that's the vision behind the plan to create a pan-asian rail link. and it's not new, but when the first lines were connected half a century ago, the project was soon stopped in its tracks, partly by war and partly as a result of the borders born out of these conflicts. but now there's a new bid to connect some 117,000 kilometers of railway lines. once completed trains could travel from turkey to singapore. but several vital connections are still missing. so now cambodia's modest railway line is getting a second lease of life. by 2013 the country wants to reconnect to its neighbor thailand. it's a huge investment in the future. in a country where these days the choice is between tuc tuc and four wheel drive, the return of the railways would be a real alternative. and it would help cut co2 emissions.

it may not yet look like it yet, but this spot will soon be home to a trans-asian railway. for now, the so-called "bamboo train" is running: an improvised vehicle made of steel and bamboo, powered by small motors. villagers use them as taxis or to transport goods. these tracks use to connect cambodia with neighboring thailand, all the way to bangkok. now, the tracks end here, 50 kilometers before the thai border. no one knows what happened to the tracks. they vanished during the wars of the 1960s and 70s. at the border crossing poipet, large trucks carry goods between thailand, cambodia and vietnam on congested roads. that's supposed to change. this is the poipet railway station. it's been dormant for years, serving mostly as a home for

slum-dwellers. but soon it will be renovate. we were allowed to live here, says this woman, but now we have to leave. we've been promised land in return. the train station in the capitol phnom penh is already renovated -- art deco architecture from the french colonial period. still, passenger trains don't run here anymore. yet, there's a feeling of optimism. a new locomotive is being tested. it's a chinese model -- a gift from beijing. the tracks out of phnom penh go through a giant slum. many people live on the tracks. the cambodian railway was privatized in 2009. an australian concern received a concession for 30 years-and reconstruction began with the help of international financing. the men are doing a good job, says the australian engineer. they can improvise -- they got

used to doing that in the past. sometimes former managers visit. em leang was head of maintenance before he retired. he's thrilled about the new developments. before, we had nothing, he says, no replacement parts, no equipment, no money. every locomotive's location can be tracked by gps. sovannaphuong tang is a ticket inspector. until two years ago, she was an aerobics instructor. she's proud of her new job. with the computer system i always know exactly where a train is. 120 kilometers of track are already in service.

the railway is undergoing a renaissance in much of southeast asia. cambodia is the weakest link in a plan to connect singapore with china specialists have come from india. the tropical temperatures are nothing new to them, says this man. but the tracks suffer in the heat. the air may be 46 degrees centigrade, but the tracks are 55 degrees. china is especially interested in a train network to southeast asia. there are many options for a singapore-china connection, says the australian project leader. one of them is through cambodia, from thailand to hanoi, vietnam. kunming in china. sunday morning, a train carrying cement rolls out of phnom phen.

ticket inspector sovanaphuong tang accompanies us. again the train makes its way through the slum. people living there aren't used to it, but that's changing. as yet, there are no safety gates at the railway crossings. a worker disembarks to stop traffic. the railway connection to thailand is expected to be completed by 2013. a new one to vietnam is planned, paid for by china. china is a driving force in south east asia's railway boom. beijing plans to build additional railway lines for its neighbors in the south to increase economic cooperation. the conductor is excited about the progress. before, he says, he could only drive 3 or 4 kilometers per hour; 20 at the most. now he's going 30. possible some day to take the train all the way from singapore

to scotland. but that's still a way off. cambodia's railway system, which has long symbolized the country's poverty, is now a symbol of hope. >> we use all forms of travel to see how you, our viewers live. and today we pay a visit to the ramirezes in guatemala. >> hello, come in. i'll show you my living room. this is where we live, it's a little shabby, but that's how it is.

this area is for my wife and me. this is my son deldy. a computer is important for kids these days. here he can practice. the school requires it as well. for me this picture represents the love in the family. take my heart and carry it in yours. that goes for me and my son and the whole family.

>> we painted everything pink because i love colors. and i like pink the best. this is money from nicaragua. a man who was on his way to the us left it here for me. a lot of immigrants pass through here, and we help them. they can't do much with the money where they're headed. so they leave it here. it's a reminder of a friend. this is a canopy we use to cover the bed.

in the winter it protects against malaria, so we leave it this way all night. >> i think this house is very pretty, with its tiny door and windows. it's a dream, maybe some day.... as they say: nothing is impossible. bye, have a good trip. come back again soon! >> camels are among the most tenacious creatures on the planet. they can walk for days without food or water. ideal qualities to survive droughts. and that's why farmers in kenya are beginning to re-think the way they breed animals. the dry seasons are getting

longer and water is becoming scarcer -- tough times for cattle, who need regular access to water. four hours' drive north of nairobi, dairy products are a vital element of the traditional diet. with cattle herds dwindling ngos are now teaching women how to breed camels. >> we're here at the source of kenya's ecret treasure: camel's milk. a camel produces roughly four liters of milk per day, and its rapidly becoming the hope of a drought-stricken region. donkeys carry the milk to collection points; from there it's taken by pick-up truck to the city. but where does it end up the city is called isiolo, a

four-hour drive north of the kenyan capitol nairobi. they drink camel's milk here, because there's not enough food for cows. this area used to experience drought every five years, now it's every year-a consequence of climate change. the camels were the brainchild of morgan siloma of the aid organization snv. better camel husbandry, could mean less hunger for the people. he's already convinced these milk wholesalers. they agree that hygiene has improved. adan has begun using a cloth to filter the wood charcoal out of the milk. it's an improvement on a traditional method of pasteurizing and preserving the milk. his efforts have paid off. >> when i started i got 20 kenyan shillings per liter- now its 80.

>> the milk is popular, especially in nairobi. the price has gone up because of high demand. one day later. this bus is headed to nairobi. unfiltered camel's milk isn't allowed on board. enforcing that rule is this woman's job. she is from the "anolei women", a cooperative founded three years ago by the wives of camel owners. their husbands are sometimes a bit sloppy with their milking. the women's' goal is ensuring hygiene from the source to the buyer -its a strategy that has expanded the customer base. and in nairobi, their reputation for high standards is well known. in this way the women of the camel milk cooperative are also earning more .the group has grown to 60 members and they're saving up for a truck and a shared dairy. but there are new worries.

>> business is good. but for two years our neighborhood has been unsafe. people from other places are robbing our grazing grounds, killing our herdsmen and stealing our camels. climate change brought drought, and with it tribal feuds over grazing land. the herders in isiolo will only drive out to their camels with armed protection. 60 km out, it's not safe. even we can't go here without a security detail. shepherds, many of them still children, wander about with their herds. their lives as herders seem pre- destined. they don't attend school. muhamud is one example. he began shepherding when he was 10 years old. now he's 45. his camels' milk goes to nairobi. but he doesn't want to follow it.

i don't know anything about city life. how am i supposed to survive there? out here i have everything, i'm used to nature. and there's always something to eat. the camels are one way to overcome the drought. but whoever doesn't have camels, needs food for the cows -- virtually impossible without farming. in ondonyiro, far off the beaten track, farming was an unknown word until quite recently. the samburus believe that god provides food for cows: it either grows or it doesn't; now these children are learning that food can be planted. hunger is preventable. their mothers show them how. they learned from dutch aid workers who taught them to plant fast-growing grass. today they are harvesting for the first time in their lives.

this project makes us hopeful. during a drought we usually can't do anything. but now we are grow our own food, feed our cattle, earn something, and we can send our kids to school. >> whoever plants will harvest, that's the logic behind the project. and it's promoting peace in northern kenya. camels are a promising sign of what the future may hold. but back to the present. a german dairy, with german hygiene. dairy director holger marbach was a development worker for 15 years. siloma morgan admires marbach, who is already supplying milk to major supermarkets. isiolo still has a ways to go before it will be producing camel's milk that's up to european drinking standards. but you can do a lot more with camel's milk than just drink it. we've just started delivering a new product.

we're bringing our malaike healing cream into supermarkets. we could use your camel milk for that, and your people could sell a lot more. the medicinal properties of camel's milk make it especially valuable. the women of the camel milk cooperative will be pleased at a chance for new profits. eastleigh, nairobi. the bus with the camel milk has arrived at this somali slum, nicknamed "little mogadishu." this is where the trail goes cold on the hunt for camel's milk. even aid organizations have little idea where it ends up. it's sold in the blink of an eye. it seems the road to a hygienic product, suitable for export, will be a long and bumpy one. berlinda mkangawi is part of a l

young woman. she is part of a new generation of entrepreneurs in her native zimbabwe. a year ago she accepted the opportunity of a life-time when the kofi-annan-foundation offered her a chance to study business administration here in berlin. not an easy choice to make for the mother-of three. when she returns home she hopes her new skills will allow her to make a real difference in the family business. we followed berlinda throughout her studies and hear about the risks and opportunities as she sees them. >> it may be graduation, but there's one more thing to learn: the final photo shoot. berlinda is skeptical at first, but in the end she's satisfied with her result. the working mother arrived in berlin a year ago.

berlinda was still brand new in the city when she attended a soccer match at the university in the spring. she was one of 38 international students in a one year masters program. her goal was an international economics degree for business leaders. it's berlinda's 35th birthday. her three children in zimbabwe congratulate her over the phone. >> no, it's been a good day! >> it hasn't been an easy time without her family. on the one hand it's really cool, because i've got people who have been really sweet to me today, but moments like this, i -- i miss home! the private institution is located in a former east german state council building in berlin's mitte neighborhood. after four months of basic business management principles she receives her first strategy

assignments. the group simulates a scenario in which a high quality computer manufacturer wants to expand. purchasing, production and delivery must all be organized to maximize profit. >> it is still a game, but what's nice about it is -- testing -- i have actually worked in a manufacturing plant before, so it is also testing a few theories of my own. >> the team promptly gets tripped up by the complex financial data. and the task must be completed in a certain amount of time. visiting professor francis bidault from france has seen this situation before. one small detail is missing and the budding economists are

already succumbing to time and financial pressures. >> the problem is, they have to ship products to themselves into another region. but when you ship these products, you cannot donate because otherwise you would be cheating the tax. >> it's hectic, but it also mirrors reality. what's required at this stage of study is strategic thinking in operational planning. >> we still need to make some sense of them. but (laughs), there is some adventures. >> but you are not fired? >> well, we need to make some serious new decisions. yes! >> on saturdays berlinda always makes time to visit the adventist community. among the congregation are other people from zimbabwe.

at these weekly meetings, berlinda quickly made contacts with other christians. oh, i don't know. i can't put it into words. but i know it is what keeps me sane. it is so easy to carve up -- to get caught up in the everyday things, etc., and this makes me reevaluate who i am and what i'm doing here. >> it's autumn now and berlinda already has an internship in the us behind her. she's less shy than she was at the beginning. she likes the cosmopolitan atmosphere of berlin and enjoys browsing through the art market. she's working on her thesis with a russian friend anna. in the second half of their training, the business students learn leadership skills. >> there must be something that makes you worth knowing.

and i think that's what got me here and i realized that i'd like to be the best me that i can. i think my hope is that it becomes what everybody wants. i think i would like for every z. , every african to aim to be worth knowing. >> more than 300 days of intensive studying in berlin have paid off. her mother and father have traveled from zimbabwe to celebrate her graduation. a little bit of sight-seeing before the big day. >> i feel unreal.

actually, i feel so many things that i do not know what i feel. i'm excited, i'm sad, i'm excited. [laughter] yes, but all of these feelings are good ones. >> they will be the future international business leaders in their home countries. berlinda and her classmates have each earned a master of business administration. >> it is this sense of responsibility deep within yourself that will take -- drive your teammates to do their best with you and grow with you. >> they have nearly 1000 hours of classroom training in business management and finance. berlinda has the honor of giving the traditional commencement speech. >> although we finish a journey today, the bigger journey that

this one forms part of waits for us tomorrow. and i wish each and every single one of us much joy and fulfillment, as we follow it! thank you. >> they have the tools they need now. it's time for them to take responsibility, to lead a business or modernize its operations. berlinda will work in her husband's firm. she'll help with the expansion, hire additional employees and work on improving the company's international network. >> i don't know about you, but i certainly feel inspired by these graduates. and that's all we have time for on this edition of global 3000. thanks for watching and we hope you'll tune in again the same time next week. until then, bye-bye. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--