be found in Glasgow this summer.

This is sport Niue-style.

We use what we have, which is

our culture, and we have to keep our culture.

Every sports' day we have, we have to have

some tabloid, some cultural sports,

so it's always balanced with the other sports as well.

What does tabloid sport mean?

Tabloid means, you know, those local sports...

like weaving baskets,

husking coconuts.

And there are other sports as well, like sika throwing.

It's so enjoyable.

Sika throwing is an ancient sport on the island.

The aim isn't to get the pole to stick in the ground,

but to slide along the field.

If it slides smoothly on the field, it shows good luck.

But if it goes in land and makes a point like a javelin, I'm not saying

something bad is going to happen, but it might turn out that way.

So, time for Mark to test his luck.

THEY JEER AND LAUGH

Disaster!

But these sports aren't the only traditions being kept alive on Niue.

On the rocky beaches around the island...

..something sinister is rising out of the water.

Niue is home to the largest land-living arthropod in the world.

The coconut crab.

Living in the island's dense jungle,

these giants can grow up to a metre long

and their powerful claws can lift

the weight of a small child.

But despite their fearsome appearance,

these huge creatures are considered a delicacy on the island.

And intrepid hunters like Willie Sanateli

know exactly where to find them.

-No more road.

-No more road, mate,

we've got to work our way through the jungle now.

Where are we going?

When I was young, my father and my mother used to bring me out here,

and they showed me how to go about doing all the baiting,

that sort of stuff.

And they showed me all the favourite spots.

I'm just carrying on the family tradition.

The crabs are found all over the South Pacific,

but in other countries, have been hunted to near extinction.

Thanks to its small population,

there are still plenty of crabs in Niue,

and Willie's keen to keep it that way.

What size of crabs are the right ones to take?

The legal size is 36mm across the back of the shell.

And to me, that's way too small.

Why's it important to you only to catch the right size?

The thing is, you've got to look at the future.

What is there for your kids?

And if you don't look after the land, with all these coconut crabs

around, there's nothing there for my kids to enjoy in years to come.

That's the most important thing.

I'm guessing that's what happened to a lot of the rest of...

That's why the other Pacific Islands don't have any any more. Yeah.

But in order to catch them, Willie first needs to lay the bait.

And perhaps unsurprisingly, when it comes to coconut crabs,

the best thing to use is a coconut.

Right, mate, this one here.

This is the sort of coconut we're after.

Give it a shake. Hear the liquid in there?

-Yeah, you can hear it.

-Yep, that's a good one.

That's one of the ones we're going to cut up for our bait.

The plan is simple.

Attracted by the smell of the coconut, the crabs come out at night

and try to rip it open to get at the flesh inside.

The idea is to catch them in the act.

-A bit more work and then we'll come back tomorrow night?

-Yeah.

It's wonderfully spooky out here.

It looks nothing like it did during the day.

You can hear the rain dripping through the leaves above

and just limbs everywhere.

And I'm just thinking, these big crabs, if they can cut through

coconuts easily, then I'll need to watch my fingers.

Right. See if we can find any.

Don't want to get lost out here.

Hang on, there's one in the hole.

There's one here.

-Oh...

-When it's only a small one, that is legal.

The size thing I was telling you about - 35mm.

That's too small, in my eyes.

-Do you want to have a go at holding it?

-Sure.

Stick it...

Yep. That's it.

Make sure your thumb's back a little bit,

cos those two claws are going to come right around. That's it.

Even they're sharp.

Let go. Let go.

I don't want your finger getting nipped, bro.

-But even the other ones are sharp.

-They are. They are.

It's an amazing thing to still have on Niue, isn't it?

We're very lucky, man.

But to protect these is the most important thing, you know?

In the past,

these crabs have provided a valuable source of food on the island,

and hunting them is an ancient tradition.

But keeping this tradition alive will rely on the passion

and dedication of people like Willie Sanateli.

Halfway between Australia and New Zealand

lies the next stop on the relay - Norfolk Island.

The Queen's baton has arrived in the Norfolk Island for just 24 hours,

and what an amazing view from the high point!

It is just five miles by three miles and I can see the entire coastline.

And it's a huge change of scenery from anything else in the Pacific.

With just over 2,000 inhabitants,

the island's population isn't much larger than Niue's.

Its proximity to Australia

and New Zealand makes this a popular retirement destination.

And its residents have a particular fondness for one sport.

But this isn't your typical lawn bowls club.

Despite the island's size, this team is a surprisingly strong

contender for a medal in Glasgow this year.

We've been lucky enough to be

playing in the Commonwealth Games

since 1990, and it's just the opportunity to...

participate against the best in the world,

which has increased the prestige of the club

and the calibre of the players in the club.

But for the players, it's not all about winning.

From what I've seen, it always looks like a very sociable sport.

It's very social and if we weren't on camera,

we'd have a beer on the bench behind us.

We can do that.

Grab a ball, any ball, and see how you go.

-And you don't need any run up?

-No, you don't need a run up.

It's not bobsleigh.

HE WHISTLES

And that was really good weight, as we call it.

-Because you finished level with the jack.

-Yeah.

-Do you think I'm ready for a bit of competition?

-Why not?

-We'll get the boys in and we'll have a game.

-OK.

-OK, boys?

-Oh, it didn't curl in!

-He's looking good, this guy. He's doing well.

Oh, he held on to it and it went bump, bump, bump!

My golly. He needs a bit more green, that's all.

Argh!

With plenty of practice, the team is now

focusing on the Games in Glasgow, just six months away.

We are really looking forward to it, you know,

we are just getting into our training regime now.

We've got some good players,

they're a team that really support each other.

We are quietly confident that we'll do really well.

But for Mark, it'll be a while before

he finds similar success on the bowling green.

Great shot! Great shot.

Over 80 days, the baton relay

has clocked up almost 60,000 miles.

And after a short stop in Vanuatu,

it continues on to

its final destination on this leg

of the journey, and the first country

in a whole new continent.

Sierra Leone.

After the peaceful

and sparsely populated islands of the Pacific, the energy and

bustle of a big city like Freetown makes for a striking contrast.

From here, the pace of the baton's journey steps up a notch.

Sierra Leone is a Commonwealth Games regular,

taking part in ten Games

over the past 56 years.

I am totally happy,

because this is the first time of journey in this kind of relay.

It is a country where 40% of the population is under 14 years old

and where one teenager has become the symbol of

a new generation that is harnessing technology

to change the world around them.

All right, this is DJ Focus, passing through...

From the workshop at his school in Freetown, Kelvin Doe

broadcasts across the city, and via the internet, across the world.

-Do you have a DJ name?

-Yeah, DJ Focus.

-DJ Focus.

-And everyone knows who DJ Focus is?

-Everybody, everybody.

-How old are you now?

-I'm 17.

So, you're 17, you've got your own radio station that you can

speak to the whole of Sierra Leone?

-Yeah.

-What do you talk about?

I wanted to motivate young people,

I wanted to be an example to young people,

mostly in Sierra Leone and also the world.

So, I normally use the station to advise young people,

talking to young people here.

In 2012, Kelvin became an internet sensation

when a video about him went viral.

It told the story of how he won a national competition called

Innovate Salone, which inspires kids to use technology

to solve problems in their community.

His idea was to give young people in the city a voice.

I take some of the component from the musical set,

and then decided to build my own station.

So, for the first time, I went to tell my elder brother

that I wanted to build my own FM radio station.

He just laughed at me,

so I went inside our living room to tune the old radio, and I told

my elder brother to climb up the roof of our house

to fix up the antenna.

And a few minutes later, my station was on.

With his home-made FM transmitter,

Kelvin is now catching the attention of young people across the country.

Every day, when you go on TV,

you see Kelvin being interviewed by journalists,

you listen to the radio, you hear about Kelvin.

So, each and every one of them wants to be like Kelvin.

And Kelvin's overnight fame seems to be having an effect.

His story has already inspired other young people

to compete in this year's Innovate Salone challenge

and find new ways to solve old problems.

Because we all have the passion to help others, to do things

not because of ourselves, but for others, so that everyone

can enjoy, can benefit from what we also have benefited from.

Building things, you can help build a nation.

So, with innovation, we can all do things faster and also,

make the world a better place.

Kelvin's story shows that with access to some basic technology,

and a little know-how, it's possible to inspire a nation.

Now, the Innovate Salone model

is being rolled out across the continent.

By empowering young people all over Africa, projects like

Innovate Salone have the potential

to provide a new generation with the knowledge

and the tools to change lives around the world.

Join Mark next time, as the baton

continues its journey through

the 18 Commonwealth nations of Africa.

A continent of wide-open landscapes

and vast populations,

where athletes are gearing up for Glasgow 2014...

That is seriously fast!

..in some of the most vibrant and dynamic nations on the planet.

All united by the Queen's Baton Relay.