>> hello. welcome to global 3000. life is full of challenges. sometimes we can change our circumstances. sometimes we can. but as success stories from around the world will show us today, the future belongs to those who embrace it. here's what's coming up. p>> dealing with climate change. new beginnings for farmers in kyrgyzstan. rethinking development aid. the poverty stoplight in paraguay. and lots of tourists means lots of trash will meet amsterdam's

plastic fissures. raised some uncomfortable questions in europe. what does the e.u. stand for, and what can it do for people? refugees are seeking a better life. one with dignity. but even within europe, there are no guarantees. exploitation and miserable working conditions constantly make headlines. the annual migration of harvest workers exposes the paradox between political discourse and harsh reality. p>> from a distance, it looks like a garbage dump. but at harvest time, it's home for up to 600 people. we were only allowed to film here in what's called the bulgarian ghetto, accompanied by trade union activists. otherwise, cameras are not welcome. some of the east european laborers brought their families along. the children play in the refuse. raffaele, a labor activist, tries to help day workers like mitko. he asks about their working conditions.

mitko is 22. it's his first time here as a harvest worker. he shows raffaele the communal toilet. it's just a hole in the ground. there's no door and it's dangerously unhygienic. p>> i didn't think it would be this bad, with all the garbage. p>> the trade union keeps trying to raise awareness of these conditions. but nothing has changed so far. he says he's worked as a day laborer in agriculture for five years. he earns four euros on hour, under the table. in bulgaria, he's get only one or two euros. he shows us where he and his wife sleep, here in this hut. there's no electricity or running water. despite the deplorable conditions here, people like mitko and rusev will probably return next year to work the harvest.

both the ghetto and the work is organized by a foreman or a caporale. he's the middle man between the workers and the farming companies. the caporale decides who works, where and when, and under what terms. he pockets part of the wages, as his fee. the laborers have very few rights. anyone who is sick and can't work doesn't get paid. p>> those who fill more crates, earn more. those who earn -- those who fill less, earn less. p>> italians have also been exploited like this for decades, for example, during the grape harvest. labor conditions have grown worse in the wake of the economic process. for employers, it's easier than ever to find cheap labor. during this very hot summer, there were three or four deaths in the fields, possibly from overexertion caused by conditions approaching slavery. p>> when we asked the day

laborers about their working conditions, no one says a thing. they're scared of losing their only source of income. if anyone finds out, they spoke to the prosecutors... p>> including this italian woman who wants to remain anonymous. she's been working as a grape picker for 25 years. she gets a temporary contract. but it's the caporale who decides when and where she works. her day begins at about 3 a.m. and then she usually spends hours getting to the farm. she's not told whether the grapes have been treated with pesticides and there are no protective measures. she says complaining is unthinkable. the caporale would fire her immediately. number who makes money for the caporale. i earn something too, but the caporale takes a piece of my

dignity. decent conditions should be a basic right, the union says. p>> we've long demanded that the e.u. tell consumers not just where products come from but who earns how much with them. p>> will this kind of ethical price tag ever become a reality? for harvest workers like mitko, it could be a first step toward escaping exploitation, receiving fair pay and having a decent place to live. p>> one life gives you lemons. make lemonade. okay. that might be a bit too simple to describe economic conditions in kyrgyzstan. the country has been struggling since its independence in 1991. a difficult geography, political turmoil and a weak economy is hindering development and it faces another problem, climate change. combining tradition and innovation is always a

challenge. but aid programs are using pressure ideas to create new income sources, making the future just a little bit sweeter. p>> the day begins with morning prayers. eleven children and 45 grandchildren have grown up in this house. it belongs to toktonali mametov, or aksakal, as the elder is respectfully known. p>> we live traditionally here for many generations now. we were all born in this house. our lives have changed a lot recently. ♪[music] p>> in the village of bashkendy, people are getting poorer every year. they've traditionally made a living from raising lye stock

and -- livestock and farming but their earnings have been steadily diminishing. although aksakal will soon turn 70, he's still fit enough to work and feed his family. but it keeps getting harder. p>> we have less and less water. that's a problem. there's a river nearby. it used to have so much water in it, you could barely cross it on horseback. but now the water barely reaches the horse's belly, even when the river is full. p>> there's no place like the tian shan mountains between kyrgyzstan and china. more than 55 00 plant species are native here. there are still gase yers and their -- glaciers and their water feeds rivers and gives life to the environment. but because the air is warming due to climate change, the glaciers are melting and landslides have become more frequent. what can be done?

aksakal has heard that people in the nearby region are working on living with climate change and not against it, that they know more about modern agriculture. since the collapse of the soviet union, that kind of knowledge has become rare in kyrgyzstan. p>> look! thousands of hectares of land. in soviet days, it belonged to a collective farm. it was closely monitored and cultivated. but now, hardly anyone understands a thing. that's why it's all rotting and dying. p>> but not everywhere. near a village called balykkchi, aksakal meets someone who has prospered, despite climate change. p>> with help from some foreign foundations, kanat zhantaev has managed to create a small oasis, in the midst of this rocky wasteland. he's planted an apricot grove, the only fruit that can survive

here. this year's crop has already been harvested and sold, entirely to russia. zhantaev likes passing on his experience to others. p>> apricots are a good idea. why waste your time and energy on crops that won't ripen here? i could do it too. all you need to know is where to get water. even apricots need that. p>> zhantaev uses meltwater from mountains. each young tree is irrigated individually. it's a system that helps bring life to the wasteland. kanat zhantaev proudly shows us his smallest trees. he hopes they too will soon bare fruit, here in the foothills of the tian shan mountains.

p>> i'm convinced that in this area, the only crops that make sense are crops that are economically useful. plants that can help solve problems. only those kinds of projects have a future here. for many, many years. p>> but most people here don't know how to join these kinds of projects. international organizations like the german agency for international cooperation, the g.i.z., are providing help. not far away, the agency is training farmers with workshops and seminars. these are play money, says maksat minazarov, a trainer who has traveled here from the capital, bishkek. today's topic is how to respond

to major weather shifts. for example, when heavy rain follows a dry spell. they take part in a role-playing game, as livestock farmers and bookkeepers. they're learning how to deal with climate change instead of watching helplessly. p>> we're learning things here for life, how to save, how to run things. how to feed and care for your animals. p>> we have to learn how to run our farms ourselves, including handling losses and being less dependent on the weather. p>> in this game, the farmers learn how to prepare and how to respond quickly if need be. they find their own solutions. one wants to save money. another wants to invest, for example, in new animals. in the end, we see who is most successful and we learn from that.

p>> back in bashkendy, the villages also want to learn how to deal with the choojs of the -- the challenges of the future. p>> kyrgyzstan is the most beautiful country on earth. we have both sun and snow. snow-covered mountains. but the two don't go well together. the warmer the sun is, the less snow there is for us. so we have to change our lives, find new ways to survive. p>> they have no other choice. but change might also bring a new beginning. p>> kyrgyzstan isn't only mountains and farming. far away from the fields, there's a very different side to the country. the financial and political capital, bishkek, has become a sparkling metropolis with more than 900,000 inhabitants.

as part of the "i am millenium," we met one of them, 15-year-old sezim. p>> i am 15. p>> i am millennium. michael jackson. he's my idol. i love "man in the mirror." i also like r&b, hip-hop and rock. ♪[music] p>> hi. my name is sezim. i go to secondary school, number 68.

i live in bishkek. and i love my city and my country! i'm proud of myself, that i can study in this school. i love studying technology here. i love my school! we prepare for our future here. ♪[music] p>> life in african countries is very hard. they don't have enough water resources. there's always war and violence. that's why you should always be careful there. but people there try to live their lives too.

we should be proud of living in our beautiful country. p>> i love my life. and i'm happy that i'm alive and live in this world! p>> well, 15 years from now, sezim will be 30. and the world will probably have changed quite a bit. the list of sustainable development goals signed by u.n. leaders is long. but how do you see the world in 2030? we posed the question to people around the world. you'll find articles, videos and audio files on the topic in our online special "my 2030".

log on to www.dw.com/my2030 and see for yourself. latin america is a study in contrasts. the continent has the biggest gaps between rich and poor. but latin america has made some inroads into the problem. according to the united nations development program, about 51 million people have risen to the middle class in the last decade. a remarkable case is paraguay, one of the region's poorest countries. its poverty stoplight program is helping people lift themselves out of poverty. p>> we are half an hour by car from ascencion, the capital of paraguay. this town, san lorenzo, is home to 270,000 people. they live on the verge of poverty. that belongs to martha meza. she started the business a few years ago by taking out a microloan. p>> empanadas, other snacks, drinks, hamburgers in the evenings.

i'm here 24 hours a day. it's my house and my business, in one. martha meza, though she won't get rich either. she is visited regularly by nancy ramos, who helps her improve her life, step by step. ramos works for fundacion paraguaya, the organization that also mediated the loan. when ramos comes to visit, she brings along a computer and a questionnaire she calls the poverty stoplight. p>> when i ask a family if they're poor, they often don't know how to answer. they can't put their poverty into words. with our stoplight system, we can find out step by step how the poverty manifests itself. p>> the key is that martha meza assesses her situation herself, from her finances to her health.

the questions ramos asks are very specific. the savings indicator. this picture means the family has no savings. this one means they're able to save sometimes. and this family saves for up to six months. p>> the goal is to get from red to yellow to green. at each visit, they identify areas of progress and deficits. one red light for martha meza is the bathroom. p>> right now, what i most need is a new bathroom. i want all of this to become more modern. the wall, the floor, everything. better for my family and my son. p>> that's the goal for the coming weeks. one more photo for the file. martha and her problem are

identified. when ramos returns, some progress should have been made. almost a quarter of all paraguayans live in poverty. but a few years ago, there were a lot more. efforts to create new sources of income have been producing results. this is where the fundacion paraguaya takes its cue and it is focusing its work on women. p>> we very much support diversification, multiple income sources. for example, through microfranchises. that way, women have a way to earn money quickly and directly. p>> this is where josefa gimenez lives. she's been taking part in the program for three months and is specializing in soap. with the help of fundacion paraguaya, it's becoming a humming business. p>> i buy the soap here from

fundacion paraguaya. then i mix it and sell it. it works very well. p>> nancy ramos comes here too, to talk with josefa about her situation. and josefa is working towards a very specific goal. p>> i'd like to have a new kitchen. that's my dream! and i want to achieve it. p>> for now, josefa still cooks outdoors. but soon, that's going to change. that when you see a problem, you should fix it? well, marius smit did just that. he was tired of seeing plastic waste polluting the canals of amsterdam and decided to take action. he never expected his idea would become a thriving business and one that even turns trash into something useful. what's more, it seems to be fun too!

p>> cruising the canals of amsterdam, but marius smit isn't sight-seeing. he's fishing! fishing plastic waste from the water, that is. the stuff is everywhere. p>> different kind of foam. plastic bag. that makes me sad, if you see stuff like this, just so much waste. i mean, how did this end up in a canal, you know? it boggles me, actually. p>> the city's canals are a tourist magnet. but wherever there's a lot of people, there's also a lot of rubbish. that's why smit founded plastic whale, a company dedicated to fishing plastic waste from the canals. it's the first of its kind.

p>> my kids find it strange, of course, because normally dads work at the bank or have a normal job. and their dad is a plastic fisherman. so just recently, my six-year-old asked me, what in god's name are you doing all day, pa, daddy? it feels strange to tell him i am actually fishing plastic out of the water. p>> but he's passionate about what he does. and this enthusiasm rubs off on others. marius smit now has 20 employees. p>> it's good for tourism, because people will say, it's a clean city. so it's not only the environmental aspect of the job but also really the aesthetics. i'm really proud to do this. yes. i tell people all the time. ha ha! my favorite past time, i guess. p>> but the company doesn't just collect plastic waste from the water. i recycles it -- it recycles it

and turns it into boats. their very own boat is made of plastic waste from amsterdam. at first glance, this is all just dirty rubbish. but plastic waste also makes great material for constructing boats. it's light, robust and stays afloat. p>> people, when they see our boats, they need to touch it, because they want to see how we actually make a boat from plastic waste. they never actually believe it. but, yeah, like i said, the process by itself is not that difficult. p>> here in the company office, smit explains how the recycling process works. p>> this is a typical p.e.t. bottle that we use or fish from the canals. and then, it goes through a process of shredding and washing process. p>> a number of projects. p>> and eventually, it becomes small granules of plastic.

p>> from these granules, we make these foam plates. they look like this. and these foam plates we use as basic material for the boats. so they form the basis of the whole boat. p>> he's already built three boats from plastic waste and is planning three more. smit's business idea is inspiring others. companies have started to book canal cruises with plastic whale. fishing for plastic waste has become cool! company outings are the firm's main source of income. last year, it conducted almost 30 canal tours. marius smit is able to make a living off plastic waste. need to change the perception of

plastic. you buy a product. you unwrap it. you throw away the plastic and it's gone. and if people value plastics differently, so they see that plastics should not be seen as waste but as a raw material, people are treating plastic also differently. p>> and then he hopes people won't throw it into canals anymore. p>> very inspiring! well, that's about all for this week's program. if you would like to find out more about today's stories, check out our website at dw.com/global3000. you'll find this and other episodes there as well. thank you for watching! and until next time, take care and good-bye!

steves: in a nutshell, classical rome lasted about 1,000 years -- roughly 500 b.c. to 500 a.d. rome grew for 500 years, peaked for 200 years, and fell for 300 years. the first half was the republic, ruled by elected senators. the last half was the empire, ruled by unelected emperors. in its glory days, the word "rome" meant not just the city, but what romans considered the entire civilized world. everyone was either roman or barbarian. people who spoke latin or greek were considered civilized, part of the empire. everyone else, barbarian.

according to legend, rome was founded by two brothers, romulus and remus. abandoned in the wild and suckled by a she-wolf, they grew up to establish the city. in actuality, the first romans mixed and mingled here -- in the valley between the famous seven hills of rome. this became the roman forum. in 509, they tossed out their king and established the relatively democratic roman republic. that began perhaps history's greatest success story, the rise of rome. from the start, romans were expert builders, and they had a knack for effective government. this simple brick building was once richly veneered with marble and fronted by a grand portico. it's the curia. the senate met here and set the legal standards that still guide western civilization. the reign of julius caesar, who ruled around the time of christ,

marked the turning point between the republic and the empire. the republic, designed to rule a small city-state, found itself trying to rule most of europe. something new and stronger was needed. caesar established a no-nonsense, more-disciplined government, became dictator for life, and, for good measure, had a month named in his honor, july. the powerful elites of the republic found all this change just too radical. in an attempt to save the republic and their political power, a faction of roman senators assassinated caesar. his body was burned on this spot in 44 b.c. the citizens of rome gathered here, in the heart of the forum, to hear mark antony say, in shakespeare's words, "friends, romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. i've come to bury caesar, not to praise him." but the republic was finished, and rome became the grand capital of a grand empire.

the via sacra, or sacred way, was the main street of ancient rome. it stretched from the arch of septimius severus to the arch of titus. rome's various triumphal arches, named after the emperors who built them, functioned as public-relations tools. reliefs decorating the various arches show how war and expansion were the business of state. rome's thriving economy was fueled by plunder and slaves won in distant wars.

announcer: this program is made possible in part by... historic marion, virginia, home of song of the mountains, a main street community in the heart of the virginia highlands. the ellis family foundation-- encouraging economic revitalization through the restoration of historic buildings in downtown marion, virginia, including the general francis marion hotel. teds-- dedicated to providing strategic talent management solutions. the bank of marion-- your community, your vision, your bank. morehead state university's kentucky center for traditional music is a proud supporter of song of the mountains. emory and henry college-- transforming lives since 1836. bryant label, a proud supporter