rainforest, where a small berry has become a global hit. how ist grow in africa, a an employment agey is attracting professionals back to the continent, where their skills are desperately needed. and we meeeet a very special won who has dramatically changed the lives of hundreds of street kids. worldwide, at least 150 million chchildren live on the street. and not just in poorer countries.

in germany, an estimated 32,000 children and young people have no roof over their heads. in britain, the figure is as high as 120,000. in nigeria, more than 1.2 million children have left their homes, many of them fleeing the terror group boko haram. in china, 1.5 million children are homeless. and in one of the world's richest countries, the u.s., that number is more than 2.5 million. in brazil, 10 million street kids fight for survival on a daily basis. in ukraine, we met a woman from ghana, who hasas dedicated her life to caring for street children. reporter: ten years ago, harriet bruce-annan brought these street kids to an orphanage she'd founded. harriet: this is veronica. here's priscilla. this is derek. and this is ashley. this is abraham.

and this is james brown. reporter: this is james brown today. the 27-year-old is studying agriculture in kyiv. he and the othther former stret children were given the chance to get an education, and they're using it. they have harriet bruce-annan to thank. she helped them get accepted at universities in kyiv. now they're medical students, i.t. majors, law and business students. why in ukraine? because, according to harriet, it's a country like ghana, striving for democracy. harriet: they are learning valuable lessons because the problems here are also happening in most of african countries. and then they can learn that people sued and fought for democracy. richard: the youth don't give up in ukraine. they always stand for their country. whilst in ghana, youth are always leaving their leaders to do whatever they like. it shouldn't be so.

reporter: ukrainian law requires the students return to ghana after graduating. harriet is keen for them to bring their skills back to ghana. 15 years ago, she moved to dusseldorf. she worked there as a cleaning lady, and sent her savings to ghana to build an orphanage. she looked for sponsors anand donations, and founded the organization african angel. for a long time, the children and students didn't know that harriet had to scrub toilets in dusseldorf to finance their education. that came as a surprise. >> what did you feel? james: humility, at the peak. if someone like mommy is this humble and cleans toilets to get money together for, let's say, me -- i have no reason to say

i'm not learning. and that applies to all of us. mary: for me, i didn't know what to say, because i wasn't going to school, and for someone to clean toilets just to take care of me -- i was really happy. i didn't know what to tell her, because i wasn't going to school, i had nowhere to go. so just to have that chance to go to school -- ok for me. reporter: one of the students, mary, comes from bucum, a poor neighborhood in the ghanaian capital accra. her parents were unemployed, and unable to take care of her. to prevent the girls from entering prostitution, and the boys from living on the street, harriet brought them to the orphanage. for a long time, harriet kept silent about her sacrifices.

she just wananted the childreno get on in life andnd contributeo their country's development. harriet: if they are studying in industrial countries and they stay there, who cares about them? but when they take it to where they really need them, that it where they can really have a great impact on the society from where they are coming from. james: my primary aim is to go back to ghana, improve the conditions, assist somebody, help somebody. everybody is complaining, everybody is talking about the system, so if you have the opportunity, i think i shouldn't be selfish about it. i've got education, i've got knowledge, i havavsomething g o do with mymy hand. so i go back home. i have a couple of businesses in my mind already. yeah, i want to become a big-time entrepreneur. reporter: one of james' business ideas came from the finest chocolatiere in ukraine.

he loves the beautifully packed pralines and dreams of opening a shop like this in his homeland. james: where do they get this chocolate from? wherere do they get the cococoa frfr? probobably from ghghana. yeah, from ghana. so, if you can produce it there, then we can help the country's economy. richard: in ghana, we have cocoa.a. we have sugar. we have other fruits. and then you can make this one in other flavors, too. it's cocoa, but you add something like pineapple, something like apple, something like banana, something like poco, to give it different flavors. reporter: the young people have learned a lot in ukraine. they enjoy the market banter. and the vendors, who appreciate their company, are happy to reward their haggling with good prices, and even a present.

harriet's days cleaning toilets are long gone. she now manages the african angel organization. she's delighted to see how well the children have turned out. harriet: they're independent. they're confident. they have chances in life. they know exactly what to expect. that makes me happy and proud. no one can push them around. they know exactly what they want. reporter: next year, james and richard are set to be the first in the group to graduate. and they'll always be grateful to harriet for giving them such a great start in life.

host: what can be done when the highlyly-skilled of a country me abroad, taking their knowledge with them? cording to recent t statistics, brain drain robs africa of as many as one-third of its professionals each year -- and their talents are sorely missed. to bridge the skills gap, africa's institutions recruit professionals from abroad, including scientists and engineers. all of which costs the continent $4 billilion u.s. each year. and yet, very few highly-skilled africans are returning home. reporter: sai chalamanda is sometimes amazed by what he's managed to achieve. the architect has just won a contract to design this hospital in his home country of malawi -- one of the world's poorest nations. 16 years ago he left malawi for england. he couldn't imagine a future for himself here.

sai: malawi is quite a challenging country in terms of economy and business. like, when you're e dreaming b, to do big projects, to rely on a loan from the bank, it's almost like impossible. the interest rates are so high, so huge. so in my case, what i've done is like, to start small. reporter: back in malawi, sai founded his own company in a run-down industrial area of lilongwe. initially he ran a photocopy service. the business was a success despite the fact that half of malawi's population lives on less than n a dollar a day. sai began printing t-shirts and then got his first major contracts. with the profit, he set up his own architecture firm. sai: malawi is still developing, so there are some things that,

like say in u.s. or u.k., they already started doing that maybe for the past seven, 10 years, but if you bring them home, it might be a new thing, and that might be a new business idea. reportrter: this agency in johannesburg, south africa helps africans return after studying abroad. it has a database of highly-qualified africans who've gone overseas. its clients are african companies that are looking for well-qualified employees w who know the conontinent well. nearly three quarters of african graduates work abroad. angel jones says her agency has brought back around 1000 people, though the reason for returning often extends beyond the promise of a good job. >> when i get up -- i'm sorry -- every morning when i g get up,i sit under a clear blueue sky. reporter: for boboth the canande

and angel, there's a lot more going on here than just business. angel: business on the continent in africa, it's a lot about relationships, relationships, relationships. so they want somebody who might be international, who might have been there for ten years, but they've still got those key people on the continent who've got those relationships, for new business development, for route to market, for all of those different things. reporter: shelton siziba is someone that has these kind of contacts and a good job as an engineer. but when he travels by taxi through zimbabwe's capital harare, he's clear about why he wants to leave the country. zimbabwe is in a financial crisis. and those who get the chance to leave, usually do so. there are potholes everywhere -- even here in the capital. and in the city suburbs, money is exchanged. state debentures are now the new currency, though many shops only

accecept u.s. dollars. shelton: i don't live only for myself, i live foror my childr. when i looook at the education standadards here in n zimbabwe,y are quite bad. and the sala t that i geget, rit now with the situation in zimbabwe, it's almost like hand-to-mouth. reporter: shelton is one of zimbabwe's well-educated, young middle class. he says his country is in a mess. he's been planning to leave for months. many of his former colleagues have already gone. and while he and his wife and their two sons lead a relatively good life here, they dream of more. ideally, they'd like to move to australia, but they have also considered canada or germany. shelton: the salaries are good in my profession. i'm able to save. the fact that i will be able to save, then that means i'll be able to make a certain

investment for my children, and at the same time, i'll be able to -- if t there were opportunities, i'll be able to start up my own business. reporter: shelton says he can't see any chance of that happening in zimbabwe. he says no agency in the world could convince him to stay or even return later in life. architect sai chalamanda, on the other hand, says returning to malawi has definitely been worth it for him. and he says he didn't need an agency to convince him to return home. it was his wife joan who gave him the courage to come back. when he left for england, she chose to remain in malawi. joan: people are being helped by what he's doing. so people are getting paid, their families are being supported, because of what he's doing. had he stayed there, i think all these people who are working under him, i don't know what would have happened, yeah.

reporter: joan and sai are sure their future lies in malawi. and they believe that ultimately it's africans themselves who will make a real and lasting difference to their countries' struggling economies. host: in cities like berlin, this is the latest hype -- acai bowls. it's the super-food of the moment, and d it's especiallyy popular with vegans and fitness-focused urbanites. >> we get our acai frozen from brazil, since it's impossible to get acai fresh here in europe. host: in our global ideas series, we went in quest of this miracle berry. acai palms g grow mainly i ine amazon basin. ththe berries arare harvestd betwtween july and december. only a fraction of them are exported -- mainly to the u.s. and japan. most of them are consumed in brazil. our reporter, bianca kopsch,

went to brazil to find out more about this small but mighty super-berry. bianca: every nigh t tons of beberriechangege hds at ththport ofof belem in e e brazilian amazonon. acai h has attained d super-fo atusus. for its fa, it's's miracle rkerer -- ghtingng wrinkles, obesitity, and some say even caer.. demand is grgrowing worldwdwidet only as an i ingredient fofr cosmetics s and medicinenes, t especiallyly as food. the acacai berries a are mashet the e veroeso mamark next dodo. the ththick juice hahas trtraditionally y served as anan accompaniment to fried fh h here in t norththerbraziliaiastate of para.a. but not onlnly tha- > acai suits s everythin. and it t tastes good, , too.

>> f famies here introduceheheir chchilen to acai at an earar age. >> without acai, my stomach fes emempty. bianca: threree hours soututhf belem, in ththe ddle of f e amazon delta, acai palm eeees liline t rivererbanks. para is s brazil's larargest a oducucer a togetethewith thehe state of amazonas,rorovides timateted % of glolobal supply. the village of igarape miri is known as the world capital of acai. . beraca, a sustainabl ingredientnts company, s sours berries toto use in cosmsmetics herere. erica a pereira is r responsiblr promomoting sustaiainabilit. she's s showing projoject parts how acai can bcucultated in n an o-frfriely way. erica: we look for are w with suststainae cultltivion and d lp advisese growers to o avoid overproducuction. when it cocomes to the f forest should be e productive, , but ae

sameme time presererve the nurl lancnce. bianca: some 30 farming mimilies haveoined d tother to o rm a cooperative. thacacai grows, prprotected, n the middle of the rainforest. that's's one othe e most importt prereqequisites for r gettig organic c certificatioion. defofostation, artificial fertilizerer, and insecticid aren't a allowed. rosivaldldo: that's whwhat orgc looks like here. these avaves woras f fertizer. biananca: rosivaldldo costa uso cut t down the fororest to growe and cassava and to harve t the artsts of e acaiai pm. but he didn'n't earn much.h. he'd getet about 30 eueuro centr a palm hea. for a cluster of orgicic acai, he gets fifive times as s much.

rosivaldldo: we only chop down e llllest pa trerees. you can hardly climb uththem -- they can b break. bianca: haharvesting reqequires ststamina and mumuscle powe. in the maiain harvesseseason fm aust to o dember, ththfarmer's son climbs up to 1 100 palms a y toto pick acai.. the e berries needed six montho riripen. since costa opped cutting the fore, ththe haest hahas increased. the trees prototect each othtr from the sunun and stop ththe fs drng o out. rosisivaldo: in ththe past thia just ausk,k, witut mucuch ice. today, they y are juicier.r. a prprotected areaea like thise brbrings more jujuice. bianca: bubut the rmerers hato bebe persuaded t to try this cultivivation methodod. raca supported the farmers and nobenenefitsrom ththr higher yields. for theshigh-quality acai, the

company papays almost doubublee prprice earned f from conventity fafarmed berrieses. beracaca tested the e economic impact a as part of ththe t.e.. project, w which stands s fore economicics of ecosyststems and biodiversity. the brazilian ministry of th envinmenent, t natioiona industririal associatition, ane germrman agency fofor internatl operation,n, or g.i.z., , are invovolved. luciciana: theeeeeb approachch o lo at nanatul resoururs in economomic terms, bebecause mof ththem he had no clear valalu. so the p project trieses to me somethg tatangib and r real that didn't h have a clear r value l now.w. otavio: and hohow to integrate thatat value into o business

decisionons. bianca: one ststudy compareded different ways of farming aiai. cononclud that t ornic forere rming -- like costa dodoes -- is 45% mo proroducte thanan coentionalal methods this f farmers' collective frm igarapape miri has been supplyg beraca sinince 2009. theye e negotied a a purase guarantee and a fid d price. that provivides security for te families here. the studshshows inmes s in t cocommunity haveve increased significanantly with thehe swito orgaganic. what beraca a doesn'buy,y, it sells to other customers but ey'r're noready y toay the organic prememium. the acaiai will be delelivereda brananch of beracaca just oute belem. first, t b berriesre s soake anand then drieded. asas a result, t the thin fruiut

layer crumbles. it's then removed from the core in the next t step. the resultlt is a kind o of p. >> this peat still contains about 2020% oil. bianca: it takes almt t 70 kikilogrs of a acato produdu a ter of oilil. beraca ao prprocses other primary forest fruits into ingredients for r natural cosmetics and exports themem o more than 4040 countries.. ththe demand for naturalrorodus isrowingng. ererica:he companies tt t buy our r pructs nowadays el a a lot pressurfrfromheir endnd ststomerfor momoreatural produc. bianca: the coanany ai to bebe asasustainable as possle. itit wants to sasafeguard supps from the amamazon rainforerestd that incncludes brazilil's sought-after super-berry. host: don't forget to check out our facebook page -- dw global society. there, you'll also meet our berlrlin globals -- peop frorm

all over the world who live in berlin. what do they like about their city? today we talk to hamid sulaiman. ♪ hamid: when i left syria, i was like, i needed to start a new project. i've always wanted to do a comic book or an animation before, and then i moved more to comics. this wasas also helpining me psychologically,y, as some sortf therapy, some sort of cathartic work to express yourself. it's like some sort of wririti, it's like getting healed. i came here for the first time to participate in this exhibition, and since this moment, i said, ok, this city seems to be interesting. i like the art scene here in

berlin. i like this new contemporary culture everywhere. the freedom of speech, it's basic for any artist. in syria, we're not allowed to touch subjects like sex, politics or religion, and this is like, what should youou wok about if you can't speak about any sensnsitive subjects? so here, it's really amazing to have this freedom of speech, of expressing yourself in all kind of forms and media. today, we are here in the gallery to see the work of the french artist, emmanuel tussore. and today we are having a talk here about architecture and how the destruction affected cities like aleppo and homs. i left syria early, like the end

of 2011, i went to paris. and like, i was touched d of course when i saw w photos comg fromom homs in the beginning, daraa, and then aleppo more and more. and with time, i started also to find conflict started to getet more close to damascus. when it happens to you, to your memories, to where you come from, the effect is way much harder to deal with. syrian cultural life here in berlin is getting more productive even than how it used to be in damascus, because it's mostly syrian peoplele who hae this syrian experience, damascus experience -- they move to berlin, here they are taking

advantages from learning about other cultures somehow and taking the best of both cultures. each city, i learn the culture of the city. since i'm here in berlin, there's tattoo, graffiti, techno music,c, a lot of things t thi wasnsn't that much i into. but like, i played basketball in all of those cities, that's something that never changed. i cook syrian food wherever i go at my home. and now i'm starting to mix it with more plates from all over the world, having the advantage of this. so, this is how it gets always, to mixture. mixture is, like, richness? how you say, richness? mixture is richness.