60ie: this is "france 24," minutes live around the world. i'm genie godula. coming up -- at the european parliament, we will take a closer look at whether or not there is real hope for change after the ratification of the paris climate deal. with.s. walks out of talks russia over syria, accusing moscow of not living up to the cease-fire deal. this after the near daily bombing of aleppo continues. in afghanistan, taliban fighters are pushed out of the center of kunduz, but battles are still underway to clear the city of gunmen hiding out in residential homes. business, the pound

slumps to its lowest level against the dollar in 31 years. that is over the latest comments from the british prime minister on brexit. more on that coming up at 15 past the hour. story -- ourve top story, live from paris. welcome, everyone. happy to have you with us live from paris. the european parliament has just backed the paris deal to fight climate changege. the paris agreement that was backed by nearly 200 nations a year ago will help guide a radical shift by the world economy away from fossil fuels, in a way -- in an effort to floods.e,

for more on what has happened irvinelet's bring in eve . how important is this vote today? >> the vote in parliament is part of the ratification process by the european union, to the parliament has agreed to the agreement, which is a positive step. 610 votes are in favor of going ahead. have the eu to membership eight's also sign off on it, which normally would take 48 hours. hopefully we are fast tracking, making it a written procedure. the is to be able to hand document to ban ki-moon before he flies out to the european union thursday. there has been a fast-track method put in place last friday for the european union environment. packs,g into this basically. that would mean that they sign up as a block, and member states can ratify it.

seven eu membership eight have already gone that far and ratified it here they represent 5% of global emissions, so already the fact that seven have ratified it, and the fact that there will undoubtedly go to the u.n. in new york, that means the u.n. has met the 55% threshold, meaning the climate change deal can be put into action. genie: signed and sealed -- >> almost delivered. genie: is a cause for celebration? >> according to most groups speaking in the european parliament today, they definitely feel it is a first solid step. one went as fars to say it was as important as the declaration on human rights in 1949. however, a lot of people are saying this is one part of the agreement, and now we need to see solid action. it is good, but we need to actually move faster and go quicker.

one says that he feels really the fact that the agreement goes to the aviation industry is a big no-no and points out that transport ministers are currently trying to play out the carbon emissions payback. some are saying that the cost of carbon footprint is not really being played up enough. and that still more needs to be done. anwould appear that at least overwhelming majority is on the same page today. genie: thanks for that. in syria, the city of aleppo is still being pounded almost every day by airstrikes. activists say another of the main hospitals in the eastern rebel controlled part has been hit, and this for the third time. four hospitals in aleppo have now been destroyed by russian and syrian airstrikes in less than two weeks. diplomatic maneuvers to come up with some sort of solution have broken down as well. the u.s. has suspended talks with russia, accusing moscow of not holding up its end of the cease-fire deal.

our correspondent reports. >> the horror and destruction continue in aleppo. as government forces and russian aviation continues to target the city. dozens are feared dead afafter a series of airstrikes on momoay. the main hospital was hit for the third time in a ofk, bringing total number hospitals destroyed in her strikes to four since the government launched an offensive to take full control of aleppo in late september. >> our soldiers are continually dragged onto the battlefield, and doctors and p patients arare being criticized in the prproce. just five intensive care beds left for a court million people in aleppo, the u.n. warns that the worsening humanitarian crisis - -- warring parties have

been urged to allow the evacuation of civilians in need of urgent medical care. violence continues in other parts of syria. several people were killed over the weekend near damascus as forces continued their offensive -- in west kunduz region the west region. formerly known as the al-nusra front. genie: the army says taliban fighters have been pushed out of the center of kunduz, but battles are still under way to clear the city of gunmen, some of whom are hiding out in homes. the latest flareup came as international donors are gathering in brussels for a major two-day conference on afghanistan that will focus on security and the refugee crisis. afghan we often t talk about refugees fleeing the vioiolence and trtrying to get t into euro, we hear a a lot less about those migrating elsewhere. the largest group of afghan refugees in the world is in pakistan.

ever since kabul began accusing islam a bad of soup -- accusing abad, they have been used as pawns, forcing them to leave. >> 35 years ago, a med -- was one ofs -- ahmed nearly 3 million afghans who have sought refuge in pakistan. last week the police ordered him to pack up and leave. >> we took all our things, even in the koran, curtains, plates, our furniture, almost everything. yet i grew up in pakistan, i got married there, i spenmost of my life there.e. is disappointment, but many are also happy to be going home. >> we had problems in pakistan. that is why we returned. i feel like i am being freed

from prison. >> behind closed doors, afghans blame pakistani authorities for this. since then, 5000 people mamade e journey back to afghanistan every day. they all received $400 each in aid from the u.n. >> come here, take thehe form, d we will register you. blanketshem rooms and for the night, and in the morning we start the process of sending them back to their villages. >> the homecoming will be difficult. 75% of them are under the age of 24 and were born in pakistan. they are coming back to the country in a state of near civil war. be careful. because of the conflict, there are a lot of minds anand unexexd bombs. since january, 300,000 afghans have come back from pakistan. the u.n. has identified a n next her $1$152 million too h help -s

identified an extra $152 million to help. genie: government and farc rebel leaders in colombia are scrambling to save the peace process after a historic deal to end five decades of fighting was voted down in a referendum. yuka royer has the details. to the peaceegun prprocess back on track. colombian president juan manuel santos has opened a new national dialogue after the sunday shock referendum results. quicklyll have to a act since uncertainty and lack of clarity regarding the next s stp put at risk all that has been constructed up to now. santos has appointed a team of senior officials to launch talks with the opposition. the chief negotiator.

he offered his resignation, saying he did not want to be an obstacle to what comes next are the leader of the farc, for his part, promised the group would uphold a cease-fire agreed by the government. >> piece with dignity will remain. the feeling is that members who want to sabotage it will not be stronger men the feelings of those who want harmony, inclusion, and social justice. the question now is whether the farc will accept changes to the peace deal. columbia's opposition -- colombia's opposition argue that the agreement was too lenient and want harsher punishment for crimes committed during the conflict. woman a french tunisian held hostage in yemen for nearly a year has finally been released. red cross employee -- the red cross employee arrived to safety last night. allison sargent has more.

>> a 10 month ordeal has finally come to any nd for her. the french tunisian national was on her way to work at the red cross last december when she was kidnapped by a group of armed men in yemen's rebel held capital, sauna. -- sana. ththe country, oman, acts as a mediator, and they have often heed negotiate w wh the release of captors. militantnt groups like al qaeda use them as ransom payments -- use them for ransom payments and bargaining chips. the rebelsls have also held westerners captive. she is not the first french citizen to be kidnapped in yemen. french aid workers were abducted and held for several months. a 30-year-old was released after spending five

months held captive. genie: pope francis has made an emotionally charged visit to a much richer today. the pontiff stopped and prayed there and to two other villages devastated by the earthquake in central italy last august. in keeping with his desire to make a relatively low-key visit to the area, where nearly 300 people are killed, his trip was only announced to the media after he had arrived. he blessed the crowd before giving them a message of hope to the area that is still struggling to come to terms with the scale of italy's deadliest quake since like we love in 2009. thousands of women took to the streets of poland monday to support abortion rights. that nationwide strike was against a bill that would put a total ban on abortion across the country. many men also joined the walkout in warsaw and major cities. poland is largely a catholic

country and already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in europe. gulliver cragg told us more. rains, theheavy castle s square in centrtral waw as thehe biggest demonstration, absolutely seeing people spilling out onto the roads, all around. this is really a very radical antiabortion law that has been proposed, almost a total ban, and it is makiking people angry well outside the traditional mill you of liberals s -- the traditional mileieu. party has justice already said it will propose a new bill in the cocoming days. it actuaually did not propose ts one which isis c currently -- is proposed by a civil society group. there will be a new one come from the party itself. nevertheless, the party is under quite a lot of pressure from the church and feels it needs the support of the church, and the

bishops yesterday were out in force arguing in favor of this abortion ban. so we can certainly expect that the laws will mean greater restrictions than are currently in place. what is quite likely is that they will say abortion can still be allowed in the case of rape and in the case of danger to the life of the mother, but that it cannot be allowed in places threee -- third of the exceptions currently allowed in poland. genie: hurricane matthew has claimed its first victim in haiti. officials say one fisherman died and another is still missing at sea. matthew is the worst storm to hit the caribbean in almost a decade, and rising sea levels are causing extensive flooding among the area's flimsy homes and buildingngs. it left residents exposed to the national disaster. hurricane matthew is packing power, up to 140 miles

or 230 kilometers per hour. many people have already been evacuated to temporary shelters. this is a look at today's headlines. the european parliament has ratified the paris climate deal. that is set to get underway in november. the u.s. walks out of talks with russia over syria, accusing moscow of not living up to the cease-fire deal. is the near daily bombing of aleppo continues. in afghanistan, taliban fighters are pushed out of the center of canoes, but battles are still underway -- of kunduz, but battles are still underway, with many gunmen hiding out in residential homes. timeme for the business update with stephen carroll. bad news for the pound, taking a bit of a beating on the market today. stephen: it is the lowest against the dollar and 31 years, surpassing even what we saw

after the results of the brexit referendum. the latest reps began after a speech by british prime minister theresa may. the market analysts say we are outng a series of spaced depreciation's in the pound with each new piece of information triggering further falls in currency. t its lower level against the dollar and the euro. genie: what kind of effect does that have on the markets? stephen: it is good news for british companies, because if you export, then your product is cheaper abroad. we have seen a rise in the ftse 100 share index. it has passed the 7000 point margin, reaching over 7000 100 points, the highest level seen since june 2015. elsewhere on the european markets, german shares are back in business after being closed for trading on monday. deutsche bank shares are seeing a bit of her recovery after being pummeled for the past few days, up just over 1% in

frankfurt. genie: here in france, the government has laid out a rescue plan for a train factory that has threatened to be shut down. stephen: it has become a major issue in the run-up to next year's aleppo pull -- next year's election poll. 15 new in includes high-speed trains. are getting just in the past few minutes of the m, buyingan for alsto high-speed trains for trains that do not run at those speeds. operating 15 trains at speeds that are lower than what that company operates them. we will see more on that story

as the day progresses. for now, let's move on with a look at some of the day's business headlines. illinois is putting $30 billion in investments -- pulling $30 billion in investments out of wells fargo after -- the state treasurer says it is suspending using that bank as a broker for one year. the e bank has apologized for te scandal. mcdonald's is trying to sell the interest it has in china to turn franchisesants two in the country. an executive from the fast food chain told the newspaper a local partner would have more wisdom and resources in smaller cities. shares in netflix rose more than reports thatafter disney could be interested in buying the country. the online streaeang servicece s been expxpanding rapidly in rect

years, but its shares have fallen this year. netflix declining to comment ahead of its results on october 17. uk,e: let's go back to the where the department of trade has gotten itself into the trouble. stephen: a tweet says france needs high-quality british dams and marmalade's, and -- british jams and marmalades, with a link that looks you like you can buy them. any people online are asking what that is. others are wondering why france would need some of this innovative jam, considering it is the second largest exporter of jams, some 300 million euros per year. they are also concerned as to , thehe french brand second-biggest jam brand here,

jamthey would want british in france. perhaps they would like to start exporting british dijon mustard to the french. some social media are kicking themselves. genie: there is something about british marmalade. stephen, thank you for that. it is now time for the press review. it is time to take a look at what has been grabbing headlines around the world today, and we have florence villeminot with us on the set to help us do that. syria with theon city of aleppo coming under increasing the heavy bombing. flo: the french paper reports that while negotiations have started in the u.n. to try to find a cease-fire, the latest cease-fire ended two weeks ago. meanwhile, you have the u.s.

suspending ties with russia. this is a major story. washington says it has given up hope on any kind of restorative cease-fire, so long as russia and the syrian government continue their intensive airstrikes on a o, particularly on civilians, and including on hospitals. in the photo, you can see here in this article, it actually took place in september, but this the kind of situation the u.s. is talking about. genie: if you look at the russian paper, it is a completely different story. flo: an interesting article originally appeared in the official russian paper, which explores the complete lack of trust that exists between the u.s. and russia. this is a piece by political scientists. the point is why diplomacy has failed. the syria, foot has gone from , araba popular uprising spring, to the last five years when it has become a major

conflict, or an indirect conflict between the u.s. and russia. this cartoon that goes along with the article is by the lebanese cartoonist, and it is also focusing on relations between the u.s. and russia. we can see the good scenario, where they are getting along. you still have this news here. and this area where they are hardly even shaking hands. what that represents is no minor what is going on at the diplomatic level, if you look at what is happening for severe -- first civililians, it is primus the same thing. isie: "the daily beast it" paying tribute to the white helmets, the volunteer rescue workers. >> -- flo: there is no more dangerous t place to be than in syria thee days. this is a moving tribute to those who run toward bombs that are coming down from the ground,

coming in all these opposition held areas to rescue -- they talked about 10,000's of people, ciampi's, white helmet workers. their motto is to save one life, to save all of humanity. the results will be announced on friday. there is a long list of people. you can read about it here in "the guardian," a record 376 candidates. we are talking about 200 20 individuals, 148 organizations. amongst them, you have put francis but also the greek islanders. they have also drawn a lot of theye for the way responded to the migrant crisis. genie: also on the list is one manuel santos -- one manuel santos and tymoshenko. peace process has been in the process for four years.

flo: the referendum really stunned papers in colombia, and also around the world. elere is a cartoon in "ltm tiemp." we are talking about a small number. this is a french magazine, saying this is proof that sometimes it is so hard to end a war. what is interesting, though, is that those that rejected this referendum say they cannot have a peace deal weather is no justice. but this article says the risks of ending up with neither peace more justice. there is another interesting piece, from "the wall street journal," saying what happened in the referendum is not a rejection of peace, it is about rejecting the president, who has not kept his promises, according to the article. there is a lesson about political leadership and public trust, but it is released on everyone. rock --et's move to our

let's move to morocco. in: you can read about it three pages 60, a website from morocco. there is a very high tension rate, confirming the loss of interest in politics in general for a lot of moroccans. another interesting aspect of this election is to replace the social media internet is taking place. there is a cartoon that is , ather moroccan publication little bit complicated, i guess you could say. they are depicting this political candidate as a usb device. they are going into a usb port here, so i guess -- i think what it is trying to say is what role technology is playing in the way people vote these days. genie: the biggest international story out of paris, yesterday

kim kardashian was robbed overnight, sunday to monday, here in paris. of --s on the front page in terms of circulation, you can see they are talking about an xxl hold up the details are incredibly violent. leu can get them in "lip parisian." kim kardashian had been in paris for fashion week. you can see they are talking about -- they are talking but a very unpleasant week for kim kardashian. robert allegedly -- the robbers made off allegedly with more than $9 million of jules. the investigation is ongoing, and we will keep you posted with all the details. genie: thank you, florence villeminot, with a dish's looked -- with a day's look at the

press review. go to france24.com. coming up in the next half hour, a look at african fashion as liberian fighters lead a new style revoluti]0kxopopop'p'p'p'q

announcer: this is a production of china central television amamerica. mike: when it t comes to theirir freedom and rights, women often face gender inequality, oppression, even violence around the world. this week on "full frame" we'll introduce you to amazing women, determined to defy the odds anand speak up in their own defefense worlrldwide. i'm mike walter coming to you from the heart of new yorkrk city's times square. let's take it " "full frarame." [music playing]

at the 2014 world economic forum, united nations secretary general ban ki moon announced that girls are the key to ending global poverty. no one could agree with that more than our next guest. at the age of 12, while visiting her mother's native argentina, denise dunning saw something that stayed with her ever since. she witnessed a poor young girll not much older than herself begging, with a baby and a toddler in tow. this early experience was the impetus behind creating rise up. through its various programs, the lives of more than 115 million children and women h have been transformed around the globe. one of these programs is called girls behind the camera, an intense workshop which encourageses these young women o take a stand and make a poposite impact in their r communities.s. >> we e are 6 girls... >> who have come together... >> to discuss the issues >> that arare affecting us... >> [indistininct] girls... >> in malawi.

>> i am m an advocate for girls because i want to o stop sex trtrade. >> because i want to abolish harmful traditional practices. > because i want toto help gs stay in school. >> because i want to h help girs for have better r access for education. >> because i want to stop domestic violence against the girls. >> because i want to end child marriage. mike: denise dunning knows firsthand that investing in girls' leadership and empowerment leads them to change their communities, their countries, and perhaps even the world. she's joining us now from san francisco. we want to welcome you to "full frame," denise. great to have you. denise: thanks so much. mike: if you don't mind, go back in time. tell us a little bit more about this episode e that really kind of helped shape your advocacy in many respects. denise: yeah. when i was about 12 years old, i was in argentina with my parents, and we were on a train. it was christmas eve

and we were on a train going out of buenos aires to go visit family friends for the holidays. and as we pulled into a station about 20 minutes outside the city, the train doors opened, and at the far end of the train i saw a girl step into the car, and i was 12 and she was maybe 14 or 15 and just a couple years older than me, and she was carrying this baby and dragging a totoddler alonong behind her.n they were dirty and d poor and raragged. and i watched as this girl came down the length of the train and in every aisle stopped and asked for food and asked for money and asked for help. and i saw how in every single row of that train, people just looked away. and they didn't want to see her and they didn't want to help her. and i remember feeling so incredibly angry that there was nothing that i could do. and so helpless and so ashamed. and i vowed on that night t a lg

time ago that if there w was evr anything that i could do for a girl like that, a girl who was so much like me but in such a different place in the world, that i would. and so fast-forward several years and i had the chance to start an organization called rise up in 2009 which advances health, education, and equity for girls, youth, and women everywhere. and since we got started, have been able to advocate for 124 laws impacting 115 million girls, youth, and women in the world. mike: being on that train, obviviously you recognized the's a problem with this girl, but to see it ripple across the globe, i mean you see it in so many.. places. i mean, is i it astonishing to youou, what you see? denise: yeah, no, absolutely. right now w we're working in 11 different countries, and the challenges facing girls are enormous. there are 600 million girls riright now who are e livg in poverty. so what that means is they don't get to go to school. they don't geget to seea doctor when they need one. they

often don't get enough to eat every day. um, they often live in silenence and in fear and in violence. and so t these are the realities s facing girls. and wt we've seen at the same time is that these girls are not victims. these girls are amazing leaders and incredible agents of change. and by giving them the tools and the resources and the support that they need, they can become incrediblble leaders fofr theieir own communitities and tr own countries. mike: um, so it's easy to kind of think, ah, jeez, they're trapped wiwith such a huge burd. and yet you see the power of thesese young girls. can you t k to me about that dichotomymy? denise: yeah, i mean, i think you're exactly right. and you know, these girls are facing enormous challenges. in malawi in particular, more than half of girls are married before the age of 18. and oftentimes, you know, people don't bat an eye when n a 12-yeaear-old girl is married df to a man w w's twtwice or 3 tims her r age. and thehese are thehe realities facing poor girls in poor families. and at the same

time, what we'e've seen is that these gigirls are incredibly strong and resilient and that they can stand up and speak out for their rights and the rights of other girls in their communities. mike: well, malawi's a success story in many respects for you for what you've done. talk to us a little bit about that. denise: yeah, absolutely. so, essentially what we do at rise up is we're, in a way, angel investors in the social sector. so we find visionary local leaders like f faith and joyce n malawi, who were just getting started, and we gavehehem the training, the leadership development, the funding, and the network to be able to achieve much larger-scale impact. so we supported ththem o launch a c campaign n called "il marry when i want," which brought together 200 girls to learn about their rights and really decide what it was that they wanted for themselves and their communities. so, this group of girls was able to advocate with village chiefs, and they have gotten now 60 village chiefs to pass laws making it t so that if a man marries a girl under the age of 21, he has his land taken away

and has to pay a fee of 7 goats. so, through this girl-led campaign, they now have been able to protect thousands s of girls from child marriage. and one of the girls who is part of that campaign, an amazing young woman named d memory bananda, wo you u see in that film reaeallyd much of f that charge ththat resulted in a building of momentum that over time ended up with passage of a national law in malawi just l last year that outlaws child marriage at thee national level. . so, you know, from going and just meeting two young women, faith and joyce, and giving them a bit in the way of extra support and fundingng, they were ablele to go from reaching just a few gigirls in ththeir community to now havavig legal protectionon in place for 4 million girls in malawi, that guarantees that girls are not gonna be forced d into early marriage and can really stay in school and pursue their hopes and their dreams for their own futures. mike: i guess in some respects, you know, when you think a about nonprofits a and tryining to man impact, , you know, , like i set as kind of the oututside game, e inside game. and you'rere on the

outside. you're in san francisco, coming in and trying to change things. but it really isn't successful unless you have the insiside game. you connect with these kids and they understand the dynamamics a lot better than you can. talk to me about that and w why that's so critically important in n what you're doing. denise: yeah, it's key to the work that we do. so, you know, what we do is find visionary local leaders who are doing impoportant work on a small scae and give them the support that they need to achieve much larger scale impact. and the reason that we e created this model is because thesese leaders knowow t the realalities are and d know t the chalallenges and thehe opportunities are. and so by having the extra support from us in terms of learning how to advocate for larger-scale change and giving them the funding that they need to launch these campaigns, they're able to achieve soso much greater impapt than, , you know, we sitting hee in san francisco. it wouldn't make sense for us to come in and trtry to tell them what the priorities should be. it's really about finding those visionary local leaders and giving them the support that they need. mimike: what aboutut giving thee

voice in storytelling as a capacity to help them achieve these successes that you're talking about. denise: yeahah, i think k that's exactly right. you know, the story that you mentioned about our work in guatemala. we started there in 2010. and at the titime, we were woworking wa group ofof girls who, , you kno, indigenous mayan girls who had never had the chance to learn about their rights or become leaders in their community. and these girls just grabbed it, and they launched a campaign asking for their mayor to support girls' health and girls' education. and, you know, the first meeting that they had, the mayor literally laughed out loud and told them that they should go home and not waste his titime. but these girls were strong and they were resilient, and d they actually usused media really strategically. so they went on local tv and did interviews in n the local press and local radio and realally talked about why it's important to invest in girls, and got local leaders and religious leaders and parents and indigenous leaders in a dialogue about why girls' education and health are so important. and so

they were able over time to win the mayor over so thatat he actually passed legislation that he co-wrote with the girls supporting girls' health and education, and put money out of his annual budget to support those services for girls. mike: you knknow, we've been talking abouout education. w w'e got a clclip right now, and i wt to run this clip real quick and then on the backside we can talk a little bit more about it, because it gets to the key of what you're talking about education, so let's look at this. denise: great. >> in malawi there are many challenges which girls face at school. when i was a little girl, going to school scared me. my teacher used to hit me. he would make me stay after school and clean. there were stories of girls being raped in the bathroom. when my teacher touched the breasts of one of my classmates, i became very mad. i told him he couldn't do that to us. we were there to learn. i didn't want to clean the classroom. i did not want to be scared anymore. this is why i

became a girl leader. i approached my head teacher [indistinct] despite being young. a girls welfare committee was chosen and policies were implemented. i conducted meetings with my fellow girls to educate them on their rights and how to become leaders to ensure change at the school. let's hold hands and stop girls school dropout. mike: hmm. great, great message, but it shows just how important education is, but in many respects dififficult, too. whici don't think most of us think about. denise: yeah, no, absolutely. there are 66 million girls right now who are not in school, around the world, and that is a tremendous gap that we need to be filling, because these are girls who, if they have a chance to go to school, you know-- if 10% more girls in a a country go to school, that country's gdp goes up by 3%. so that just giveves you a sense that not j t for those girls themselves and their families is education so

critical, it's actually key for national development and globall development. mike: talk to us about leaderership and creating g thee leaders. denise: yeah, absolutely. you know, what we really do is find visionary local leaders who have potentntial and haveve passion d really want t to create a chang, and we give them the leadership devevelopment, the funding, and the support to be able to create much larger-scale impact. so, you know, one of my favorite stories is a woman that we started working with in liberia, who, at the time that we m met her, had the only safe home for girls in liberia. so, 75% of girls and women in liberia have been victims of violence during the conflict and the post-conflict. and this woman rosanna had a safe home where she gave 25 girls a chance to go to school, a safe place to live. and when she became a part of rise up, she learned that there was no legal protection for girls whatsoever in liberia. so she launched a campaign, with support and funding from us, which led to passage of liliberia's national children's

law. so guaranteeing girls access to healthcare services, education, outlawing child marriage, and other harmful traditional practices. so rosanna was able to go from reachihing 25 girls to now havig legal protections in place for two million girls in liberia. and to me, that really speaks volumes about the potential and the importance of investing in local leaders who know best what the solutions are and just need support from the rest of us to be able to achieve them. mike: denise, thanks so much for joining us from san francisco. sure appreciate it. denise: thank you. great to be here. mike: coming up next, how african women view tradition and change in the modern world. [music playing] mike: knight international journalism fellow and former "wall street journal" reporter

christopher conte considers uganda his second home. he lived there for 3 years, and soon after his s arrival, he met a kampala based newspaper reporter, lylydia namubiru. she shared with him interesting and insightful stories about her life. as time went on, their conversations became a running dialogue, so much so that the pair decided to collect stories from other ugandan women and publish them. the collection ultimately became a book, "crossroads: women coming of age in today's uganda." it's meant to shine a light on real women in the real africa. in so doing, it's avoiding age old stereotypes of helplessness and the need for africa or its people to be rescued by the so-called developed woworld. joinining us now are christopher and lydidia. welcome to "full frame." lydia: thank you. christopher: thank you. mike: soso, chris, take e us ban time. um, this initial kind of conversation, what was it like, and whwhat kind of caught your ear, a and how did it t kind of perhaps reshshape the way you looked at uganda?

christopheher: well, i think yor introduction touched on it, actually. i think i went--i had been in africa before, but i had never been in uganda. uh, but, you know, we have preconceptions and stereotypes even that we aren't aware of. and, uh,h, i actually remember--i was based at the newspaper where lydia worked, and d the first time i d a serious conversation with her, we went to lunch in the company canteen. and i was literally blown awaway by this person whwo so sophisticatated and so fascinating. um, and, uh, i suddenenly realized that i was gonna have a quality o of convnversation completelyy different ththan i thought i wod have w when i thought i was goig to teach the unformed, uh, you know, poor africans. i actually, and to this day i still find that when i'm with lydia, i listen a lot more than i talk.

um... mike: : which is q quite a qualy when it comes to journalists, 'cause they a always hahave a lo say. so, u uh, what was your tae on chrisistopher at t first? lydia: um, well... i'm surprised. as he says, he wawas blown n away. and i thinkf i'd d known that at the time, id probably not talked to him again. [laughter] 'cause you're coming to a newsroom. a functioning, existing, , you know, room of 3, 400 0 professional--profesessios doing a job. it shouldn't be surprising that some--you know, that there's a sophphisticated-- that they are sophphisticated, yeah? so, and thatat's--i didn't get ththat, though, at the time. i dididn't realize he was surprised. so that's nice because then we continued to have the conversation. i thought--but i did, too, have my own stereotypes because i think,

for me, mzungus as we call them, you u kn, white pepeople--it's t derogatory. . they are people of authority. typically you interact with them as your boss in a jobob, as the donor foror a project you want to be funded. so it was very different to have a normal, ordinary conversation. mike: so when did the two of you realize that this needed to be out there. i mean, was it--did the light bulbs go on? was that part of the initial conversations, or was it further down the road a piece? christopher:r:ur first idea was to write a book called "conversations with mzungu." and it was just going to be a dialogue between the two of us. mike: and d why is that importa? christopher: ah, that's a good question. um, i think because there is a great deal of enlightenment that comes on both sides. speaking as a mzungu,

i certainly learned and developed a much greater appreciation for the fact that--that lydia was part of a rich culture that deserved a great deal of respect. and that the way i as a westerner wanted to relate to it, and the way i think westerners in general should relate to it, is not as the, you know, as the--pardon the expression--white knknights who are comingng in to r rescue. but rather i thinknk we need to approach each other, as s you s, as equals. mike: capturing all those voices and all those ways of looking at your country. it's fascinating. when did--how did you recruit others to get t involved? lydia: you know,w, that wasn't hahard. i think we reaealized ta conversation between two people is not really rich because at some point, "a", i mean, you

become monotonous even to people--one can only read so much--so many essays from one person. but two, we became polarized. at one point i was so defensive of everything that's african culture, that i was-- when he wrote to me and asked, i just jumped at him: "you're just trying to stereotype us." this is not rereally it, a and t the same time, he, too, became sort of, t too, defensive about western culture, like all christian things. and, i mean, he's a liberal feminist person much like me, but we found ourselves speaking for like the polar--the polar opposites of our cultltures just to be good ambassadors. mike: one of lydia's pieces is just spot on about capacity building and all the catch phrases that we hear so much here in the west, and it's eye opening reading that. but you say--and i want to get the quote

just right, christopher--that "these essays tell stories about a rapidly changing society where they serve both as guardians of culture and harbingers of reform." so talk to us a little bit about this tension, if you will, that's going on. you've got these young women like this, feminists, and yet cultural stereoeopes and alall--it's kind of this rich stew that's gogoing on there in many respects. christopher: oh, absolutely. and, you know, lydia also talks about religion and being, you know, surrounded by y traditionl rereligion, which is kind of shunned.d. that really is a legy of, you know, the mimissionarie, that to a certain extent, trtraditionanal african religion wewent underground. mike: let me just ask a favor of both of you. can you read just a short passage, if you will, from the book that jumps out at you? and lydia, i'd like you to read part of one of your passages as well. chris, why don't we s start with you? christopopher: uh, s sure. um, e

passage that i'd like to read is written by a woman much like lydia named [indistinct]. and her essay actually talks about how girls and ththen young women are trtrained and prepared to b be good wives. and, you know, that includes everything to how to satisfy the man in the bedroomom to how to take care of his every--every need. and girls traditionally were taught that they werere supposed to subordinate realal their ownwn needs and priorities to their husbands. like, the husband would get fed first, taken care of, you know, feet massaged, everything. and in some parts of uganda--this is not uniform, but inin some tribes--and severaral other writers write about this--

they were taught that girls and women should kneel for men. . s, uh, you know, if you knew lydia, as you're getting to, you can imagine this is not a woman who'o's gonna kneel for any man. so the, um, but what interests me about the authors, um, of this book is that they don't flatly reject what they taught. um, but rather they see ways that there is virtue in tradition, and they're--in the essays and in their lives, they're trying to reconcile tradition with more modern ideas. mike: that tension we e talked about. yeah. christopher: so this essay actually refers to, um, the lessons that this authoror learned. and she refers to senga, which is the woman whose cucultural role is to prepare the girl for a life ofof being a good ugandan wife. a and

so thehe author says, "i do know this. society still needs many of the values sengas teachch, like modestyty and the virtue of putting others ahead of ourselves. we all would be better off if everyone believed that caring for others and upholding the pepeace, comfortr, pleasure, and stability of family and society are more important t than getting ahead individuallyly." if i can just read a little momore, she says, "of course, these valulues are just part of the traditional contract. the other part is that men have their exaxalted positis because they have great responsibilities to provide for others, to keep the peace, and to uphold d laws a and moral va. sadly, as women rebel agagainst traditional culture, the male part of traditional values also is suffering. men have concocted their own self-serving mix of old and new. they happily embrace emancipation when it serves t them, wanting for

instance to divide bills right down the middle, or to partake of liberated women''s commitmement-free love. . but ty still expect their wives to kneel, cook, clean and wait at home in wawarm beds with beads around their waists and terry clotoths in hand. what's the solutionon? i'm still l working on it." mikeke: you have one abobout spirituality. will you share it with us? lydia: i do, and its background is, so, before, we did, of course, like every civilization, have our own b belief system. bt then the colonial experiment stormed in with its imported beliefs of the western world, and also, you know, the arab world. actctually, t the arab wd before it. so my essay is i'm talking about what that resulted into. so, what i'm--to start-- "uganda is a potent mix of

religiosity and spirituality. nominally, 80% of ugandans are christian, and most of the rest have been instructed in islam or some other imported belief system. we even have people whose religion is judaism. behind these foreign religions lie our traditional african beliefefs and practices. t there no standards for balancing our imported faiths with our ancestral ones, but most peoeop, whether they acknowledge it or not, straddle the fence. it is not unusual to find a father who attempts to secure his children a place in heaven by baptizing them christian, but then who turns to tradititional spirits o secucure his wealth by occasionally sacririficingng a k or goat in the presence ofof a spiritual medium." mike: let me ask you the final question. someone picking up this book, what do you want them to walk away with when they finish it? lydia: i would like them to appreciatete that we are not simple folks. wewe are not one

thing and not the other. you can't--there are so many things people say a about what africans are or aren't, what ugandans are or areren't. it't's problematic. it's prproblematic to takake a e population and think you could captpture it in a sentence, in a particular description. and the diversity in this--in the subjects a and the feelings anad the perceptions of the people in ththis book, i hope that t the people may go away disagreeing with what we believe, , but at least i hope they can go away knowing we are complex. mike: very. chris, lydia, thanks so much. the b book is called "crossroads." great read.. pick it up. it's available. whether it's struggles for civil, political, economic, or gendnder rights, womomen arounde world must often fight to have their voices heard. but one group p is trying to advocatater women's rights by usining film.

womemen's voices now uses a yeyy online short film festival to encourage an international dialogue on women's rights. "fulull frame" contribibutor saa hughes has more. [woman singing in pashto] alka: the reason that i became a filmmaker, uh, when i was a young girl, the taliban came to afghanistan, and they took the power. that was the most difficult life for us because there was not allowed to go to school, and there not allowed for a woman to go out. even they can't go to doctor alone. they have to go with the huhusband or brother. and a lot of other problems. sandra: afghan filmmaker alka

sadat's film "half value life" was made of necessity. she wanted the world to see how women are devalued in her country. her idea shows women across afghanistan in different roles, focusing on the country's fifirst female investigator asae uncovers atrocities at times too hard to hear. sandra: this child was forced into marriage and burned by her husband. alka sadat's film is never going to be a hollywood blockbuster seen on the big screen, but it's no less impactful or important. it's part of a growing number of films created by men and women around the world aimed at bringing awareness to the plight

of so many voiceless women, many who daily struruggle just to sty alive. [women singing] women's voices now calls for filmmakers to send their stories, and shares them with the world ththrough anan onlinem festival and at local screenings like this one. heidi: we serve as a platform to amplify the voices of all women in thehe struggle for civil,l, economic, political, a and gendr rights. and wewe do that through film. sandra: this year the film festival has entries from ththe middle east, africaca, asia, and the u.s.s. the common theme is expong a lack of women's rights around the e globe, and w what many won perceive as their lack of value. [indistinct chatter] heidi: that experience of perhaps seeing yourself reflected in a character or a subject in a film, that's the

moment where it becomes oh, i could be that person, too. i have a voice. i have rights. i have ideas. i have a vision. so now i'm gonna go try to find the resources that are gonna help me materialize into this person that i want to be. and this is s what happens from these films. sandra: women's voices now awards grants to filmmakers, like the woman who made this film aboutcid attackcks in bangladesh. heididi: this womaman decided to makeke documentatary about it, a we helelped her get a a grant to make it possible. and no one in her family supported her doing this. no one from the acid survivors foundation would talk to her. it was--she was very concerned for her wellbeining. sandra: but that filmmaker was determined to expose a dirty truth for the world to see.

woman: they have less of a support system. not all, but some of them just kind of give up. sandra: leila jarman's film "voice of the valley" was accepted as part of the women's voices now film festival. she even decided to join its staff. leila: as a filmmaker, i was drawn to women's voices now. i wanted to be a part of the work being done with women's voices now because i--just making films alone isn't enough. i'i'm not naive to think that my film is gonna change the world, but what will change the world is people coming together on a platform, making strides as one internationally and globally. sandra: for her film, jarman spent a year of her life telling the story of two jordanian muslim journalists. leila: so they go into thehe sot of d deep jordan valley. it's vy agricultural. it's very corrupt

governmentallyly. and they b brg the problems of the people to the government in amamman in jordrdan. and the story's just kind of a year in n the life of ththeir professional careers, ad how theyey've managed to switch things from m being attacked because they wanted to bee journalists and uncover these stories to being celebrated. sandra: through the lens of filmmakers like alka sadat, people are seeing firsthand the struggle of women around the world and their determination. alka: for me, was very important for my work be used to--for the woman. that's why always i try to, on my film i try to show some powerful woman to some other woman n who have problem, and they learn from the afghan woman. sandra: : and if the afghan womn can learn from each other, the hope for women's vovoices now is that by seeing the struggles of women featured on film, a lasting change can come. for

"full frame," this is sandra hughes in los angeles. mike: coming up, how to change a girl's s world so she has the power toto change the world. [music] mike: as senior director of girl effffect, kanwal ahluwalils part of a global efforort to prevent the generational passing down of poverty. her goal is to reach a powerful group with strong potential to break the cycle--adolescent girls. launched at the 2009 world economic summit, girl effect and their partners challenge the world to see girls not as part of the global poverty problem, but as co-creators of solutions. among their many creative and innovative programs is nyampinga. take a look. [music]

narrator: nyampinga is inspiring and enabling girls nationwide to help rwanda's transformation as a a country. it's an identit. it's a movement. it's made by girls for girls. it's a quarterly magazine and weekly radio o show full l of vital information that girls are sharing. radio shows reach every reregion in rwanda. 90,000 copis of the magazine e go out every quarter. it's the highest circulateded magazine in the country. girl: i want to be an entrepreneur. i want to build my own business as an electrician. nyampinga let me see that girls can succeed the same way as boys. mike: joining g us now viaia satellite to tell us more about the worldwide work that girl effect is doing g rit now is kanwal. she's joining us from london. thanks so much for being with us. let's talk a l little t about the journal--journrney rather. in terms of girls' and women's rights, , where are we

now, wouldld you say? kanwal: i'd say we probably have quite a long way to go. interestingly, in beijing 21 years ago, there was a landmark conference which illustrated all the ways in which women and girls suffered discrimination and an abuse of their human rights. and this conference was really a landmark conference because it showed state governments what to do about it. and i think what's really interesting is that whilst we've seen numbers of gagains for r wn and girls since that time 21 years ago, we've seen, you know, just as many challenges. so, for example, we see more girls than ever actually in school, but still mainly at primary and not at secondary school. we see unprecedented numbers of women in government, but again, you know, are they having just ass much influence as men, as their male counterparts? we also see a number of new laws t that have been passed aroundnd protecting women from violence, but we still see not enough work being

done to actually implelement these. and, you know, it's s a sobebering thought that nowheren the world have we actutually achieved gender equality. so we know we've made progressss, but actually there's still quite a long way to go. mike: talk to us about girl efeffect. how did it come abouo? tell u us about the genesisis. kanwal: sure. so, it came about some 12 years ago with funding from a range of foundations such as the nike foundation, the nova foundation. and i suppose initially it started very much about trying to get adolescent girls on the map. so, what you find is that girls often fall out of discourse around women, and fall out of, you know, convnversations araround childr. and there was a moment in time where people felt that actually we neededed to focus in onon gis and realally understand the lils of adolescent girls so that we could understand whahat were the prproblems they were facing,g, h were differerent to younger girs and different to older women. and see how we could actually ensure that they maximize their potential. so, um, as we've come forward into girl effect--we

were called girl hub--as we come forward into girl effect, we're really looking at being a new development player. . so differt to some of the other existing developing agencies, but looking at how we can work in a slightly more innovative space, working with brands and media. mike: where is your footprint? what countries a are we likely o see girl effect having an impact? kanwal: so, cucurrently we are n 3 countrieies in africa. in ethiopia, rwanda, and nigeria. but we also have an online presence in 20 countries, which is translated into 15 languages. and that's globally across the world. mike: the remarkable thing, though--and i find it remarkable, , but i want to gegt your thoughts on this--is the impact you've had i in rwanda.. you know, when you look at a a magazine, and i want you to talk a littttle bit about that, t to, becaususe magazines are consided legagacy indusustries. you k kn, you just can't get kids to pick themp, nobody'y's interested inn ththem, and yet the imprint you have there is remarkrkable. tatk

to me about thatat and the radio reach as w well. kanwal: susure. so, umum, you're right, s so someththing like alt half thehe population read thiss magazinene. and when y you actuy have a look atat it, it is in te local l language. when y you hae a look at it, you can see that it's really, um, designed for girls by girls. so it's very kind of text-light, image-heavy, it's got a nice feel and touch and look about it. and it comes out quarterly, and then there's a radio program in-between that. and what that allows girls to do is engage with the actual magazine, so it's something they can actually hold and take away. and it's full of very inspirirational stories, so for example, about, you know, the first female rwandan air pilot. and then also it's got stories about, or factual information about things girls don't often hear about, so things like teenage pregnancy and menstruation. and we've just seen that by being able to read about the issues, but then also

engage in discussions through radio o programs or listening groups, that allows girls to "a", sort of absorb this new information that they're exposed to, but thenen, really importantlyhahave the spacace to discuss it. becee we know that, you know, it's one thing just raising awareness about an issue, but actually it's only through discussion, through reflection, through engagement with h peer groups ad other r people around th t that girls and those e ople arounund them will start to engage in different types of behavior, more positive behavior towards girls. and one of the things we've seen is that when we've donene sort of an ananalysisis e impact of f the magazine, somethining like 75% of the girs have said that, you know, they feel more confident as a result of reading this magazine and engaging in the process. mike: one of the things i hear frfrom people who are on the contntinent, and one of ththe takeaways you hear when you have a conversation with them is that they get so unhappy with western ngos 'cause they come in with this one-size-fits-all we know exactly what's right for you. and there's not that deep engagement with the peop whoho really are the ones who are

gonna be toucheded by this. andy investing in the girls, getting them onboard, it's reallyly made a differerence for you, hasnsn'? kanwal: i think that's right. and i i think i would argue that ngos do try to do that. they try and engage with local communities because we know that's how change actually happens. but i think sometimes that's challenging in terms of, you know, are we speaking to the right people? are we actually getting to the heart of the matter? and that can be, you know, just logistically impossible and actually quite complex. but i think where girl effect does really well is, you know, it's found groups of girls that we get insights from. so, one of the things s we do in nigeria is get girls to have access to phones where they can interview peers, so girls of the same age and sort of b backgrou, and ask them questions about their lives. and we can then get that informamation traranslated back to usus within 15 minutes. what that allows u us to dis g t a a really deeeep insight into e lives ofof girls. and d often, u know, if you go out into the field as someone e external to

that community, , that creates a bias whehen they're givining u informatation. so what thihis ds because it's a er--a a peer mechanism whwhere rls speak toto girls fromom that own community, it's a a way, a really greaeat y of getetting insight withohouthe bias thahat a nd of foreigign researcher wouldld normally create. mike: : talk to meme about theh, too. youou've gotot like 10,0000 girls participating in it, right? kanwal: yeah, that's right. so, one of t the things i i think ko bear in mind i is that when wewe talk about brands at girll effectct, you know, ofteten we k of a brand as a logo. and actually, how we define e it is something much more holistic, so we talk about having g an overarching brand presence, where, you know, you might be aware of, you know, a local brand. for example, nyampinga in rwanda. . but then that's delivered d through these medida platforms, w which m might be, r examample, a radio program or a magazine. and then what we also do is clubs, which is a way in which girls connect. and that's a space for them to really just come together as

peers. you know, we're talking like 10 to 13, 14-year-olds. and it's a space just for them. often they're really kind of busy in their days doing household chores, going to school, so this is a safe space for them where they have mentors, and where they're able to learn sort of life skills around, you know, what's menstruation, how do they stay safe in their communities, how do they learn to save. and also fun things, you know, like making jewelry and just having some fun. you know, singing, dancing. and through this process they learn what we used to call backck in the dayy consciousnesess raising. so it's something around, you know, having the ability to analyze the issues that you face and collectively seek solulutions. d so this is a way that really boosts their self-esteem, their confidence, their ability as they grow into adulthood to deal with the issues that they might face further down the line. and the fourth component of the brand works that we do is community engagement because we recognize that girls in and of themselves often are very low

down the pecking ordrder in ters of power in their household, and much less in the community. so we understand the need to go beyond the girl and thing about all those people that engage with the girl, that influence her life. so that may be parents, it might be caregivers, teachers, you know, people who have power in those communities. so we think about ways in which we can engage them in the work that we do so that we can create an enabling environment for girls to really thrive. mike: enenabling environonment,t is there pushback? do you find some menen who--who just a are't accepting of this notion? kanwnw: sure, there's alalways pushback because, you know, we're talking aboutut age-old practices, age-old behaviors, and age-old kind of attitudes towards what's acceptable for girls and women in terms of their behavior, their roles in society. um, you know, so when you start to question some of those things, it, you know, it's a difficult thing for people to engage with. but i think it's

ababout the approach and how you do it. so it's important that we don't alienate men. it's important that men are seen as part of the solution to the issue. mike: when you talk about mentoring, that's got toto be a critical component to all of this, isn't it?? kanwal: that's right. so we-- it's a really tried and tested approach. we know that girls really benefit from having particularly female role models, and so, um, it's also a space-- a small space 'cause remember these networks or these clubs are quite small. so they have a lot of one-to-one time with a mentor where they can build trust anand rapport to allow thm to raise issues where they may not be able to raise them elsewhere. and we know that that's an effective way of allowing girls to surface issues bothth with their peers and with mentors and seseek solutionsns for that. mike: n n you talk to o me about your radio reaeach in ethiopia? kanwal: sure. so, in ethiopia, we have a brand called yegegna, and it has a tv show, and it has

a radio program. and what we do is, again, so we'll pick up issues in the tv program. and it could be on menstruation. it could be about making sure girls transition from primary to secondary school. any--you know, female genital mutilation. tricky things that actually it's difficult for girls to talk about. but what happens is that by airing it on this program that goes out in addis and amhara, it allows people to engage with issues that are now deemed more normal to talk about. so it kind of visibilizes issues, but it also visibilizes girls in a more positive way. so it kind of sparks conversations in communities outside girls, again, speaking to this enabling environment. and then what happens afterwards is after the programs have aired, the same programs go out on the radio, bearing in mind that not everyone has access to the tv, so also it goes out on the radio. and then we have listeners groups after that, and

that''s a space wherere people n didial in. they can have like really active and energetic debates about ththe issues. and one ththing we've f found is actually that men and boys are particularly interested inin th, um, in the either radio or tv programs. and it's a really good way of engaging with boys. just as i said before, that without engaging men and boys, we know that we'd get a backlash. so, um, it's been a really good way to engage them in a positive way so that they can think about ababout what, you know, what their role is to help girls acachieve their rights. mike: thank you so much, kanwal. really a pleasure. kanwal: thank you. mike: we'll be right back with this week's "fulull frame" close-up. mimike: wielding a spray can is second nature to street artist lola glass, known to her fans as lola the illustratator. she's

created 3 larger than life murals and has earnened two invitatitions to the bushwick collectitive block party. . it'n annual event that draws street artists fromom around d the wor. and while lola is one of only a few females practicing this art foform in a male dominated scene, what really sets her apart is her age. lola is 7. full frame caugught p with this young artist in new york city to learn how this 7-7-year-old is s making a namar herself and d gaining respect. [music playing] [horn honks] cecile: it, you know, like can get tall like this so you can reach all the way up.

ok, bye, elephant. lola: bye, elephant. lola: my name is lola, i'm 7 years old, and i paint at the bushwick collective. [siren] i've done an elephant here in bushwick, which i'm gonna paint over today. cecile: drawing has always been a big interest of hers. she just immediately saw what the possibilities were when we came here and she saw everything, you ow, like s so huge on the walls. we were visiting the bushwick collective with a friend of mine who's a graphic designer, and he had a spray marker that he gave

to her. so we went, we walked around and we saw all the paintings, and she was dying to paint something. joe: i was driving down, showing some murals to an artist that wanted to paint, and i see a little girl in a white dress, on her tippytoes, with a marker about this big, and she's drawing on top of beau stanton's wall, and i was like, hey! what are you doing?! and she just goes... so i put the car in park, and song was in the car with me. song goes, joe, what are you doin', bro? chill out. she's a little girl. i was like, yeah, you're right, dude, i shouldn't be yelling. why are you doing that?! he's like, you're still yelling. i can't hear myself yelling. it doesn't seem like i'm yelling. i get out of the car and go up to her, and as i go up to her, she's backing up against the wall like this. and her parents were across the street and they run across the street and they're like, no, no, no, no, no! she's with us.

she's with us. i was like, she's with you? was like, yeah, she's very inspired about the community, the neighborhooood, online, and she's very inspired about being here. i said, yeah, but you don't draw right on someone's wall like that. she didn't know. so i said, right here, draw something right here. so she drew something. i said, when you're d done drawing it, just like any one of my artists, i want you to, uh, sign it. w well, she doesn't knw what to sign it. so i said, what's your name? she said lola. that's all right. lola. [music playing] lola: whenever i come here to start a new wall, hehe's always with me. and when he said welcome to the bushwick collective, i knew it was just the beginning.

lola: and i guess he's not from the bushwick collective, because otherwise he would have asked joe, and joe would have said no, because joe loves me. i wanted my friends all to be on top of each other, but now i have a big fat, stupid friend who's not part of me. now i have to spend a whole day painting over this whole background. cecile: set up there. man: yep, we start from the end and [indistinct]. man: no?

lola: it's called increditoro. it's mixed up in two of my favorite movies. one's called "my neighbor totoro," and the other one's called "the incredibibles." so i mixeded bof those movies up toto make a superhero o that i named increditoro. [rattling] i always thought that drawing on paper was easier than painting on the walls, but painting on the walls is a little fun and takes more time. jojoe: i love it. lola: ok. joe: very good. all right? lola: i get one idea and if i think other people might think that it's like too normal and they wouldn't want to photograph itit, or they wouldn't think its as good as other people's art, but they might think that if i

put more details into it. [music playing] and i also want to give it my bestst toucheses becauseou s shd just start off with your style and what you like toto do, and then when you get--as you get bigger, then you can look at what other artists paint, and then you can mix that up with your style, and then you can make a remarkable piece of art. [music playing] joe: the bushwick collective block party was the beginning of this all. originally it was the first mothers day without my mom. my mom dying of brain cancer. me being part of this neighborhood my whole life, 37 years. um, i really miss her.

it's stilill hard to talk about it, but... i, uh, wanted to have a party. hopefully to raise money for kids with brain tumors. it didn't work out. we lost money because we didn't charge anybody. and then i said, hey, why don't we have some people come and paint some walls while we do that. and we did it. it just filled me up with life again. and the energy behind people like this... put me back together. [indistinct chatter] joe: we have 5 5people paintntig the streets. we have an art exhibition with 50 artists, admission free. it's a whole weekend of free events.

uhuh, you come see me today? cecile: joe's been amazing. he really like, besides giving lola a wall to paint on, he's been supporting her and mentoring her, really, uh, getting her to meet people who have different styles, constantly pushes her to do her best. he asks her for pieces, so she has to work on ststuff. lola: it feelsls like i'm becomg more and more a real artist. joe: before i even look at your i look at is how you live your life. you could be famous, or you could be little lola, just trying to start out. it don't make a difference with me. you gotta meet some standards. it's about my mother.

my mom was always proud of me, like your mom's proud of you. but i'm sure she'll be very proud to--if she had the chance to be here. [indistinct chatter] woman: thank you. see you next time. joe: i'm blown away to know when she's going to be my age and she's going to be speaking to people on this side of the bench and saying that where she is in her life, who she's painted with and all the wonderful things she's accomplished. and it's an inspiration for a lot of people who are scared to do what they love to do. you know, at my age or older, they're like, ah, no, i don't know if i can go back to school, or, nah, i don't know if i can be an artist or i can be a-- a dancer, or--right here, she's

letting you know you can be. because she don't give... at all. she dodon't give a crap. she just... she loves it and she eats it up. [music playing] joe: i'm so honored and proud that i found her and that i work with her and that, um, i get to watch her grow and develop. she's one of my, uh, stars. right, lola? lola: yeah. mike: that's it for this week. join the conversation with us on social media. we are cctv america on twitter, facebook, and youtube. and now you can watch "full frame" on our mobile app, available worldwide on any smartphone for free. get the latest news headlines and connect to us on facebook, twitter, youtube, and wavo.

search cctv america on your app store to download today. all ofof our intnterviews can sl also be found online at cctv-america.com. and let us know where you'd like us to take "full frame" next. simply email us at fullframe@cctv-america.com. until then, i'm mike walter in new york city.y. we'll see you next time.

>> was it t a conscious decisisn or a momementary lapse of reaso? how did progress take priority over humankind? how could the desire for a modern way of life that threatens our future be considered a way of life? could it be we are connected to all things in the universe, not the center of it? that suburbs in los angeles affect the melting ice caps of antarctica? deforestation in the congo affects the typhoons of japan? now we must face the insurmountable challenges for what they really are, opportunities to reinvent and redesign. "e2: the economies of the environmentally consciouous"