if you've e never heard of cocotton-top tamarins, then n s about time. ngo's are working to save them. mali, a nation at the mercy of both conflict and climate change. we meet people there determined to make a difference. ananwe head toto the u.s., whee getting seriously ill can threaten not just your health, but also your livelihood. critics say the e u.s. health he system inonot wort of f an

industrialized nation. inin one svey y in t countntry 76% of those asked said th lieveved t systetem ould bee radidically alterered, or even completely replaced. in the united states, a major sinessss cane devavasting for your financial heaealth as wel. staying in bed might be good for your body, but it's often terrible for your wallet. not working frfrequently meaeant being paidid. in the gastronomy sector there, up to 90% of workers have no right to paid sick leave, and simply can't afford to take time off. long-term paid sick ave is somethinmost amecans can on dream o stephanie: see? you do like me. reporter: stephanie tucker is a tough cookie. she gets chemotherapy once a week. her son, marcel, keeps her company. stephanie lives in philadelphia, and has breast cancer. but she hasn't taken sick leave. stephanie: when i put in my

timesheet for this week, i will have t to mark the a area thats no pay, which h means i won't t paidy my j job for t today. reporter: is it a finanancial strain foror her? stephanie: yeah, it is, considering i have a mortgage to pay, you know, car payments, it's kind of hard, but when it comes to your health you have no choice. it's something that you have to do. reporter: stephanie isisnder tremendous strain. she's struggling to survive both financially, and in her fight with cancer. stephanie: at first it was, oh my god, how am i g going to del wiwith this? can i hide it? can i nonot tell nobody?y? but never did it cross my mind to not get treated. reporter: many undergoing chemo continueue working. they're afraid of losing their

jobs. but such stress doesn't help their health. didiane: some e people, r recoe that they don't work, depending on their work environment. and if they can't, such as health care, some people work in health care, that does put a stress if ththey have to work. stephanie: there have been days like that, that i've called my supervisor and said, look, i can't do it, i'm too tired. and again,n, depending o on ii have a sick k day or a vacatin day, it's no big deal. but if i don't, then it's, ok, i know the consequences of not going, so i just -- again, you deal with it. reporter: people diagnosed with cancer in the u.s. have to provide documentation that shows why they can't work. they rely on the support of hospital staff to provide proof. dr. jacobs: certain employers are more generous about it, and certain employers are less generous about it, but yeah, it's a constant problem here.

we just work with people on an individual basis. the nurses are sort of invaluable in helping people work around their schedules. reporter: stephanie gets chemo every friday. she has the weekend free, and uses the time to recuperate. melanie morgan drives 2.5 hours for her chemo treatments. her daughter accompanies her. they're staying in a kind of hotel for patients. it's funded by private donations. each room has a plaque with donor names. the patients can stay here for free. melanie is also still working, despite the chemo. but her employer made a concession, and allows her to work remotely. melanie: i it's our way of lif. i mean, you know, i know a lot of people, b being in the healh care professioion myself, i knoa lot of peoplple that aren't as

fortunate as me, that aren't able to continue to work. but, i mean, it's a way of life for us, this is just part of lifefe, it's not anything thate look as being a burden, or anything. reporter: melanie's treatment is in little rock, arkansas. the medical university here specializes in the type of cancer she suffers from -- multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. the uams is a renowned research center, and treats more myeloma patients than anywhere else in the world. and if the treatment is not covered by health insurers, the hospital offers help from charitable organizations. dr. van rhee: it's in general terms a much more complicated system. one additional burden to the patient is that the patients have to navigate this complex financncial world, both in ters ofof the benefit that they are

able to receive, and alslso dealing g with insurance aspec, which can be quite daunting. reporter: the clinic's own social worker counsels melanie, helping her to find support. melanie's salary wouldn't have cocovered her threree-weektatat the hotel. her treatments are sometimes lengthy. melanie: for me, it's hard to accept charity, because i'm a giver. i'm a big giver, i'm not a real taker. so, i'm the onone that's alwas used to doing for everybody else. i've raised fofour childr. reporter: melanie knows that none of this would have been possible without her famililys support. shshe proudly shows photos to r doctor. family and philanthropist support is essential, as there is not a national right to sick leave in america. melanie and stephanie are lucky. they can take off a couple of paid sick days or vacation days when they're feeling unwell,

although not all employers provide this benefit. but in the u.s., few voices have been raised in protest. stephanie: they feel they can't make a change. and they feel like if they say anything against our government, then it's taboo, you're going to get into some kind of trouble. so a lot of people just accept it. and they just say, well, this is what it is. reporterer: stephahanie dreamsa health system th w would gnt the sick the time they need for recovery, without any anxiety about financial survival. host: and now we head from o of t t world's wealthiest nanations to onene of itpooror, mali in africa. in 2012, first tuareg rebels and then jihadist groups attacked northern regions in the country. after the government failed to react, there was a military coup.

when islamist groups began to threaten the south, former colonial power france intervenededpushing back the insurgents. islami a attacksre o ongoi, and mali istill fafafrom stable. with elections cining upt thee end of jul just t w much of a didifference can politicians ma? clear visions and enthusiasm are essential. and the man we're about to meet has both. ras: as bob marley said, now we see the light, we're going to stand up and fight for your right. our work aims to make as many people as possible aware of their rights and responsibilities as citizens. to demand accountability from their politicians.

to know how their taxes are being spent, and whether promises are being kept. i decided to quit working as a lawyer after the islamist insurgence in 2012. it shocked my nation. i thought, if a small armed group has managed to bring my country to this state and to install its on own anti-democratic laws in the nortrth of the country, then y nation has failed. we work with village communities. the village elders greet us, and spend a whole day with us. they place their faith in us, and ask us to pass on their problems to the authorities in the hope that their situation will improve. it's these people who give us a

euro or a dollar, or even a few cents. it's thanks to their donations that we can make our way there in the first place. people have stopped behaving like sheep. they're refusing to take cash bribes, and are fighting back against corruption. they're campaigning for education and using arguments to back up their cases. i've had a parart in that succe. i'm proud of being part t of ts fight, and of the wind of change sweeping across mali and africa as a whole. we're living in the 21st century, after all. today's technology enables us to see what's going on in other countries. it allows us to make comparisons, and to see whether there are alternatives, places where things work well.

things which we could adapt to our needs. like bob marley said, now we see the light, we're going to stand up and fight for your right. nobody can stop the movement of the african people. host: nature, however, can have a devastating affect. much of mali lies in a region where conditions are harsh. the sahel stretches 6000 kilometers across the continent, and people who live in the zone face months of drought every year. meteorologists say there could be more rainfall there in future. but so far, farmers in mali have experienced quite the opposite. lengthier dry periods, water shortages, meager harvests. how are people there dealing with the challenges? reporter: chouane keita has all but lost hope. once again, her well has run dry, forcing her to watch in

dedespair as her mango trees wither. it's a similar scene all over gonikoro, the village she's lived in since she was a child. chouane: the groundwater level was so much higher when i was younger. it was easy to dig a well. yoyou didn't have to go deep t all. but women can't dig wells anymore. the e water's gonene, becausef climate change. reporter: many others are suffering, too. this family grows corn. it's tough work, and now, during the school holidays, everyone, no matter how young, is helping out. the seeds they're planting were given to them by a neighbor after the family lost their crop due to drought. this kind of seed is supposed to grow extra fast. in this area, the effects of

climate change are already painfully apparent. helping to combat them requires long-term solutions. hartmut: germany's aim is to help stabilize mali by providing the country with thehe means o adapt to climate change while also keeping in mind that mali is developing on its o own. that's why we help private enterprises s adapt to clilime change, but also to find new investment opportunities connected to the issue. reporter: one way the german agency for international cooperation is helping is by working with the seed wholesaler faso kaba. it's advised the b boss not to rely solely on maize, and to think k about investing in othr strains of seeds.

maimouna: these days, the high-yield vararieties aren'tt profitablele because thehey'ret enough for our customers. we now work together with an agricultural research institute. it has identified seed varieties that respond to climate change. it's a shorter cycle, 2.5 to three months. although, the shorter the cycle, the smaller the yield. reporter: it's half past 7:00 in the morning in kolokani. adama tiecoura samakie and his colleagues are on their way to sebekoro to meet members of an ngo called pacindha, which helps communities protect biodiversity. adama: we promised to come back. here we are. reporter: five months ago, members of the ngo helped the local women to plant a vegetable garden in the village. they've come back to see how it's doing.

adama: you have to get down deep to distribute the fertilizer. reporter: the women use sheep dung and compost to make an organic fertilizer. thanks to an irrigation system installed by the ngo, this is their second harvest of the year. massou: if i turn it on here, the water comes out there. reporter: the women fought long and hard to tap into the system that supplies water to a nearby hohospital. adama: the vegetable garden has been designed to adapt to climate change. this yeaear it hardly rained. when it did, it came late and didn't last long. they couldn't plant any grain, and ththere were no peanuts,

either. wiwithout the vegetable garde, people would be stuck at home with nothing to do. and they'd go hungry. reporter: since the vegetable gagarden was plalanted, the wn hahave been meeting every morng anand every evevening. massou traore says that's strengthened their sense of community. massou: we're going home now. reporter: massou has promised to help the women to get a well installed in the village. massou: because i can bring people together and motivate them, the women came together and asked me if i wanted to lead them. reporter: meananwhile, samakies meeting the men of t the villa. they're learning how to prevent erosion. adama: we're going to prune the trees now.

if we leave just one branch we'll have enough shade anand t will continue to produce fruit. and crucially, it will continue to deliver moisture into the earth. reporter: leaving the trees standing makes planting harder. still, with the effects of climate change so apparent, most people are convinced that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. there's never any shortage of firewood. massou and the other women are now managing to survive off what they grow. the vegetable garden provides them with a healthy diet and an income. massouou wants to crcrack down people who fell trees for charcoal. massou: we spent so much time talking to people. i think anyone caught cutting

down trees should be fined.. we need the wood for cooking. but a few branches are enough for that. reporter: ngo worker samakie agrees. he's been trying to persuade people not to cut down trees. but it's an uphill battle. just a short distance away is the evidence. for samakie and massou, the struggle is still far from over. host: and another struggle continues in this week's global ideas, too. the rainforests of colomombia e home to o a critically endanged primate, the cottoton-top tamar. in j just two decacades, the population of these elususive monkeys has shrunk by 80%. in the region n around el ceib, animal righthts activists s are doing their utmost to help the surviving animals thrive. and as our reporter katja doee discscover, thatat'sot as eaea

as it sosounds. rosamira: cocotton-top tamaran monkeys haveve a special significance for me. i ababsolutely lovove working h them. they're an especially y beautil species. and that enablbles us toenenere grgreateintererestn theirr preservation. reporter: you have to navigate your way through endless forests and swamps to find cotton-to marins in the wild. extremely shy, they' the size of c cat andeighgh less than half a kilo. they livive highn ththe tr-tops, and are one of the mtt endadanger primamateon the

planet.. rosamira: cotton-top tamarins are ononly found here in colbib. and onlyly in one partrticulart of the c caribbean regegion. in the 1960's and 1970'shehey were used en masseor aninima experimentnts, for studidies on bowel cancncer. back then, 20,000 to 30,000 of them w were exported to the u.. reporter: today, therere only arou 700000 coon-top tamarins still liliving in the e wil. rosamira g guillen used d to a zoo director, but then she sacrificiced her career r to p protect ththe species. today y she runs thehe fundacn proyecto tititi. itits biggest spsponsor is nonoe her than movie and media giant diey..

rorosamira: our r focus is maian researchining and protececting cotton-t-top tamarins.s. but t right now, t the most importrtant factor i is that wee to preserve ththe rainforestsi order to save thmonkeys.s. reporter: the rainforest here in northern colombia is comprised of an array of smaller forest areas. much of the region has already been deforested. the ngo aims to link up the individual woodlands via corridors. the team have their own reforestation center, where they cultivate the right mix of trees and other domestic jungle plants. juan: our objeive e iso establh h fores that will pport thsurvival of the tton-topamarin. the e rridors will makit easier for the monkekeys to moe from one section of woodland to ananother, and m make it easieo reach sources ofof food. reporter: : growinthe e wood

corridorors is trickieier that might t sound. many staff at the ngo ar achihing tmselvevethe art of gagardening in t the colombianan jungngle. an: a lot of the plant species weave e in o foresestsre not commercicial varietieses. so thehere's no infoformatin available on the best y y to plplant d growow tm. reporter: and not everything grows at the first attempt. juan: we soweded these seeds to months ago.. and we've seen how these species didn't thrive in plastic contaiainers. so we'e're now havg anotothetry over there, directly in th soil.. repoporter: the gagardeners wl have to o wait a few m more weeo see whether this option prov moreuccecessfu juan: know that it's fffficult resestore foresest as opposed to j just saving i it. itit's a complicated processss.

bubut it is possssible to regege the originalal forest. reporter: for the time b bein, the ngo stafaff are plantitinge trees themseselves. but the lolong-term planan isr local fafarmers to plalay a bir role i in rerestatatioefforts.. planting newew woodland, h how, is not e enough to sececure the survival of ththe cotton-topop tamarins. proyecto titi also works with villages in the area, such as los limites. the residedents used to o hunte monkeys for r sale. the ngo teamam have now heheld locals develelop new sourcrcef inincome. the women n in the villalage e set t up a handiafts group, rnrning diosabable pstic b bags

into colorful handbags. ana: we alsoso make these e std toys. ththe message is, buy a fe ananimal, not ththe real thingn. anand in the prorocess, benefie communitity and help e ensuree survivival of the cocotton-top tamarin momonkeys. reporter: : procee frorom sas are e shared betweween fundacn proyoyectoiti anand e women n o make theoys. the nghas beenn the grnd hereor 16 yes. the are nosigns alover the ville promotg the consvation othe cott-top tamarins. thmonkeys e also othe curricum at the lol schoolol the students here play a g gae where ththey representnt the animimals. each p pupil has to o fight for their treeee, representeted by r chair. and toto illtrate e thlack off trees in the real world,hehere araren'tnough h chrs to gogo around.

>> what's happening g to the creaeatures of thehe forest? ththey're going g to die. they havave no food, n no homeo treeee. repoporter: educatation for thet genetion, , rerestatioiofor ththe fure, anand w lines s work. proyecto titi has a multi-faceteted approach t o acachieving its s goal. rosamira: if people don't ha a a steaeady income anand know notg about this species, itilill al for n nothing. it's the s same thing ifif peopo have i information, , but theye no idea how to presee e the forest. we hopope that our v vision wl enable us s to achieve o our obobjective -- saving th cott-topop tamins frfrom

asas always, we love getting yr feedback, so do write to us at global3000@dw.com. and don't forgetet we're on facebook, dw global society. see you next week. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute,

08/10/18 08/10/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> if the uniteted states rereay wants to stop the exit is from latin america to the united states, ifif it really wants serious relationship based on friendship, it has to beginin by changingng its ownwn drug polic. amy: as colombia swears in a new