announcer: opportunity. prosperirity. optimismsm. remaining intact stretcheses f rainforest, to find out how local orangutans are faring in the wild. in iran, we meet a kickboxing champion for whom courage is as essential as passion. but first we go to the u.s., to meet children of drug-dependent parents.

what do they do to cope? the u.s. is in the mididst ofa major drdrug epidemic. the foundations for it were laid in the 1990's. back then, doctors churned out prescriptions for opioid-based painkillers. and pharmaceutical firms pushed products with aggressive marketing strategies. sales of prescription painkillers quadrupled in the first years of the 2 21st centy -- and at t the same t time, e drugs got stronger. in 2015, 33,000 people in thee u.s. died from overdoses. a year later, 42,000 suffered the same fate. the u.s. government's tactic so far has been to toughen controls on prescriptions -- driving many people with dependencies to turn to street drugs like heroin. it's estimated over two million americans are now opioid addicts. it's a desperate situation -- for the people affected, and their families.

reporter: it's a moment 15-year-old athena gregory can enjoy -- when she can focus just on herself. behind her lies a horrific childhood as the daughter of drug addicts. she bore sole responsibility for herself, her little brother, and her parents. athena: you always have to stick by your parents' side and even when they are doing what they aren't supposed to do, you have to help as much as possible, and be as brave as possible. reporter: back then, there was no such thing as cooking a meal together. the family moved constantly. they often lacked basic necessities. at the end, they lived in a motel. athena's parents existed in a drug-fuelled haze -- first pills, then heroin. jesse: you know, i went and i bought h heroin and i had d ata with me. and i was in the basement of

these people's house, and i was shooting heroin in their house, and she was upststairs in n tr living room watching tv. sarah: and shehe'd run thrghgh e housto t try to get ririd of everything shehe would find -- r heroin -- and she would flush it down the toilet, or she would break k the needles. and then in the end, we're just getting mad at her, like, why? you know? why would she do that? it was very clear why. she just wanted us to stop. reporter: the authorities intervened when athena was 11, and she and her brother were to come with me. and we were walklking down the reporter: drug abuse dictates many pplple's lives,s, especiay in poorer areas. one result -- neglected children. orphanages are rare in the u.s.

instead, the government relies on foster families to take in children at risk. ngo's seek out suitable foster families for increasing numbers of children. in this region alone, there are almost three times as many foster kids as there were three years ago. when a child is taken in here, he or she needs comfort, clothing, and a new home. the safe children coalition also has presents on hand, just in case a child is removed on his or her birthday. if no relatives are willing or able to help, brena slater and her team have four hours to find a new family, in accordance with regulations. brena: our entire circuit has been removing an average of 85 children a monthth. so, we had a d day last week whe we had ten childreren removed n one night, w within two hours. so, en sitituations like that

happen, we're calling g foster paparents. reporter: but there are not enough foster families to take on this important responsibility. kate dumbaugh is a foster mother. she took in aidan when he was nine months old, and made sure that his contact with his birth mothther never broke off. kate explains how it is when drug-addicted parents suddenly take a sober view of their own lives. kakate: to keep that momentum going, day in and day out, when you're s sober for maybe the fit time in your life, and you're confronting all sorts of -- it always chokes me up. when you think about what they have to go through day-to-day, reporter: a court gave aidan's mother one year to get her life in order after she had overdosed on heroin. katherinine: since i hadad a background of drug use, and my

other two children aren't in my custody because of my drug use, that's it. so, i wasn't'toing to lolose another child into the system because i wanted to go and use drugs. reporter: katherine has made it. after eight months, she got her child back. but she fears her past might destroy her children's future. katherine: yeah, i'm very scared of that because it's more likely for an addict's children to become addictsts. and, i know that i've struggled with it for a while, and that would absolutely kill me to watch my child go through it. reporter: in maryland, the gregory family are picking up their youngest from the school bus stop. for years, big sister athena was the only reliable parent-substitute for anthony, who suffers from autism and epilepsy. his mother even used drugs while she was pregnant with him. now, she is plagued with a guilty conscience. mutter: i'll never know if my

actions had anything to do with how he turned out, but i can't help but think about it. and i'll always think about t , that he's going to pay for something that i chose to do for the rest of his life with it. reporter: she's not as worried about athena -- the teen vows to never go near drugs. athena: i just want to prove to people that i don't have a higher risk of that and that i am myself, me and my brother are us, we are not based off of our past. we are the family that we are now. we are nothing like we were before. reporter: athena knows exactly what she wants -- after high school graduation, she wants to go to beauty school. her dream is to have her own salon. host: from the u.s. to the other side of the world -- iran, a

nation where women's freedoms are heavily restricted. there, even activities like applying for a passport or travelling require permission from men. and getting a divorce if you're a woman is extremely difficult. iranian women have been campaigning for equal rights since the beginning of the last century. back in 1936, the first women were admitted to university in the country. now, over half of all iranian students are female. despite that advance, women are still prohibited from doing many things in public. it's particularly hard to break with traditional set-ups in rural communities. and yet, time and again, some courageous women do exactly that. reporter: susan rashidi lives as a nomad in the kurdish region of northwestern iran.

during the winter, she and the other members of her community head south to warmer climes. she always has plenty to do. women here work just as hard as the men. but they don't enjoy the same rights. susan: there are certain customs and rules that we have to obey. traditions are especially strong amongst us kurdish nomads. for examplple, girlsls arent allowed to participate in sports. for ages i didn't dare tell my parents that i wanted to do sports. when i finally did, my father was furious. reporter: but she remained undeterred, and despite her father's displeasure, she took up kickboxing. the memory of her childhood struggles makes susan sad. the restrictions placed on her as a woman have had a profound effect on her. susan: neighbors and family

members looked down on my father because of me. they talked about me behind my back. many also said bad things to my face, but i ignored it and continued to do my sport. even when i started winning tournaments and all the media reported on this nomad-girl who had become a winner, it still wasn't acceptable for the people here. reporter: but it was acceptable for one person -- sadjad mirzayee -- a young man from a nomad family from illam in southwestern iran. he had been admiring susan from afar. he was impressed by her courage and ststrength. when he asked her to marry him, she had one condition -- that he not interfere in her sporting life -- a condition that sadjad

was happy to accept. sadjad: i see memen and women s equals. women can dodo sports jujust e men.n. i have no prproblem with that, regardless of what other people say. in fact, i'm proud that my wife is a kickboxer. i like that, and i support her as much as i can.. reporter: the couple have decided to continue living as nomads. that's unusual for people of their age. most of the younger generation have moved to the big cities in the hope of having a better future. but sadjad finds a sense of freedom in this solitude.

susan loves the great outdoors, too. and she loves her new life. her struggles as a young girl paid off. she has won kickbox competitions at the national level. she has a supportive husband and has achieved more than she ever dreamed. the next tournament is coming up soon, so susan needs to practice extra hard. and here, too, her husband is happy to help. susan was first inspired to do kickboxing when she was a child and saw bruce lee movies. she said she wanted to be like him. she noticed five moves that she secretly practiced at night -- left, right, right. left, right, right. susan: we women just need places to train. i have never seen such

strong-minded women as here in iran. iranian women are really strong. they're able to achieve what they want even under the most difficult conditions.. all they need are opportunities to practice, places where they can train that are safe and secure. reporter: susan didn't wait for someone else to take the initiative. she opened up her own kickboxing school in abdanan, the city nearest to her camp. men dominate the public sphere in this conservative city, which is home to 50,000 people. there aren't many women on the streets herere. unemployment and frustration abound. married women are often the victims of domestic violence. when susan decided a few months ago to teach kickboxing to girls, the students came in droves. ♪

smsmall city. if so many want training, then reporter: since then, the girls have been winning one tournament after another. back home at her camp in the evening, susan proudly shows us

her medals. she only has one regret. susan: i don't have a single photo or video of me actually fighting. this here is all i have because in iran you're not allowed to film women doing sports. that's why i can't show my students or children footage of me competing in a tournament. the security services wouldn't allow that. reporter: susan pursued her dream against all the odds. now her students are following in her footsteps. their inspirational instructor has given them the confidence to believe that the s sky is the limit if they're prepared to over the past 50 years, deforestation has destroyed all but a fraction of the country's rainforerest -- the nanaturl habitat of the orangutan. now, bukukit tigapuluhuh natil

pa is s onof the animalsfeww remamaing regeges. three yeyears ago, ourur repor inga s sieg wiessesed th reintroduction of a mamale angugutan to thehe wild. now shshe's fought h her way k throrough the forerest, to seew dora is doing. reporter: we're on m missiono find d dor she's herere somewhere, , deen the sumamatran jungle.e. zoologist t peter pratjeje ands team releasesed the orangugutano the wild, equipped with a trsmititter. peter: dora has been in ee jungngle f quite a while nowow so we can no longeprpredict where she isis. we havave 2000 squarare kilomes of f foreshere, , sot takess time. but thenududdenly u hehear a rustling in n the trees anandu find her a again.

reporter: inin the end, dorars cucuriosity getsts the betterf her, a and she appeaears. e's s now eight years ol ree years ago, she wasas rereleased into o the wild. bubut before thahat, she had n taugught all she n needed to kno survive in the jungle -- h t to clclimb,ow to o bud a neststand how w to find foodod. these e are things b baby orangs normally learn from thrr moers.s. butora wawas orphan.n. she had spent most of her life beg kekept -illegagall-- as aa pet. as a result, she's very y me. even afterer three years in te wild, she e readily takekes to humans.

the conservationists are keepi closose eyon dora. right t now they're e worrid because she e appears to b be lg weig. andhanani:ou are s shappy. i loveve dora becaususe dora in adorablele orangutan. . she is . she interactcts with the staff very well, a also. but she is realllly smart. i mean, , she can survrvive ine jungle. reporter: peter prpratje has bn working wiwith orangutanans fo7 years. hehe and his teaeam have reled 170 0 into the wilild far. but they'll l need twice t that numb to prprode a popupution that can survive on its ow peter: o m maiaim is to prproteclowlananrainforest. the orangutan isikike ouposterer child, thembasassar of thehe

rainforest i if you will.. and d if we don't t protect ite will lose the orangutan. 80% of sumatra's rainforest has disappeared over the last 50 years. that means the orangutans' natural habitat is disappearing. none of them could survive in an oil palm or acacia plantation. these monocultures are completely different from their natural habitat. that's why it's so important that we preserve t the remainig 20% % of the rainfnforest. reporter: the focus nonow is n preservingng the protectcted as that alrlready exist.. it's toooo late for ananything . amoy has also founa a new me in the bit tigapuh natiol rk, whershe's noliving i the ld. all the orangutans in this nature reserve were born in captivity -- each one with its own story.

rimbani has s lived in thehe d for ars.s. riright now she'e's coming baco the e center regulularly to shof her young son radja. peteter: when you u observe orantan,n, youften s see behaviors that are ticical of human beingsgs. yoyou can reallyly see that we clososely related.d. eachnimal an indidudual, wiwith aifferere face, a different characteter, and a differenent speed at which thy learn new things. th'r're likene b big fily. reporter: veterinarian andhani hartanti is going to check dora over. not ononly has she b been losg weightht, she's alsoso been hag difffficulties clilimbing -- probablyly because shehe w ina

fight t with anotherer orangan d isis injured. andhan abobouthree weeks ago, e of o o staffouound her already on the groun d ththey spect t thadora susuffers something, or a probl. and we knenew that the r rightt has an opepen wound, deeeep enh so we need t to stitch so o then can healal. mainininlowland rainfores ---- and d e of the last remaininin sanctuaries for orgutata. peter: if orangutans can survive hehere, en tigiger elephanan, and d all the otheher animals l be aututomatically p protected,.

that's why it's so important to preseserve what wewe have here.. rereporter: peteter and andhanai cocontinue to obobserve the orangutans t they release e inte wild foror at least twtwo yea. e project will only be nsnsidered sucuccessf thee animals have offspri. peter:ur hope that e population here will become so large that the orangutans can susuive on their own and reprode,e, so th thehere wl be new population in bubukit tigapuluh lolong-term. repopoer: perhapwhen she's a fefew ars older, dora llll ao have a bababy to show off -- helpinto e ensurthat t the region of germany known for its strong traditions.

reportrter: when youou think of eating outut in munich i in soun germany, you're most likely to think of traditional bavarian meat dishes -- sausages, meatloaf, or roast pork. but here, too, more and more people are turning away from meat, and animal products in general. one of them is erbil gunar. he was one of the first to ope donener keb shopop imunich -- thatat was over 3535 years ago.. his kebababs were a grgreat suc, but ththen erbil hadad a changf heart. everything a at his snackbkbas now 100% v vegan. the doner kebab is made with seitan.. erbil: what we'rbebest knownoror isur v veg doner kebab.

wentroduceabout 11ears ago.o. i would sawewe werpioneers in this reporter: ov t the yrs, erbil and s teamamefined their seitan timprprovits coistetency d taststand to ensure it keeps longer. seseitans madede of eat glglut. it's thought to haveeen n firs us i in ancit chchina a meaeat substititute for bududdhist ms who o were vegetararians. it took lots of exrimentatatn. erbil: it wasn't eas we tried outut various typypef grain, but i ididn't turout the way we w wanted it. we also creaeated fourauceces - fifirst we have e turmeric a and ginger, then there's t the clasc herb saucece.

we also make our own tzazatzik, and then we have a beetroot sauce. reporter: so what do the customers think? >> it's delicious and it's veg -- thahas pret r rare. i'm a strict van and inoww how hard it t to fi a snana at actuaually tastes g good. >> you bring non-vegan friends here, and d they become e vegan. reporterer: good luck k with t, and bon apappetit. host: that's all for today. don't forget though that we love see you next time. bye for now. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

announcer: opportunity. prosperity. optimism.

(upbeat music) (lig soft mumuc) (dodonkeys neighingng)