World Vision Report

Checkpoint Children

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:37:17 PST

The challenge for people living in the West Bank continues to be the hundreds of military checkpoints dotting its roads. They're scattered through the territory and run along the border with Israel. Controls at the checkpoints have become much stricter in recent years; thousands of West Bank adults who used to make a living in Israel can no longer cross the border to get to work.

In some families, the financial burden has fallen on the children. Some of them hang out at checkpoints, hoping to make a bit of money doing odd jobs, as Megan Williams reports.

Encore presentation from January 31, 2009.

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Garbage Picker

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:37:17 PST

It's been said that "one man's trash is another man's treasure." This saying is certainly true in Mexico. At the garbage dump in Oaxaca City, several families make a living by picking through other people's trash to find things to sell.

Conrad Fox reports.

Encore presentation from January 31, 2009.

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Top of the Pops - Belanova

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:37:17 PST

"Paso El Tiempo" is the new hit by Belanova, a Latin Grammy award-winning band from Mexico.

Encore presentation from January 31, 2009.

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Angelique Kidjo

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:37:17 PST

Miriam Makeba, who died in November after a concert in Italy, was the first major African musical superstar. During her lifetime, Makeba inspired many African musicians, including the world-famous singer from Benin named Angelique Kidjo.

Show host Peggy Wehmeyer talks with Ish Mafundikwa, our guide to global music, about Kidjo's life and music.

Encore presentation from January 31, 2009.

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Boxing in Sokoto

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:37:17 PST

Traditional boxing matches have been popular in northern Nigeria for generations. Though the number of matches being fought has declined in recent years, the type of people entering the ring has broadened. Instead of just butchers and slaughterhouse workers trying their hand at the sport, now a wide range of poor young men are boxing â primarily to win some big prizes.

Sarah Simpson reports.

Encore presentation from January 31, 2009.

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Poverty Illnesses

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:37:17 PST

Around the world, millions of people suffer from what are known as neglected infections of poverty. These diseases disproportionately affect impoverished and minority communities, where people may not have regular or easy access to good health care. Or they may thrive in crowded settings, where there is a lack appropriate sanitation.

Dr. Peter Hotez, a scientist at George Washington University who works to combat such diseases around the world, wrote about this topic in the journal Neglected Tropical Diseases. When he started looking into the issue at home, he was surprised to find pockets of such ignored diseases here in the U.S.

Hotez spoke with host Peggy Wehmeyer from a studio in Washington, DC.

Encore presentation from January 31, 2009.

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Passport Seller

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:37:17 PST

Seventeen years ago, Somaliland broke away from neighboring Somalia and declared itself a free and independent nation. It has its own flag, its own national anthem, and its own passport. Yet the international community doesn't recognize Somaliland, and that means its passport isn't recognized either.

Under Somaliland's constitution, however, its citizens are banned from holding a Somalia passport. This has spawned a black market in passports, as Richard Lough discovered on the streets of Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa.

Encore presentation from January 31, 2009.

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Liberia Churches

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:37:17 PST

Grant Fuller offers an audio postcard of music from different churches in Liberia.

Encore presentation from January 31, 2009.

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Eight-Year-Old Mechanic

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:37:17 PST

The International Labor Organization estimates that nearly a quarter of a billion children around the world work in some form of full-time employment. That can mean anything from the kid working in a sweatshop to the kid who fixes your car.

Will Everett met an eight-year-old mechanic on a recent trip to Pakistan. He tells the boy's story in this Reporter's Notebook.

Encore presentation from January 31, 2009.

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Women in the Economy

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:37:17 PST

Seventeen years ago, Somaliland declared itself independent from Somalia. But no other country has ever formally recognized Somaliland as a bona fide nation, and so it is not eligible for international aid or loans.

Many blame that lack of recognition for the fact that an estimated 90% of the men in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, are unemployed. Yet its marketplace bristles with activity. As Richard Lough reports in part two of our series on Somaliland, it's women who run the businesses.

Encore presentation from January 31, 2009.

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