children are learning the importance of protecting local wildlife. on the caribbean island of dominica, there's no end of things to do in the aftermath of hurricane maria. and we check out egypt's future center of government, the new capital. what will life be like in the desert city? urban centers created on a computer.

rows of uniform houses, all erected in record time. planned cities can be found around the world. the modern prototype is brazil's capital, brasilia. built on a towering plateau, it was a late 1950's architectural mega-project. barcelona, st. petersburg, and manhattan were all also conceived on a drawing board. and now it's egypt's turn. reporter: it's 50 kilometers from cairo's eastern edge, through sandy deserts and blistering heat. on the horizon is the silhouette of a new mosque. it's egypt's biggest, with four massive minarets and a huge dome. a gigantic building at the entrance to the new capital. a city of superlatives. apartment blocks for up to six million people appear as if from nowhere. investors sense big money.

mohamed khamis and his companions want to invest a sizeable sum in the townhouses, villas, and office buildings out on the desert sand. not far away, the new church, the biggest in the middle east. their tour of the new capital leaves them stunned. mohamed khamis: this is really a huge project. it's enormous. very, very big. reporter: big, smart, clean, and free of traffic jams. the new capital is expected to cost 40 billion euros. going up at its the heart -- the new parliament, the presidential palace, 36 ministries, and embassies. the government is supposed to begin moving in next year. mohamed khamis: it's clear the project is bigger than we could

have imagine it's hard to comprend the dimensions of this place. reporter: it's everything the old capital city is not. home to nearly 20 million inhabitants, cairo is bursting at the seams. it has gigantic traffic jams, smog, chaos, and infrastructure there is crumbling. not to mention the high unemployment. millions of people without hope live in the grimy megacity. karim fathy is one of them. to live, he collects plastic bottles at this garbage dump. the 28-year-old earns about three euros a day, just barely enough to survive. karim: of course this work isn't good for my health. but who else is supposed to feed my family? i have to do something. reporter: karim lives in ezbet khair allah, a slum in the middle of cairo.

they call the quarter the people's republic of china because it's hopelessly overpopulated and dilapidated. houses here are practically all in need of repair. the sewage system doesn't work right, and the air is polluted. fathy pays 20 euros a month here for two rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. it may be cheap, but it's also very basic. there's just enough money left over for a single warm meal a day, but not enough to educate his children. their future prospects look bleak. karim: it would be very nice if we could move away from here, find a cleaner home -- cleaner than here, at least -- a job, a school for the kids, because there's nothing here. reporter: but what to do with the people in cairo's slums? asmarat, another new settlement on the city's eastern outskirts, is one of the government's answers to this burning issue.

in just 18 months, it's sprung up from nothing. the buildings everywhere in the development have the same design and layout. there are apartments here for about 10,000 of the city's poorest families. the housing blocks have names like jewel, jasmine, or paradise. there are three elementary schools, and two supermarkets. but otherwise, there are few shops, and few jobs. mohamed el sayed and his family moved here from central cairo in july. his house was torn down to make way for a sleek new one. the government offered him a cheap apartment in asmarat. now, like most other people here, he has a big mortgage to pay off over the next 30 years. mohamed gave up his job as a cashier. the trip to his old neighborhood takes an hour-and-a-half. now, he just works occasionally here in asmarat painting houses. mohamed el sayed: we were in the

center of town. now we're in a suburb. it certainly makes a huge difference whether you live on the riverside or in the desert. reporter: the new apartment may be clean and modern, but for mohamed's extended family, it's awfully small. they weren't allowed to bring their own furniture. the new decor is more subdued. mohamed el sayed: i used to sit with my friends in cafes around the corner. they don't have that here. people have to fend for themselves. if i want to watch a soccer game in a cafe, i have to leave the district. reporter: the new capital with all its prestigious mega-projects may earn investors like mohamed khamis fantastic returns. but will it also benefit cairo's poorest residents in the long term? mohamed khamis: i don't think that there are apartments for people on a limited budget here in the new capital. but we are helping these people

by re-building their houses. they don't like to move out of the neighborhoods where they live and grew up. you can see that with asmarat. reporter: mohamed el sayed would certainly rather have stayed in the inner city. minor renovation work in his old home would have been enough for him. but the government wants to tear down and rebuild, and many people will end up paying a price for it. host: worldwide, around a billion people donate their time to volunteer work. organizations like the red cross and greenpeace would be lost without it. volunteers are also indispensible when it comes to rebuilding regions in the wake of natural disasters. a year ago, hurricane maria devastated the small island of dominica. volunteers from around the world are helping heal the wounds. reporter: it's said that if christopher columbus were to

return to the caribbean, the one island he'd still recognize would be dominica. its unspoiled landscape, thanks to an environmentally friendly approach to tourism, has given dominica the name the nature island. a peaceful place, then? not for these women. their day begins at 5:30 in the morning. maddie: i slept really good. reporter: maddie simmonds, a student from britain, is spending her vacation with a group of international volunteers. maddie: it can sometimes be quite busy. there's one little stove, so everyone is trying to make their eggs and stuff. it's often quite busy. reporter: a little over an hour later. taylor from the u.s. is considered the group's late riser. >> your shoes are wet? maddie: yeah. look i've got this huge hole. reporter: 20 volunteers are helping rebuild a day-care

center and a primary school destroyed by hurricane maria in september, 2017. driven by warm ocean waters, the tropical storm left devastation behind he. for dominica, it seems a terrible irony that the island that has been so committed to sustainability was hit so hard by climate change. reconstruction has been slow. more helping hands are needed. but not in paix bouche. volunteers and locals here are working eight hours a day, six days a week. building is coming along quickly. patrick: this is my school. this was my first classroom when i was, like, seven years old. and the building really got damaged badly, and there was no help coming from the government. all the volunteers are really doing a marvelous job. reporter: doing work like this, the prospective engineers,

pensioners, and english teachers like taylor learn a lot about construction. taylor: cement burns, things like that. reporter: cement burns? taylor: yeah, maddie has quite a few, she could show you. reporter: did you know this before? taylor: no. reporter: minor injuries are par for the course. maddie paid for her own plane ticket, but other costs are covered. maddie: i have the opportunity right now in my life to be able to help other people, so it's a nice thing to be able to do, to know that i'm spending my time doing something like building a school that's going to have a lasting impact on this village. reporter: alison john lives next door. unexpectedly, she's become the cook for the hungry crew. alison: you must put some extra love into it. that's why it's so tasty. reporter: alison learned how to cook from her aunt, who's also helping out. they're doing their best for the group. alison: volunteering is something that you do out of your heart. you do not have to do it, but they chose to come and help my community. if they did not come, this school would not be built as yet, you know? reporter: the rains are

starting, and this year's hurricane season is fast approaching. zahra warner is another volunteer. the psychologist from jamaica is spending her three weeks of holiday treating people here for trauma. she says they don't just need new roofs. their psyches also need to heal. zahra: melt into your chair. let it go, let it go, yes. how about we give it a little shake? yes. i believe that we all have the same reach of emotions. and i just feel like certain circumstances may force you to keep going, even though you may feel devastated, right after a hurricane, after an earthquake. allowing some spaces for that is key. reporter: the women and girls start out shy and skeptical, but slowly they start to open up and find room to express their feelings.

just a few meters away there's a 500-year-old tree that withstood the storm. zahra sees it as an allegory of strength, the ability to reach down to your own roots. >> but in spite of all the scars, it's still standing strong. zahra: i don't see it as charity, but i feel like there is a reason that i studied what i studied, and that i feel like there's something that i had to offer. reporter: the last hammer has driven in the last nail at the construction site. time to clean up for tomorrow. another long but satisfying day of volunteer work on dominica draws to a close. maddie: i think that's something

that a lot of people who come here want to try and incorporate into their normal lives back home, find a job where it's more like this where you're inspired to get up every single day and you want to make a difference. it kind of inspires you that there is still good in the world. host: a better world. that's a dream shared by many in africa, too. niger is where the main migrant routes out of nigeria and west africa meet, a gateway for many people hoping to start a new life in europe. and until recently, migration provided legal business opportunities for many in niger. reporter: since a botched operation left bashir amma unable to walk properly, he's been devoting most of his time to his football club, nassara agadez. he used to earn his living by tranorting huneds of migrantscross the sert. heas one of e local boes.

but now pele smuggling has been outlawed. nowadays, bashir is interested in getting young men to in his otball tea bashir: the routes north through the desert are much too dangerous now. i try to persuade the ys to stay here. maybe that will mean our team will get promoted to the first division. reporter: currently, the club is just about breaking even, says bashir. he pays their modest wages from hisavings orn occasionrom trsfer reven. therare six miants in bashir's squad. but despite his efforts, not all plan to stay. remy from geria has s heart set on europe. he dreams of becoming a professional footballer in italy. jeremy: here i get about $90 a nth. so when i'finished, en i'll take off. reporter: in the past, agadez

would have been the ideal jumping-off point for the trek across the desert. the city was long a hub for migrants heading for europe. migration was big business. thousands here earned their livelihoods from it. bair has alsmade his fr are. t those days are over,e sa. now unemployment is becoming a problem. helames the ropean uni. bash: the eu iresponsible. it pressured the government of niger to introdu an anti-peoplsmuggling law in 2015. europe has to answer f all of the people who were abandoned or died in the desert. reporter: since the law was passedthe authories have arrest dozens ofrivers and impounded their vehicles. shir tellss many people-sgglers nowisk more dangerous routes to dodge the checkpoints. he introduces us to someone who's still in business.

hamed: wno longer ta the official rtes, bute have lo of other utes thaavoid the patroland the mitary. reporter: the journey to the medirranean cot is hellish enough as it is. many faito make ithrough the dese, whether niger, in algea, or in lya. they're abandoned, abused, kidnapped. the who do svive oftennd up here in aimmigrant ansit center in agadez. wh the you men spothe tv cameras,hey flock ound us, wanting to show usideos of what ty have beethrough. mohamed haga: thalgerian ve sent us back niger again. when we were in the desert, ey robb us of evething we h. our ney, our cl phoneseven our water. had to wa for kilomers. they tat us blacpeople lik animal

report: politicaactivist ibrahim manzo diallo is the head of rio sahara in agadez. as best he can, heries to documenthat's going out in e desertand writes disturbing reports. his informatn comes from staff in the field. ibrahim also blames the eu. ibrahim:urope is fding this blatt disregarof human rights -- the murdering, the rapes, thelave trade -- as we have seen in libya. reporter: we meet the eu envoy niger, inhe capitaliamey. he rejec the accusions. raul: outop prioty of th ropean unionas to avd deat. people dng and vtims of e trficking. rerter: pele-smuggrs have repeatedly been accused of brutality. bashir dens that wasrue in his caseeven if thwork has provided him with a certain degree of prosperity. a tv now stands where migrants used to sleep.

but he says that he did everything by the book before the people-sggling law banned the actity. bashir: we registered with the authoritie we got official papers for the route. we were even accompanied by soldierss far as t libyan border. report: to boosthe economy in agadez and create alternative employment, the eu is now funding su things astart catal for neventures launched by former people-smugglers. bashir has received some money to set up a small restaurant, but many haven't received any support yet. bashir says it's too little, and possibly too late. but he'selying othe restaunt to be a succe. who knows whether his football team will ever turn a profit.

host: and now it's time for global ideas. this week we head to mexico. the country has been dogged by poor rainfall in recent years, creating huge problems for local biodiversity. our reporter, alexa meyer, visited the selva maya tropical forest in calakmul, where scientists are working to get a handle on the effects of climate change. reporter: night has fallen. it's the hour of the bat. two million of them fly out of their cave at dusk, hunting for food and water. but that's becoming more difficult by the year. the same is true for many of the other animals that inhabit the selva maya, including spider monkeys. the 10 million hectare tropical rainforest stretches across three countries -- belize, guatemala, and mexico. the 723,000 hectare calakmul biosphere reserve is part of it. and in the middle of the reserve is the mayan archaeological site

of the same name, one of the largest sites in mexico. but the rainforest is critically threatened. jose: we've had to cope with less and less rainfall for a while now. and that means there's too little water in the watering holes, so the animals have less to drink. the drought began back in 2015. 2016 and 2017 were the driest years ever recorded, and records go back 50 years. reporter: this watering hole in the middle of the calakmul biosphere reserve still provides the vital resource. researcher rafael reina has set up motion-triggered cameras at ten sites like this. he wants to know exactly which animals -- whether bird species,

tapirs, or jaguars -- come to drink, and how often, and how their numbers change from year to year. there are only 450 jaguars left here. rafael: many endangered species depend on these watering holes, which are impermanent and unpredictable. some years they're full, in others they dry up. every time we investigate, it's clear how important they are for wild and threatened animals. reporter: reina has the support of the g.i.z., a german development agency. g.i.z. provides cross-border financing of various long-term

studies, and coordinates projects in guatemala, belize, and mexico. florian: data has to be made more freely available, including across borders. that's where we have a lot of potential to affect change with our project. reporter: the goal -- providing cross-border biodiversity conservation in the selva maya. in mexico, the g.i.z. has equipped park rangers with digital smart technology. the software works even in the most remote areas. today, the rangers have discovered an area in the woods that has been burned illegally. they can send pictures of it directly to a database. frida: it used to take a long time before we could pass on the

information, at the end of a five-day patrol. now things are totally different. we can record the information in two minutes. the location, what we've already examined, which illegal activities we found. reporter: just being watchful and observing what happens in the forest, that's something youngsters can do, too. in their free time, 17 girls and boys from the village of mancolona are learning how to recognize and categorize birds. g.i.z. supports the training of groups like this, and supplies binoculars and field guides. on days like these, the group is out for several hours. they have to be very patient. it's pretty rare to actually see the rainforest's dazzling birds.

but sometimes they do get lucky and catch sight of a toucan or parrot. claudio: apart from learning that the birds contribute to plant diversity and keep pests in check, the idea behind this project is that the children will later become ornithologists or biologists. >> it's important to protect the birds, and the environment. reporter: claudio lopez records which of the approximately 350 species of bird the schoolchildren have seen on their field trips in an international databank called e-bird. the platform helps clarify where in the world which species exist, and how often they're spotted. and, most importantly, where they are under threat.

researchers like rafael reina have grown increasingly worried that larger tracts in the biosphere reserve will soon be cleared for farming. and there's always the looming threat of climate change. still, his work has already had an effect. rafael: because we keep talking about the watering holes and the animals, the people are slowly growing more aware of the problems. and they ask themselve for example, how they could more effectively use water resources, and preserve them. i believe that we are helping change perceptions among locals, researchers, and decision-makers. reporter: and their work h drawn attention. the government now wants to set up a new protected area. and efforts are underway to help animals get through the drought with additional watering holes. the first steps towards

we're back next week. and don't forget to send us your views and comments. write to us at global3000@dw.com or via facebook, dw global society. see you next time. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

helen: in western civilization, we have this idea of an artist. it's about a 600-year-old idea. this person is almost always considered a white man, and he is a genius, and he will do anythi