announcer:r:pportunity. prosperity. optimimism. where water is everywhere, making it a veritable playground for kids, but a potentially deadly one. to benin, whwhe voodoo is a state religion.. mamany are helelped by it, but children oen s suffer frfrom is decrcrees. but first, letet's look at t e humble banana -- the most popular fruit in the world.

could it soon be wiped out? in one way, germany is certainly a banana r republic. itits citize e eat 1kilogrgrams the yellow fruit every year on average -- americans are the only nationality to consume more. wodwide, b the vast jorityion ts of thewere from singleested cled varie -- the vendish.e hugn more. invitation to pests andpat. one of them -- a soil fungus called tr4 -- has spread rapidly in southeast asia, andnd causd major damage in many countries there. and tr4 is far from the only destructive fungus. experts have long said the days of thehe cavendish a are numbe. th's c causi majoror ccern inn uador -- banas a theus. euntry's mber onexport.the days reporter: no, there's not an airport ahead.

the sign is warning drivers about low-flying aircraft, spraying banana fields in southern ecuador with fungicides as a preventive measure. they make their runs two or three times a week. their target is black sigatoka, a fungus that is to bananas what bubonic plague once was to humans. darwin palacios owns four conventional non-organanic bana plantations. it's a family business. darwin: black sigatoka is not a disease you can eradicate.e. you have to learn how to live with it. it will always be there. it's a fungus that thrives under these favorable, humid nditions.. all we can do is carry out regular checks to make sure there isn't an outbreak that wiwill damage the banana cror. and makeke sure that the leavs and the fruit stay healthy. reporter: once the fungus has taken hold, it's hard to fight. ecuador has been mainly spared so far, due to its climate not being as humid and rainy as central america, for example, where fungicide is needed three

times as often. bananas are propagated asexually from offshoots. the main plant produces smaller shoots at its base. they are removed and transplanted. generally, the young shoots bear fruit within nine months. darwin: this way we can select the best plants. we actually get them cloned in the laboratory, so they have the same genetic properties. that guarantees that we always get the best possible fruit -- the bebest clusters with the highest weight -- so we get the best production per hectare. reporter: but asexual reproduction has a major risk -- the plant is no longer able to genetically adapt, and that makes it vulnerable to natural enemies. practically all the bananas eaten around the world a are te fruit of a single cultivar -- thcavendish. and unfortunately, it's not resistant to black sigatoka.

the fungicides being sprayed here don't pose a health risk to consumers, but they do to plantation workers. organic bananas are an increasingly important sector, making up 10% of total production. organic growers are taking a new approach, like here in el pinco. agronomist gonzalo marx peñarreta was exposed to farming chemicals for three years. he worked for a pesticide wholesaler -- until he got sick. gonzalo: i worked for a company that sold farming products -- like pesticides, and so forth. i had to work on the fields that were being sprayed by the airplanes. that's how i got sick.k. pesticide use makes the plantation workers sick. once they've reached a certain age, they lose their nails, they

get cancer, they lose their hair and their eyesight. it's all too much. reporter: it's hard to get official figures on health problems caused by pesticides, but in this region, everyone seems to know someone who has gotten sick. the organic plantations only use natural substances, like manure, bacterial extracts, algae extracts, and oils that may help slow growth of pests like the sigatoka fungus. gonzalo: on a conventional plantation, you can go walking at night and you won't encounter anything on the ground. on an organic farm, you'll find weeds, worms, ants, and all kinds of different insects. reporter: ecuador is undergoing some changes. after the country switched its currency to the u.s. dollar in 2000, the economy made a modest recovery. and that's also has encouraged a new, ecological way of thinking.

on his farm, darwin palacios has standardized his production. the yields in the various parts of the farm are systematically monitored. that helps palacios apply fertilizer, water, and pesticides more efficiently -- and in the process, he can save money. darwin: here we get all kinds of information about the harvested trees. the most important information is their weight. we can also determine the age of the planant and the lot where e frfruit came from. and using that information, we can see if something is wrong with that section, and we can intervene and improve things there if necessary. reporter: then the fruit is prepared for shipment from machala to europe. the bananas are still green when they're sent off. ripening will be initiated using

ethylene gas once they've reached their destination. but research continues. the goal is to breed plants that are completely resistant to the fungus. fungicides will then become unnecessary -- at least until the next pathogen stririkes te plantations. host: leaving science behind, let's consider matters of a more spiriritual naturere. practices may vary, but millions of people around the planet are united by a belief in something otheherworldly. take crop circle foror example. some s see them as s supernatl phenomenena -- others s as mess from extxtraterrestrials. in russia, a a third of the popopulation belelieves in astrology. the nation as a whole spends an estimated 22 million euros a year on spiritual services. reporter: the altay moununtains- thiss s where russia bordeders

mongolia, kazakhstan, and cha.a. it a d destition f for reneratis of pilgrs thatuntains- come fromiles arnd seengordeders spiritual guidance. lendnd hast thatat thiis a place toto embark on a a pathf inner changege. yelthoughts come true.it's i id you think out loud tn n your yoself of at in spspitual placesike e the. reporter: visitors here call ththemselv mododern lgrimsms. ey're drawn to yoga, healing rirituals,nd s self-quiry.y. yelenaomayun lea groups of stressedut city dwlers to thaltay mounins. >> i w here a ye ago, andall . i came to o relax, but also to find miracles.s.

repoporter: gomayun leads thee visirs to the onons of the viviage monastery. the confnfluence of ththese two rivers is ththe place to w wisr a spouse. yelena: i i think we rusussiann partrticul were e ways on sech fororeaning. at's the way we e. i rembmber bng a s sll child in theoviet ion, and o of reporter: in a vilgege inhata. southwestern russia, nadia imemelgunova says women le e hr used to be bururned at the s s. but t nowadays, dodoctors referr ththeir patientsts to her. shnadia offersrs treatments s wh babuwater,r, wax, and prprayers.

but shshe only receieives peoplo have b been baptizeded. nadia: thehere you go. you were r really scareded. t you're not scared ananymore. everyonene comes to meme. rich, popoor, en heaealthy peop. if people arare afraid, i i canl them. i can helplp fight against the evevil eye, re throatsbabad skin, inflammation. lolots of thingsgs. reporter: : hundreds of f kiloms away from nadia's village is another place where people arrive from moscow and beyond, hoping for miracles. nadejda starzeva doesn't he e it sy.. r husband recently committed susuicide.lcohohol was invololv. and jealousysy. she hahas additionalal probls.

nadejda: i am scscared about wt the dodoctors say ababt some dk children are doing.. i have a lot of children. i worry about ththem. reporter: thousasands of peoe have soughght help from m vadim petrtrovich over t the year. he tells nadejda tt t the crcrs floating in thwateter mbolize thburden of fe. prophesizes an lnlness iner ughter a and says he s sees te shadows in nadejejda's lungs.. petrovicich predicts a a newan will s soon enter heher lif. then he telllls her to dririnke wategive what ththey can.ed. vadim: i do o my best to c clee away a all the negatative ene. i was hohoping fewer p people d make their way here, but actually more and more are cocong. reporter: in t the former sovit

union, belief inin the supernatatural was an n open se. the psychokinetic experiments involving nina kagina, who claimed to have psychic powers, swere watched by the government. in the 1960's. shortly before the soviet union collapsed, a self-professed psychic named anatoly kashpirovskyky appeared onon to condnduct mass heaealing sessioo millions throughout thsovivieta davitashvili was sought by many in the politburo. her famous patients included soviet premier leonid brezhnev and later, president boris yeltsin. nearly 30 years later, countless healing services oinine represent a major enterprise. the patriarch of the russian orthodoxox church consnsides prpresident vladadimir putin'se to powerer a miracle o of god. hehe also foresesees an impeng apocalalypse. itit's not uncomommon for a poe

officer accidents. priest to bss jesusus has become a an antidotr misfortunene. sociolologists pointnt to deession, anety, and disorited sociy as a exanation r the rising bebeef in magical thkingng. dv:v: pple have no idea what'sgr disorited sociy as a future. they plan their lis s fromne paycychecko ththe xt, maybe a w w mont at momo. reporter: back in the ay untains, the spitutualuide yelena gamayun iisists hlers are more than rurall phenenenon. reporter: back in the ay untains, the spitutualuide she sa her clits fromoscow uldn't g bylike her.ople in a country where reality is a painful experience fororany, russians cope by hoping for miracles. host: russians aren't the only ones who believe in higher

popowers. so do people who practice voodoo -- an ancient religion rooted in western africa. believers pray to a supreme being and around 400 other spirits like the gods of thunder or water. benin the 16th century, thedle relilion spread the amecas with the s slave trade - -- particicularly brazizil, haitie dominican republic, and the u.s. state of louisiana. voodoooo has around d 60 milln adherents worldwide. in benin, around one in five people hold the belief. but some of the practices common in voodoo arare highly controversial. reporter: performiming a dance r the thundeder-god. she learned it while she wasew coconfinedo a a vood convevent.c

fohoundedji,t was an agonizing threree years inin wh she had no contact with the outsidide world. houndedji: the worst thing w ws not seeing my family. and there was no proper place to go to the toilet or to wash. there waoften nonoenough to eat,ndnd we we cononsttly hungry. reporter: houndedji lives in a. people here believeve in voodo, and in the p practice of c confg childrenen in conventsts in ordo he theheir inesseses a drive evil spirits out of f their bodidies when houndedji was eigight yeart stomach painins and a highgh f. her mother b brought her t toe hospital, but the doctors there were unable to help. the village e priest advisised sending g her to the v voodo convenent, which meaeant yearf alst c comple isololatn. > i knew thatat my daughtered susuffer under t the conditionos therere. there'e's not enoughgh to eat.

hehere on the ououtside, i havae enough f food, but i w wasn' allowewed to bring a anything tr in thehe convent. poporter: houndedji showusus the liesesn the center of the village, j just meters awaway m her house. but for ththree years, s she lv behind this fence, in anotrr wod ---- inaessiblble her famimily. hounundedji bringsgs us to the fortune-teller w she vised when sheasas sick ck t tn. it was theillalageracle who decid d her fate. the oracacle sd ththathe thunder-gohad to bappeased ordmeant years of isolation. achildren sent to the convent do t go to school ding g at ti. instead,d, they spend d their s praying, danancing, and lelearna

voodod language.e. houndedjdji: i waseaealed wiin threremonths by the prayers,s, e herbrbs and the e leaves. but i still had to stay. repoporter: for three long yeas during which time she also hahad to he ththe tre's sysymb cucut into her f face. houndededji: they mamade the thesese are the sisigns of thea. ithunder-gogod. repoporter: like the onenes on e boys' chesests. mamany children n are marked h scarars. the cucutting is a a traditiol elent t ofoodoo beliliefs, and part o of many rituauals. knivives play a rorole in this ceremony, too, altlthough the children do o not actuallyly t themselvlves. this groupup of children arere g releleased today a after havinin confinined for yearsrs in one benis ththousas of v vooo convents. attitudes are chgiging, buonlyly

grgradually. aid organizazations were a ablo limitingng the time ththat chin prprwould haveve to stay in n te nvent to a maximum of three momont. mama: : the new arrarangement as the chchildren to gogo to sch. i i self cannot read and write, so i it's very awkwaward when ie an official meeting. thinink 's impororta for children to o go to schoolo. rereporter: seveveral hundrd priests s and lol gogovernnt offificials have s signed te agreemt.t. it enabled t the release o of e ththan 1000 chilildren last y, o have returned to their falilies ando scschool but while the time spentn thth convenent habeen s shoened, thh practiti has yet to o be abolisd completetely. while filming, we witness hoaa sen-yeyear-o girl l wi severee stomacach pains consnsults thesd oracle and t the voodoo hihigh priest..

shshe anxiously y awaits theirir decision.. then the judent ---- three momonths isolatition in the cot inin order to heheal her. without evenen being able e toy odbye to her parents, she is ouought tohe c convent, direrecy to the sacrificial altar of ee eah-gogod. the girl needs a lot of time ts fromhere, , the girls s broutl oto the smallll mudut whehere se isiso spend the next three mont. houndji, meanwlele, isack inin school. but t readjusting g to normal e was nonot easy. houndedji: at first didndn'trs it wasas so embarrasassing. rereporter: after mimissing te

years, she still has trouble keeping up. bubushe does still have four years ofof schoong ahead oher,r, d the chan to o ke up for all at p preous time she los whe in theonvent host: : in many parts of the world, the carefree days of childhdhd include spending warm or lake. dthat makes it easy to o forget that swimming is not an innate skill. four billion people around the globe are unable to swim -- that's more than half the world's population. drowning i is one of the most cocommon causes of accidental death. every minute on averagage, two people somewhere in the world will drown. reporter: majeda begam treasures her daughter's clothes. one month ago, six-year-old aiyascha drowned near their

village. majeda: she was such a good daughter, she was always helping me. everyone loved her. aiyascha would have loved to have had an education. reporter: aiyascha's older sister farjsana is a great comfort to her mother. she misses her sister every day. farjsana: we did everything together. we walked to school, played together afterwards, and ate together. reporter: one fifth of bangladesh is just a meterer abe sea level. but mamany here cannot s swim. the statistics are shockining - 50 children drown every day in the soututh asian coununtry. thesese children h have learneo swimim and have a a lot of fun splashing about just a stone's

throw from their homes. most villages are situtued on pools like this one. they're used as laundry, bathing area, and playground. >> i learned to swim last month. it's great in the water. so nice and cool. >> before i could swim i was afraid of the water. now, it's fun. reporter: children who can't swim can only watch from the bank. they need to be careful. it's very easy to slip in the mud and fall in. four-year-old rubjol says that he cannot swim, but definitely wants to learn to. for now, he only bathes where it's shallow. farjsana has set off for the next village with her mother. today there are swimming lessons taking place there. farjsana knows how to swim, and

now she wants to become a swimming teacher. so she's helping the instructor. farjsana: learning how to swim is really important for us kids. many die, as my sister did, because they can't swim. reporter: sumata tasmin schumi is giving the lessons. in this mostly muslim country, female teachers aren't a common sight. her training is financed by a british organization, which has helped to set up more than 100 courses in bangladesh. sumata: i'm in the twelfth grade. a year ago, two children in my village drowned. afterwards, i wanted to become a swimming instructor. and i'm very happy about it.

reporter: finally, after practicing on dry land, it's time to hit the water. here in bangladesh, women swim fully-clothed. a special bamboo practice area has been constructed for beginners. there's a floor, so that no one can slip and go under. farjsana's motheher is still understandably nervousus. farjsana and the teacher try and help the children overcome their fear o of the water. sumatata: she is still young ad quite shy, but she'll soon get better at it. if she's determined, she'll be a good instructor -- perhaps even better than me. reporter: they practice swimming two hours every day. then they head home to help out with the chores. almost all of the children can swim after five days, according to the aid organization that organizes the courses. al-amin: children in bangladesh die all too often of diarrhea, cholera, m malaria, meningiti, and other diseases.

but 18,000 children also die by drowning. we have to do something about that. reporter: darkness is falling. rjsana and her family are eating dinner. they miss aiyascha desperately. majeda: all children should learn how to swim. then they wouldn't drown, like my youngest daughter did. it's so important. reporter: farjsana feels the same. what did you think? let us know. send us an email and check out our facebook page -- dw global society. we're back again next week. see you then. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning stitute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

announcer: opportunity. prosperity. optimism.

-in cuba, if you're an artist and you're work is politically subversive, you don't exist. they turn you into a non-person. -a lot of artists now are using hip hop to speak against what's going on and recognizing a lot of the issues that aren't being talked about. they call it a revolution within the rerevolution.