大象传媒

The physical wounds of war are obvious. But what about the mental scars left by violent conflict? No-one knows them better than the Syrian psychiatrist Dr Roula. She was the first woman director of Aleppo's state run psychiatric hospital - a job she took up in her mid thirties before the fighting broke out.

Wu Yuchu has a passion for yaks. He's even set up a museum dedicated to them. Wu Yuchu was born in Jiangxi Province in the East of China, but after he graduated he was sent to work in Tibet, where yaks are traditionally used as beasts of burden. They have shaggy hair, humped shoulders, huge horns and weigh up to half a ton.Through an interpreter, Wu Yuchu told Matthew Bannister how his fascination with Yaks began.

One of the most famous escapologists of all time was Harry Houdini. He was born in Hungary, but made his name in the United States by escaping from the most dangerous and death-defying situations. Now he's inspired another Hungarian to take on even more astonishing stunts. Outlook's Saskia Edwards has been to meet him.

Marina Vaz collects human voices. She runs a project called Soulvox in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo. It helps people who have lost their ability to speak through injury or illness to talk again. It can transform a patient's quality of life. Marina came up with the idea of after seeing her father gradually lose his ability to speak due to cancer.

Image: Man sitting on a step in Aleppo, Syria
Credit: JIM LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images