>> today on global 3000 we head to chile to check out affordable living options for people on low incomes. in rwanda, environmentalists are trying to prevent a wetland from drying up. but firsrst we go to afghanista, where there is still a complete lack of security. what does this mean for its people? should they leave or should they stay at co -- stay? the number of civilian casualities in afghanistan has reached a record-high. 5,166 people were killed or

injured in the first six months of this year alone. almost a third of them children - victims of almost constant suicide attacks, bombs and explosions. as a result, increasing numbers of people are fleeing the country. currently there are at least 2.7 million afghan refugees in over 70 countries worldwide - most of them in neighbouring pakistan and iran. and those still in afghanistan face the constant dilemma of whether to leave too. we met up with some of them. >> right now, my famamily is 50/50.0. half want to go. half want to stay. i am realistic but sometimes you have to dream.

ok. >> my family moved out of here seven years ago, and i was t too with them m but i nevever gave . i stayed behind. this is for you. going to germany, i have relatives and they told me, "you have come all the way to germany! seek asylum here, and stay! why are you going back too afghanistan?"

i was looking at the way they were living there, all the nice roads, these high speed cars. definitely we don't have in afghanistan. but, that's afghanistan. we got our local bread. and we got our fresh fruits. and we go to relatives' house, we hang out. so, we have a life where nobody questions you, where nobody, where nobody looks at me that, "oh, you don't belong here. i feel broken thatat in the past fifteen years we could not get this country to a place where we could have lived here. we wouldn't have to go move to another countrtry. >> most of my work is in making films. and my other project. swimming, creating a team of

female swimmers. i place my hope in t these projects. that is the 50 %that keeps me here. despite the bombings, despite not knowing what will happen to me when i walk home at night... if w we make it to the shohoresf turkey or grgreece - great. but thenen what? i realize those who go, are lost. because you have to start from zero. you don't t know the language. and what you d did or did not study, your certification. what are you supposed to do? you have to let it go. it's l like you are born again.

>> i am m a doctor, but i know f i go there i'm nothing. >> when it comes to finances, we don't have any money problems. we have a clinic. work is good, our r income is good. we have five children, three girls and two boys. >> they should have peace. there should be peace for our children.

>> the cat left. did you see? two o of my brothers were e kild in suicide attacks. two o of my brbrothers. when we go to workrk in the morning, o our childreren say: "father, will you cocome home alive or not?" >> people that y you seeee in afghanistan now, these are the people who have been the most resisilient. they have bebeen through everything. it has got worse day by day. it's got worse not better. >> there are a lot of problems. talking about leaving, believe me my heart is burning right now. tears come to my eyes. how could i leave my country? if i don't treat my patients, if she doesesn't treat hers, who will?

if we were safe here, we would never go. >> i am very afraid of the sea, but i am e especially afraraid r the chchildren. >> we haveve a visa to turkey, p to there we are going legally. after that, we are concerned about the journey. but just for one day. if we didie, we die for one dad, if we live here, we die every day. we dieie every day. we prefer that situation over this situation. >> this week, apart t from wheni lostst my father, this is the hardest week of my life. i received a special immigrant

visa for the united states. i am thankful that this, this probably will save my life. but, it's hard to even explain whwhat kind ofof feelings,s, whd of emotions i have right nowow. whenever i heard from m my fath: "motherlanand" and "ththe love r the country", and we would always make fun ofof that, and e would d say: "what has thiss motherland given us?" civil war, moving from place to places, all these traumas and all these craziness, people are getting slaughtered, people are getting killed, and our life is in danger. is this whatat the motherland ds for you? when my mom was leaving she was crying and i was trying to calm her r down and hold her and all that. but, in the back of my head i was like why is this lady crying?

she would just only,y, "you dont understand." it isis the country understand. ." "and, i'm like what part of this country? the explosionsns on the road? the killllings? all these rapes? all these crazy chaos? is that what you're going to miss?" and my momom would be e like: "u won't undederstand. it is that feeeeling that t oney you will feel it. but right t now, i understand. and, i can connect. i wish my y dad was around, andi would tell him that t i know w t moththerland is.s.

>> when i go to my friends and ask them to help me with my work, they say, "why are you so happy? we see the things on the news, and that's all we can think about." i i say, i am alive. those who died, you write about them and their memories. when they were alive they would tell us about their dreams. dreams they now can't reach. i tell thehem, "i am alive now,, come helelp me make my film." soso if i die e in a suicide atk or something tomorrow, you won't feel guilty.

with most friends i have spoken to, or askeded their opinion, ts is what i've found. they either want to o stay hereo matter what. or, they say "no". after risking our lives here for so long, they choose to take another risk over there. when i speak to my friends, i say, "let's s you and i take the risk of staying here. to see what happens."

>> in ouour global ideas sereri, we encounter those working to preserve and protect our planet's spepecies. this week,k, we travel to o the north of r rwanda. there, at over 2000 metres above sea-level, lies an important water reservoir - rugezi marsh. it's in danger of drying out. agricucultural and e energy instries are destroyg g the basis s of its existenence. our r reporter, lilia henrichmh, met up with h environmentalists deteteined to fifind a solution.

>> the rugezi marsh is a 20-kilometer-long stretch of wetlands in northern rwanda. francis musoke is a leading conservationist in the region. >> this swamp helps first of all to filter the water. that is very key to biodiversity. at the same time the swamp harbors these different birds as you can see. but another aspect is that it feeds two different lakes on the other side, but remember also the swamp feeds into ntaruka hydropower station, so those are very key aspects as to why the swamp has to be protected. >> the wetlalands are me to many birds, including the grey crested crane.

an endangered species. and the ibis. the areas where the birds nest,, raise their young and search for food are under pressure. >> one of the greatest dangers is that people sneak in sometimes because you cannot protect everywhere, you cannot put security everywhere. so sometimes people come in and cut the grass which is not good for the swamp because it exposes the water to evaporation. but another aspect i see is the soil erosion. because the swamp is kind of in the valley. and so once it rains, during the rainy season and because most of the hills around are not well protected with trees, so the soil comes into the swamp. >> local families need the grass for their livestock. they're already having trouble finding fodder, since the hills have been largely deforested. without trees, the soil erods. -- erodes.

it's a huge problem across rwanda, and in this region. the silt endangers the marsh and lakes. francis musoke meets regularly with local farmers. but there are no simple solutions. people here know that damaging the environment t will also destroy their livelihoods. >> twenty years ago there were tall trees and lots of forest here. the people cut down a lot of trees. now they're all in need of firewood. the population keeps growing. there aren't many animals here anymore. one approach is reforestation. planting new trees could halt the erosion and be useful in other ways. the hazelnut shrubs, for example, can be used in raised-bed gardening. the branches serve as fodder, so the cows no longer n need grass from t the marshsh.

>> initially they thought trees were not good for the gardens. they thought the trees were competing with their crops. but with time, with the sensitization and education they have now learned that trees can co-exist with the gardens and their crops. >> the international union for conservation of nature maintains five nurseries where they grow seedlings, including fast-growing eucalyptus. the work provides jobs. it has already produced 400,000 young plants. some of the trees will be allowed to grow to stabilize the the soil. others will be used for firewood. the seedlings need to be watered twice a day. it will take years for them to grow big and strong. ththnearby teaea plantation n ao needs watetering twice a d day.

normally the plants don't require irrigation, but for the past six months there's been no rain. the tea fafaory is the region's largest employer - and it illustrates the dilemma faced by the people here. tea production uses lots of electricity, water and firewood. the tea leaves are dried using hot steam. 350 kilograms of tea consume a cubic meter of firewood. the factory manager has now installed new, more efficient ovens. >> so we cut down the use of firewood by 47 percent. we're working with the forestry and the team there to try and look at better yielding varities of blue comb trees that we use less land and be able to provide us with the required firewood. >> the region needs reforestation to help maintain

the local water cycle. hydroelectric power is playing a growing role in rwanda. 40% of the country's power comes from water, so hydropower is also suffering from the lack of rainfall. >> the water level is lower than it used to be, so operating the power plant has become more difficult. the marsh is a very vulnerable system, but we badly need the water to generate electricity. wax -- >> the torrents that flow from the wetlands have become weaker. all the more reason to protect the marsh. and the species that are at home in it.

people here are determined to do it thehey can to save it f from destruction. >> it t is my wish that this contininues to exist because its very important to this area. it regulates, for instance the climate around. it gives water to the hydropower and we need water for our economic development and all that. so in my point of view, i would like to see, be it the lakes, be it the water, be it the ecosystem around, maintained for our future generations. >> today, more than half of the world's population lives in cities. that's almost 4 billion people. and the un estimates that in developing and emerging economies as many as 900 million people now live in slums. and this figure is forecast to triple by 2025. which makes recovering from

environmental disasters like the earthquake in chile a real challenge. >> diego rojas lived in this street until 2010. these are the remains of a neighbors house destroyed by an earthquake and then a tsunmai. the whole vicinity looked like this. >> the worst part was that no one expected it. we were asleep, then suddenly everything started to shake. 3, 4, 5 minutes long. you could sense everyone's panic. >> it was the end of february, 2010, at 3:30 a.m. a massive earthquake measuring 8.8 on the richter scale hit the chilean town of constitucion. then, its seafront and centre were completely destroyed by the tsunami that followed. over 500 people lost their lives, thousands lost their homes. this is what constitucion looks like today. a lot of construction has been

done, with funding from a government restoration program. houses are provided to all who lost their home to the catastrophe. villa verde is the name of the new settlement where diego and his wife rosa have found not only a new home, but also a new lease on life. >> i was renting places my whole life. first a room, an apartment, and then a house. and now all of a sudden we're property owners. we were given this house. i will be eternally grateful. >> that's right. it's a wonderful gift, and we'll make even more out of it. >> villa verde is a social housing project extraordinairer. hundreds of houses have been already been built. or, to be precise, hundreds of half houses. the architect alejandro aravena s contracted to build d as quicickly as possible, for no oe than 10,00000 dollars peper houe and lot. so aravevena decided t to create pre-fabricated, "incremental" houses that the new owners may

finish or enlarge as they please . and d can afford. alejandro aravena's firm, "elemental", does not design luxury spaces for the wealthy. rather, it focuses on projects that serve the public good on those that have a positive social impact. >> this is an initial unit, so this apartment grows over this side, this over this side. and the house underneath, over this side. and it seems they didn't lose their jobs. then they had the money to go to the middle class standard. it's not that we're building half of the house. we're building half of a good house. and you achieve the middle class potential thanks to the design, and not despite the design. >> it is all in the design. the 49-year-old is dedicated to social where fair -- welfare architecture. his office looks out over chile's capital, santiago.

aravena has revolutionized how people think about public housing prprojects. ul-less coconstruction whihich "cements-in" poverty is a thing of thehe past, he sasays, and mt be done away with. his motto is, architecture should enable people to improve their living conditions >> the capacity of feeling good or not, and this is connected to aesthetics. this is the glue that keeps all these forces together. we balance that from social housing and public projects. you have to do the most with very little resources, so there's a lot of discipline required, a lot of inventiveness. if there's any need and scarcity, you need to be creative. >> aravena is not only a proponent of social housing. larger, more spectacular projects are also part of his repertoire. like the innovation center at the university of santiago, or

these siamese towers. both project to not require air-conditioning. ergy efficiciency andd enenvironmentatal awareness arae inherent in n the design. and there are other kinds of public projects lilike the grounds. over 88 8 projects in 3737 difft countries, in total. >> we tend to gogoing to projecs that, every single time, we risk evererything we haveve. the only thing we have is our reretation, our professiononal reputation. but we're willing to risk it because the kinds of challenges that are involved are the projects that we take, we try to make the most out of very scarce resources. >> aravena and elemental's projects endow their users with self-esteem. in constitucion, diego's wife rosa, proudly shows us their half house. they have finished constructing the other half, she explains. here a bedroom, bathroom, and a

view to where they used to live. 150 meters from the shore, where six years s ago, their house collapsed, and tsunami waves swept everything away. araravena is aware of this thret from nature, as well, and plans to protect villa verde. he has built a basin to retain the water, in the event of another catastrophe. this should diminish the force of a tsunami. trees will also be planted here. >> against geographical threats, come up with geographical answers. if nature is the problem, maybe in nature is the response. >> environmental protection and social commitment, the pillars of a alejandro araravena's archchitecture. >> that is all for today. you can watch us online any time. or follow us on facebook where we have more webvideos for you. and do write to us - at global3000@dw.com.

10/28/16 10/28/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> generally, procompetition and less concentration, i think, is generally helpful, especially in the media. but this -- i've not had a chance to dig into the details, but those are the kinds of questions we need to be asking. amy: at&t has agreed to purchase time warner for $85 billion. if approved by federal antitrust