>> hello and welcome to "global 3000." unaccompanied children are desperate to find a better future in the land of the free. in a moment we'll hear from those who take this journey -- and here's what's coming up. fleeing hondurans -- leave home for an uncertain future. magical trees -- what scientists are hoping to find in kenya's forests. and running on empty -- how california is dealing with a historic drought. given the choice between joining

a gang that forces members to commit murder or fleeing your hometown -- what would you do? more and more children from central america are among the steady stream of people heading north in the hope of finding a better, safer life. their dream destination is the united state of america. many come from honduras or guatemala -- and most enter the u.s. via mexico. even those that do make it to the land of their dreams find they are far from their dream. >> this billboard in rio bravo on the mexican border is advertising adventure in the united states. ironically, while we're filming, we spot some young men making a run for it. attempting to flee to the us, in broad daylight. there are border guards here -- but security is not as tight as

it is in areas further west. that's why neuvo laredo, where the border is porous, has become a popular place for those attempting to get to the u.s. not far from where we were filming, we spotted a young boy who may have been trying to cross the border. the number of children who attempt to flee alone is growing. when we approach him, he lies out of fear and says he's 19 when in fact he's just 17 years old. his name in marco and he comes from honduras. he tells us that he left home three months ago and that he's been on his own ever since. it's a dangerous journey. spending days on end on the freight train is exhausting, not to mention filthy. women get raped or kidnapped by gangs. one man was pushed from the roof of the train -- he must have died. another fell onto the tracks -- he lost a leg when the train passed. >> marco boarded the infamous "la bestia" train close to the frontier with guatemala. it goes all the way through

mexico and ends up here, at nuevo laredo. >> i'm unhappy. i miss my family and i think of them often. here i work as a laborer so that i can afford to eat. i have to make it to the u.s. i want to earn money there to help my family in honduras. >> for many others, that dream has already been crushed. those caught trying to enter the u.s. are brought to detention centers. some have to wait months before they can return home. >> i fled from the killer-gangs in honduras. the maras wanted me to join and become like them. i didn't want to, so they threatened to kill me. >> children often have their money, documents or mobile phones stolen along the way. >> my parents have no idea where i am. they can't look for me because

they don't have enough money. they don't even know where to start asking around because i couldn't tell them what route i was taking. >> jose was also on the notorious mexican migrants' train where he had a terrible accident. he slipped between the railway cars which caused him to lose both an arm and a leg -- his other hand was crushed. he owes his life to a passer-by who brought him to a hospital. >> i had a girlfriend and played guitar and soccer before being sent back. i left under the illusion that i could support my family in the future but when i returned i was a burden to them. >> these days, jose urges young people to stay in honduras, despite the dangers. but many do not wish to remain there. we're now in san pedro sula, in honduras, known as the most

violent city in latin america. there are four murders here each day -- not to mention kidnappings, extortion and robberies. as a result, people are leaving in droves. in some areas, rival mara gangs have ransacked buildings. we can only enter with police protection. the mayor here has chosen to depict what he sees as the "good life" in san pedro sula. >> people talk everything down. there are some problems in honduras, including in san pedro sula. but it's in no way extreme. otherwise we wouldn't be here. >> we get a personal glimpse of just how "extreme" the situation

is when we meet four members of a mara gang. despite having wreaked terror in the area, the four boys, aged between 15 and 18, are shy and willing to talk because they want out of the gang. they're don't conform to our expectations of how gang members should look and act. deaths are part of daily life here, as are shootings and people trying to flee. you always have to look out for your own survival. mara gangs control certain areas -- they make their money and push back other robbers. other maras are only interested in quick money. they threaten people in the area to make them pay up. people who can't pay up have no choice but to escape, despite the risks. after all, it's the lesser evil. the prospect of a better life in the u.s. is also too promising to forgo. everyday those caught trying to cross the border are put on buses to begin the journey home. many of them have racked up huge amounts of debt and have lost

their homes. they're often afraid to return to their villages. many of these people will try to flee to the u.s. once again despite the many dangers they will face. >> more than 50 million people are currently on the move, trying to escape conflict, persecution or economic conditions they find unbearable. next week we will dedicate the entire program to the reasons that lie behind the mass migration we are seeing today. we talk to people who have made the tough decision to leave everything behind about their experiences during the treacherous journey as well as their hopes and dreams for a better future. a development aid supposed to improve things in regions where people would otherwise take the risks. but far too often, simply transferring funds from richer nations to poorer ones is considered an adequate solution. abhijit banerjee thinks that's a mistake.

we caught up with him where he is currently a guest professor at the university of kiel... >> this is the baltic sea. boats are moored in the harbor near the upscale kiel yacht club. abhijit banerjee of india, is familiar with the world of the well-off. he has a ph.d from harvard and teaches today at the elite university m.i.t. he was born in calcutta, into a very different life. >> it happened to be after my grandfather build his house that the area became a large slum. and so i played with kids who had a very different background. i mean they lived next doors so i've played with them and i often felt like, you know, they had a better life because they didn't have to go to school. >> the issue of poverty continues to influence his life.

at the kiel institute for the world economy he is presenting his work. after long research projects in asia and africa, banerjee says there's no quick fix for fighting poverty, because economic conditions are different in every region. >> we say it's poverty and throw money at it. we don't take it seriously as a specific problem that has a specific solution. so i think that maybe in asia and africa we have the same problem we have the same answer. but often the problems are different and therefore they have different answers. >> the head of the kiel institute for the world economy values his work. it allows policymakers to base decisions on data gathered in research in randomly selected communities rather than simply relying on gut feelings. >> a serious attempt is actually being made to figure out what policy measures work and what don't. in medicine there are trials, randomized trials, to inquire which medication work and this is an attempt to turn economic policy making more into something that resembles

medicine. >> in comparing rich countries like germany to poorer ones, banerjee has repeatedly discovered that people's needs really don't vary all that much. take for example the desire for entertainment. he once observed a man in morocco who was clearly suffering from hunger but spent what little money he had on a television. >> i said to him you have a tv. how it come you have tv if you don't have enough food. and he was quite straight forward. he wasn't fostering. he said -- you know sometimes television is more important than food. banerjee also likes to pepper his lectures with personal anecdotes. he tells students that development aid is a process limited to small steps. >> so each put in 10 dollars every week. he says relief programs always need to be monitored and updated.

he's even advising the united nations to revise their list of development goals. banerjee says it's far too long. >> what they have come up with the idea of 169 targets. i think it's self-defeating. nobody is going to say -- we go and tell the country you have to meet 169 goals we don't have the time to measure them or to achieve them. this don't wanna happen. i think somewhere the process has to give and we have to go down to thirty or i think this whole thing is going to become pointless. >> his lectures are popular with the students. >> they are very innovative and he gets his point across well. you notice that he's really interested in the subject. >> he's encouraged me to take a new approach to these issues, be more precise about the data, and have a more objective perspective. >> various philosophies are shared, even during the break. >> ghandi told us to buy things that were made in our countries. >> banerjee's time in germany has come to an end but the discussion on how to fight world

poverty is long from over. >> when it comes to medical care patients in poorer countries rarely have access to effective medication. but lack of money is only part of the reason why the populations in large parts of africa for instance mainly rely on traditional healers. this has proved fatal during the current ebola outbreak. but many of the plants used by traditional healers are of great interest to pharmaceutical companies. the muiri tree grows in kenya and it is one of the super stars of herbal medicine. it could even hold the key to treating some cancers. but researchers are struggling to unlock its potential in time as the tree faces extinction. >> the lives of dorothy and mary couldn't be more different. one is used to life in the city,

the other in the village. but they're connected by their commitment to this tree. people here call it muiri, but it's official name is prunus africana. its bark is used to make medicine for many illnesses, but primarily prostate cancer. >> working with a species that is used for cancer treatment interests me. i lost my sister to breast cancer and my mother died of uterine cancer. that's why i have an interest in cancer. >> dorothy studies biochemistry in the kenyan capital, nairobi. for her master's thesis, she studying the bark of prunus africana, investigating the uses of its components for treating cancer.

she wants to find out if there is a difference between trees that grow in the wild and those in an experimental nursery. many men could profit from her work. more than half of all men over 60 have prostate trouble. about 100 kilometers from nairobi, we accompany mary nyambura on a walk in the aberdare mountains. the retired school teacher explains how the forest has changed over the last 20 years, becoming less dense due to a lack of rain. this has affected the growth of muiri trees. they're becoming a rare species here. mary says that sometimes you have to walk for several kilometers before you even encounter one. she does what she can to help save the trees... the forest to find seedlings. when the seeds fall down and

sprout, then i pick them and plant them. >> this takes place in her own small nursery, which mary has been operating for ten years. she earns about eight euros a month selling the trees. she's saving the money to pay for her children's education. the muiri tree only grows at higher altitudes, above 1500 meters. people who live in the highlands need the wood to cook and build. they also sell it at market. they also gain farmland by clearing out the trees. but without the tree roots to hold it, the valuable soil is washed away in the rainy season. the prunus africana is on the endangered species list. and not just because of clear cutting. many trees die because too much of their bark has been removed. james kimani njuguna goes into the forest daily.

he knows how to harvest the bark without hurting the trees. dorothy also profits from the natural healer's knowledge. >> this tree won't die because i've only taken the bark from one side. otherwise, it would dry out. >> james treats people from all over the region in his natural healing practice. the knowledge about the muiri tree has been passed down in his family over generations. scientists are now also benefitting from it. >> it only uses water to get the effective ingredients out of the bark. we use different solvents -- in addition to water, we use oils. that way we can filter out a larger number of ingredients. >> back in mary's village, she

gets a visit from a member of the kenyan environmental group the green belt movement. the organization supports mary in setting up her nurseries. it is also one of the main consumers of young trees. their aim is -- together with village residents -- is reforestation. the green belt movement has been promoting native species such as the muiri tree for nearly forty years. >> you'd never find apes or other animals in exotic trees. you only find them on native trees. that's why we're promoting these species, to restore biodiversity. >> it's taken 17 years for trees at this test plantation of the world agroforestry center to get this tall. dorothy and her colleagues are taking bark samples for their experiments. her research helps not only

medicine, but people in the countryside. >> when we find out that bark from the plantation and in the wild have the same components, then it's good for farmers. they can raise endangered trees on their private property. and when there's more growth in plantations, then the farmers can export the valuable bark to europe, where there's already a big market for medicinal plants. >> today it's time to plant mary's muiri trees that have been growing in her nursery for six months. together with people from the surrounding villages, mary wants to turn this meadow back into a forest. my wish and hope is to see this forest as big as it was 20 years

ago. it will take some time before the forest grows back to its former glory. it's not likely to happen during mary's time but she and the villagers will keep up their work nevertheless. california has suffered drought for three years in a row now -- a catastrophe for humans and nature. crops are failing, huge wildfires are raging, and food prices rising. while some people still want to argue whether this is the result of climate change or not, most are busy trying to conserve water and somehow survive in these dry conditions. the last drought in california lasted six years. now experts are worried about the toll this one will take on the depleting ground water levels. >> as you see, there's no water at all, no water. >> and there hasn't been for nearly seven months. angelica beltran can only wash

the dishes if there's enough water left in the canisters. to flush the toilet, her husband collects the condensation from the air-conditioning system. and their six-year-old daughter abigail has had to get used to the fact that this is the only way she can shower at home. the house where the family of four lives relies on a well in the yard. that's not unusual in this part of california. usually, the well provides enough water. but now it's dried up. >> there's moments that i'm in my room, just waiting for the day to end, like how long is this going to continue?" >> the beltrans are dependent on this pubilc pumping station, set up by the local fire department.

macario comes at least twice a week. in all, about 500 families are affected by the drought. >> living through a disaster in a big country like the united states, a leading nation, is pretty difficult. >> for a long time, donna johnson could not believe the living conditions of many people in her area. but she didn't just want to stand by and do nothing. so she began to collect donations. she now delivers drinking water to the needy several times a week. this 94-year-old woman cannot afford to have a well dug deeper in her back yard. donna's deliveries are vital to her. >> how're you doing?"

>> real good now tha water. >> word of donna's aid work has spread. in front of the elderly woman's house, she's stopped by a motorist who asks if she might be able to deliver water to her home. the water crisis has brought the community together, even though donna often finds it exhausting work. >> it's so important when anybody is down financially or otherwise for somebody to reach out and say you know, 'i care. i care and we're here.' and i think they found that a lot of people were her for them and i think it means an awful lot. but it's not just private households that are feeling the effect of the drought. porterville is located in the middle of the 700 kilometer long central valley, which provides a large amount of america's fruits and vegetables.

about 80% of the world's almonds are produced here. harvey bailey is a third generation fruit grower. he's never experienced a drought like this one. all the trees in his huge orange plantation have withered. the total damage mounts to almost some 400,000 dollars. often the only remedy is to bulldoze them. the orange plantation has become unsustainable because of the lack of wtaer. the trees that have been ripped out will soon be shredded. bailey drives through his property twice a day to check on whether any ground water is flowing into the wells. >> it'll probably be half to three quarters of this pipe full. we need this water to irrigate 40 acres. 20 acres of baby trees. >> all this here?" >> all this here and 20 acres of mature trees over there. >> and is that enough?" >> no. it'll maybe keep em alive. >> because canals and rivers

have dried up, there's only one solution for desperate farmers. in the golden state, people are drilling deep into the ground for liquid gold, not oil but water. for weeks, dennis rhodes has not been taking any new orders to drill wells. he already has a two-year waiting list. the groundwater is being tapped deeper and deeper. the level continues to sink. more and more wells are drying up. >> it's probably been the worst on the private households because a lot of people cannot afford to drill deeper wells. there's basically too many straws in the ground and everybody's racing to get deeper so they can keep their crops growing and make some type of profit off of their farming operation. >> the authorities do deliver water to some affected but without the help of volunteers

like donna johnson, it would be far too little for many families. some days, donna is on the road until late evening. the beltrans are one of the families she regularly supplies with fresh water. but ultimately help can come only from above, in the form of rain. they pray for it every night, like everyone in the valley. and that's all we have time for on this edition of global 3000. for more facts and analysis please check out our website. and remember -- we'll be back next week with our special program on global migration. until then, thanks for watching and bye bye. xnóx

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