 Hey, guys, how you doing? Hey, what's up, though? Hey, Laren, we're walking by. We're the great music. What is it? Grab a seat. That was Makosa. I got it in Cameroon in Central Africa. When I was in the Peace Corps. Really? It sounded a lot like salsa. What were you doing in Cameroon? I was a teacher in a high school. I've heard of the Peace Corps. Aren't they missionaries? No. The Peace Corps isn't a religious organization. It's a part of the U.S. government. It sends out volunteers to work with people in other countries. Here, let me show you. The governments of other countries invite the Peace Corps to come help them meet certain needs, like healthcare or agriculture. Each case is different. Some volunteers teach in universities. Others are nurses, mechanics, park and wildlife managers, engineers. When I joined Peace Corps, I had no idea how much I would learn about being flexible and about being creative. The job I was originally assigned to do was agriculture. And after about six months of trying different ways to make it work, I got to the point where I finally asked and was willing to listen. Asked the farmers that I was working with what they wanted. So once I was ready to listen, and we wound up having a discussion together and what they wanted were oil palm seedlings. Trees. Trees that grew an important fruit for them. And that's what we wound up working on for the next year and a half. And it was great. So the volunteers really helped people help themselves? You got it. The Peace Corps calls it a grassroots approach. That means that the volunteer serves as a catalyst, helping the community build upon the ideas and the solutions it already has. So what happens when the volunteers leave? Well, that's the most important part of the volunteer's job. To give the people the skills they need to continue the project on their own, long after the volunteers left the country. So if a volunteer's program is successful, the Peace Corps doesn't need to go back to that village. That's it. But the volunteer's influence doesn't stop there. Their friends and host families overseas have gained a better understanding of the United States. Oh, so? Well, for example, many people in the world don't realize that people in the U.S. are so diverse. When the Cameroonians first met me, they were surprised that I was an American because of my dark skin. Really? Yeah. But also, when the volunteers return to the United States, they help create a better understanding here of other cultures. Like I'm doing now. You know, I always thought it'd be really cool to live in South America for a while. Maybe even work in the rainforest. Yeah, that would be cool. But being a part of the Peace Corps is a very serious commitment. You have to be prepared to spend two years living and working in another culture. Didn't you get lonely being far away from everything you grew up with and living in a country where no one speaks your language? Yeah, I did a bit at first. But soon you make new friends and you become a part of the community. And the Peace Corps prepared me well with language, job training, and cultural education. Mary and Jim, they had lots of friends in Costa Rica. We're assigned to the environmental education program with Peace Corps, Costa Rica. And as part of that, we work in environmental ed in the schools and any kind of activities the community has that would support environmental education. Our work in environmental education gives this community and the visitors to this area a better understanding and appreciation of this really special environment. It also gives one a perspective of how everything fits into this global picture. What other jobs do Peace Corps volunteers do? It depends on what kinds of help the country asks for. Here I work with the Thai Center for Disease Control in their campaign on AIDS. Basically, my role is to act as an educator and as a kind of consultant to help them develop their programs and projects. I think one of the neat things about the Peace Corps for me is that I actually live in the community that I serve. So I've been able to go out and meet a lot of different people and become a part of this community in different ways. I've started to learn how to cook food with a vendor family in the night market. I am starting to learn how to play a musical instrument. I've picked up Thai kickboxing, perhaps the number one sport in Thailand. And all these things really make me a little bit more effective in the work that I do. I'm not just some foreigner sitting on the outside of this community. I'm directly active within the community and participating in the lives of the people. Being a health care volunteer, my major responsibility is doing preventative health and educate women in my community. One of the typical things that we do is growth monitoring, which is weighing babies. And women from all over the community will come to the health post, will weigh the babies, I'll do consulting with them and we'll go over some education about how to feed their children properly. The family that I live with have become my family because they call me sister or they call me daughter and they include me as part of the family. The Peace Corps is really all about learning from each other, sharing skills and knowledge. Wasn't the Peace Corps started by President Kennedy? Yes, in the early 1960s. He presented it as a challenge to all U.S. citizens to help people throughout the world. To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves. For whatever period is required, not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. A few months later, in March of 1961, President Kennedy created the Peace Corps. This call will be a pool of trained men and women sent overseas by the United States government or through private institutions and organizations to help foreign countries meet their urgent needs for skilled manpower. It will not be easy. None of the men and women will be paid a salary. They will live at the same level as the citizens of the country which they're sent to, doing the same work, eating the same food, speaking the same language. Of course, the Peace Corps today isn't just about mud huts. Volunteers have all kinds of jobs in nearly 100 countries around the world, even countries in the former Soviet Union. Was it strange coming back to the United States after being away for so long? At first it was a little difficult, but I've tried to take what I learned in Cameroon and apply it to my work here. The challenges I faced there dealing with students of all different ages and backgrounds really helped me become a much better teacher back here in the States. When I think about my Peace Corps experience, I've really learned a lot from the Cameroonians, maybe even more than they learned from me. So the Peace Corps is really about learning to work together despite cultural differences? More than that. It's about being open to learning from each other and return volunteers often bring home good ideas. Yeah, didn't those Peace Corps volunteers bring back those nap sacks that parents carry their babies in? Yeah, that's good. You're right. The Peace Corps really sounds like an incredible experience. I was. The more we try to understand each other and learn from each other, the better it will be. Because ultimately, we're responsible for each other. Thurman, do you think we could work on this mutual understanding stuff by borrowing a CD from Cameroon for a while? Yeah, come on, Thurman. Just a CD. All right, all right. Enjoy. Thanks, Thurman. Interesting. We've really got to go, though, now, but I'll see you soon. Hey, hey, hey, no, no, no, no. I know it was you. I come out to you now for my tape. The finest island of its size in all the world is how the great explorer Marco Polo described Sri Lanka. Over hundreds of years, many different groups of people have made this beautiful island their home. And each has brought its own traditions, religions, and languages. Together, we'll discover these and many other exciting things on the serendipitous island of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is the second-largest island in the Indian Ocean. It is roughly the size of West Virginia and is located about 400 miles north of the equator. As you can see, it's very close to India. In fact, at one point, they are only 500 miles at one point, they are only 31 miles apart. However, India and Sri Lanka have always been two separate countries. About 2,500 years ago, Sri Lanka's earliest settlers came from the northern part of India. They are known as the Singhalese, which today is the largest ethnic group in the country. About 7 out of 10 people are Singhalese and most of them practice Buddhism. Not much later, settlers came from the southern part of India. These people are called Tamils. They are the second-largest ethnic group and most practice Hinduism. People from these ethnic groups have always lived and worked together. Most of the time, they have gotten along. However, there have been times when they were just and present when this hasn't been the case. You may have heard about the Civil War between the Singhalese and the Tamils. The current conflict is in the northeastern part of the island. Peace Corps volunteer Michael Desisti lives and works in Sri Lanka. Before he went, he read in the newspaper about the Civil War and was not sure what to expect when he arrived. Americans can learn a lot from Sri Lankans. They're having a Civil War here and people know a lot about that. Since Sri Lanka has a Civil War, people don't get along. What strikes me about Sri Lanka is just the opposite in fact. So that's been a pleasant surprise. While there are many different reasons for the conflicts, the Sri Lankan people are doing the best that they can to make their homes. Over the centuries, Sri Lanka has been influenced by many other groups of people who have also settled here. Just like in the United States. As trade routes were developed, the island became a popular place to stop, mainly because of its many spices and safe harbors. Arab sailors were the first to come. Many of them like Sri Lanka so much that they stayed. Their nickname for the island was Sarindip. Do you know what the word Sarindipity means? These sailors practice the Islamic religion and today, over one million Sri Lankans are Muslim. On Friday mornings and on holy days, Muslim men and boys go to the mosque to pray. The Portuguese sailors came next, bringing Christianity. Some settled in the famous spice market of Nagombo. Today, the people in Nagombo are mainly Roman Catholic and many have Portuguese names like De Silva or Fernando. The Dutch also came to Nagombo where they influenced the architecture and developed this canal system. Today, many Sri Lankans live along the canals. During the afternoon, you'll see many women washing their clothes here. Kids women bathe here too. In the beginning of the 19th century, Sri Lanka became a colony of Great Britain and was renamed Ceylon. The British changed the way of life for many Sri Lankans. Today, many of these changes are still an important part of the culture even though Sri Lanka became an independent country in 1948. The British established English as the official language, developed roads to connect villages across the island and set up huge plantations to grow coffee and tea. Tea has become one of the most important exports of Sri Lanka. It is picked the same way today as it was during the colonial period, mostly by women who walk among the tea bushes picking the newest tea leaves and buds. It will take four pounds of these tea leaves to produce one pound of finished tea. Have you ever had Ceylon tea? Maybe the tea your family drinks comes from Sri Lanka. The family is the most important part of a Sri Lankans life, no matter what religious or ethnic group he belongs to. Peace Corps volunteer Jennifer Fauci lives with the Singhalese family in a small village located in the middle of the island. In Sri Lanka, people value their family. Their family is the most important thing and I think that's something very important that we could learn from Sri Lanka. The family I lived with in Vijay Bahukanda for the first two months I was here is a very special family. Their name is Ratnaika and there are three children, a grandmother and parents that all live together in a house. My family are Singhalese and they are Buddhists. Let's meet the oldest girl, Damaka. She can speak two of the three official languages Singhala and English. My name is Damika Ratnaika My age is 10 and my name is Vijay Bahukanda. Hello, my name is Damika Ratnaika I am 10 years old. My village name is Vijay Bahukanda. Damaka and her brother, Bhandera go to school Monday through Friday from 8.30 in the morning to about 1.30 in the afternoon and most of the students wear white uniforms. Education is very important to Sri Lankans and most kids from 7 to 14 years old go to public school. Every morning when the teacher arrives the students stand up and greet him good morning. The teacher starts today's lesson by asking the students if they have ever seen an airplane before and all the students answer yes. The teacher now tells his students about Americans Orville and Wilbur Wright and how they flew the first airplane. As the lesson continues the students will learn more about the first airplanes in Sri Lanka and their busy international airport in the capital of Colombo. Now the students must answer questions about the lesson. This is Singhala script. Sri Lanka is the only place in the world that uses this alphabet. In the younger class Damika's brother practices reading and writing. The teacher tells the students that she will finish checking their work tomorrow. At the end of the school day Damika brings her respect to the Buddha. During a break our cameraman showed the students the videotape of themselves on the portable TV. Even the teacher had fun. After school Bandara plays with his friends in the backyard. Damika helps her mother around the house. They don't have indoor plumbing so they must walk to an outside well to fill up their water jugs. Behind their house there are several acres of rice paddies. Everyone in Sri Lanka eats rice. The main meal of the day is served in the afternoon around 2 o'clock. Damika's mother and grandmother have prepared rice with vegetable and beef curries. Meal times are an important time for the family as they get a chance to all be together. After lunch the grandmother helps Damika and her brother with their homework. Religion is an important part of life in the Ratnayaka family. They are Buddhist which is the most common religion in Sri Lanka. The children say their prayers every evening. And Damika and the family often go to the Buddhist temple in the village. It is a very old religion that is based on the teachings of the Buddha. He teaches that if you are a loving and unselfish person and live a good life you will eventually find peace. After the girls have said their prayers they do their good deed for the day by sweeping around the temple. During her school vacation Damika and her family will probably visit the temple of the tooth. This is one of the most important Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka. It is called the temple of the tooth because the sacred tooth of the Buddha is kept here. Sri Lankans try to respect all religions. The other main religions practiced in Sri Lanka include Hinduism Islam and Christianity. Two out of ten people in Sri Lanka are Hindu which is one of the oldest religions in the world. Hinduism developed over many centuries and includes the customs and beliefs of many different people. Every year in the fall Hindus have a holy day called Deepawali. This means the festival of lights and is a celebration of good over evil. It is a special time for each Hindu family. They begin the day by making a pooja or an offering to the Hindu gods. They also pay respect to family members who have died. The flame or light is a symbol of goodness and the father blesses his family with the light to take away all evil and the children bow down to show respect to their parents. The father then passes out new clothes to each family member. During ceremony the family prepares a special meal. The oldest son gets banana leaves from a tree in the backyard. He cuts them into small pieces so the family can use them as plates. This is an old Hindu custom that is saved for special occasions. And while the mother washes the leaves and cooks the meal the young girls have their own responsibilities too. They need to feed all the pet birds. The family then joins together and celebrates with the feast of rice and coconut milk served on the banana leaves. Like the people in the United States the people of Sri Lanka come from many different cultures and religions. And even though some of the Sri Lankan customs may not have been familiar to you you can see that they are similar to many of the customs we have here. But it is these customs that also make this island country a unique and special place. Sri Lanka truly is serendipitous a land of happy and unexpected delights. All Americans live in the United States. Some Americans live in Honduras. In fact everyone who lives in the Americas North America South America and Central America is an American. Honduras is in Central America next to Nicaragua El Salvador and Guatemala Most of the country is mountainous which makes it difficult to build roads and to farm. While there are several large cities in Honduras most people live in small villages in the mountains. The mountains also affect the climate. It is cool in the hills and mountains while it is hot and humid on the coastal plains. Mario Vasquez and his family are farmers. This is his mother, Candida and his father, Don Gregorio. They live in the mountains in Semane. Nearly everyone in Semane is a campesino or a farmer. Every morning Mario gets up at 5.30 so that he can work on the farm before school. This year his father gave him his very own plot of land. Mario is clearing the field to prepare for his first crop of corn. Mario says that the most important person in his life is his father because he teaches him. Someday Mario wants to be a farmer just like his father. In a few months Mario will graduate from the local school. His formal education will end with sixth grade. Mario and two of his younger sisters walk about 20 minutes to get to their school. The teachers live farther away so they usually ride in on horses. The local school has about 150 students in grades one through six. Classes start at 8 o'clock and end at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Most of the students are in the first and second grades. These children get a free meal at school. For many this is the most old day. Many of the older children stop going to school after second grade so that they can help their families on the farm. However, some children are able to stay in school. These older students in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth grades share one classroom and have the same teacher. This is a reading class. The students are using new vocabulary words to describe the objects listed on the blackboard. They will then read these words in stories. Thank you for helping me to read these words in stories. Thank you for helping me to have dinner with you and your mother this week. Besides learning traditional subjects, the students also learn how to farm. Both boys and girls take care of the corn and bean fields next to the school. During recess, the girls usually play games or sing and dance. The boys play soccer. Mario is one of the school's best players. He likes to play the position of forward. Peace Corps volunteer, Moral Pacien, is a soil conservationist who works with local farmers. She lives near the school and loves to teach the children new games. Living in Samani is a daily adventure. There wasn't any electricity and there's no running water here. I had to fight with the ducks to be able to take my bath. The hard thing for me to get used to was distances and transportation. No one that lives here has cars and hardly anyone has even horses. And the fact like, what do I spend most of my day doing some days is just walking like getting from here to there. And Samani often feels sort of like what they had. After work, Laurel likes to spend her free time with Mario's family. She usually helps his mother and 14 year old sister, Confessora, in the kitchen. There is always corn to grind to make tortillas. Life is hard here. These people work all the time. Gregorio gets up at 3 o'clock in the morning and he's not kidding. And he goes out to the farm and she's usually boiling the corn and then washing it and starting to grind it. And he's already out in the field. Working in the kitchen is just as hard working out in the field. These women work from the moment they get up in the morning to the moment they go to sleep. It never stops. But at the same time, people are always laughing and talking. There's so much interaction between families and the kids. And everybody has their jobs in the farm. They really listen to one another. Is there a sense of unity? People helping one another? Mario's favorite day is Saturday because he can spend all day working on the farm. Mario and his 16 year old brother, Alejandro, help their father make dulce or processed sugar. Alejandro puts sugar cane stalks into the sugar mill to squeeze out the juice. The juice is cooked, cooled and then poured into wooden molds where it will harden into blocks of sugar. Dongre Gorio is the only cappecino in Semane who makes dulce. It can be used to sweeten coffee and to make fruit preserves. Some people eat dulce like candy. And some women put it in bread to make it sweeter. It's sweetened bread and an adobe oven. She must first burn firewood for two hours. When it reaches the right temperature she'll put the pans of bread inside. It will then only take about 20 minutes to bake. Mario's family has lived here for two years and were planning to move again after this harvest. Traditionally, farmers cut down and burn areas in the forest and then use this cleared land after several harvests the fields can no longer be farmed because most of the nutrients in the soil have either washed away or been used up. Families then move to a new area in the forest where they start the cycle of slash and burn again. Laurel, Dongre Gorio and other farmers in Semane are developing techniques that put nutrients back in the soil. When farmers use soil conservation methods they can then farm the same fields without having to move. Adapting new ways of farming takes time. Therefore, many campesinos still use slash and burn techniques so that they can grow enough food to feed their families. However, slash and burn farming along with cattle grazing firewood cutting and unregulated logging are destroying many forests in Honduras. There are many people working to solve the problems of deforestation throughout the country. Peace Corps volunteers Christine Turnbull and Drew Stoll are environmentalists and live along the northeastern coast. They help people here understand the problems caused by deforestation. They also work with Hondurans to help protect the tropical rainforest. A tropical rainforest its life system is at different levels. You have the canopy you have the mid-level and then you have the ground floor where the mammals are and most of the insects. It's multi-layered and a tropical rainforest is very important in Honduras because Hondurans get all their drinking water from watersheds, from rivers basically. And all these rivers come from forests that are in the mountains. Drew, Christine and the community are working together to try to solve environmental problems. One of their most important projects has been helping the Honduran government establish a national park along the coast. This park is called Puntasul and is the third largest protected area in Honduras. Throughout Puntasul there are many small villages like this area called Miami Beach. The people who are already living here will be able to stay but further development of the land will be controlled to protect the environment. San Juan is another town in Puntasul. They are having their annual patron saint's day celebration. Most Hondurans are Roman Catholic and have a festival each year to honor their town's patron saint. The Hondurans who live here are called Garifuna or black caribs. They are descendants of escaped African slaves who first lived on Caribbean islands and eventually settled along the Central American coast. Irene Randleman was a school teacher in Philadelphia and is now a Peace Corps volunteer teaching in several of the Garifuna schools. I would say to the students in the United States studying Central America and South America that there is a segment of history that needs to be included within the total history of black history. The Garifuna when I was in school I never heard about the Garifuna. The Garifuna does have a culture that does have a history. Garifuna culture is a combination of their African traditions and Native American heritage. One important expression of their culture is dancing particularly the style called punta. These Garifuna students often dance the punta and play traditional music during school assemblies. While the Garifuna are concerned about losing their cultural identity in the Spanish majority some of their traditions are influencing the rest of Honduras. Far from the Garifuna villages the punta is a popular dance in cities. Mercedes Padilla and her younger sister Maria practice the punta in front of their house. Mercedes is 10 years old and likes to dance. Someday she wants to study ballet. 12 people from Mercedes family live here including several cousins. Her mother works at home taking care of the large family. They live in San Pedro Sula. The city has become the business capital of Honduras. During the past century many companies from the United States set up banana plantations in the surrounding fertile valley and coastal flatlands. The industry prospered and many many people moved to the region to work on the banana plantations and for new businesses. In fact San Pedro Sula has become the fastest growing city in Honduras. Every day Mercedes studies for one and a half hours. She hopes to be a teacher someday like her older sister but in the family has their own responsibilities. Mercedes helps by washing her school uniform every day. After the chores are done in the cities of Honduras enjoy many of the same things that children in the United States do. Mercedes and Maria like to play with their dolls. As in many families the kitchen table is where everyone meets to talk about the day. This afternoon Mercedes cousin Jesse came home with some exciting news. With the help of Peace Corps volunteer Dana Messinger Jesse and 14 other students in a real bank in their high school. Jesse is the bank manager. The student bank runs exactly like a big bank does and it is a bank that is only for students. The students are able to go to the bank to deposit money and go to the bank and borrow money. There's even a credit card that is issued through the bank that they're able to use in their cafeteria and the essence of the program is to allow these kids to make their own decisions. The day begins early for the Padilla family. Mercedes starts school at 7.30 in the morning during the coolest time of the day. Classes end at noon when it starts to get hot. All the students are responsible for taking care of the school grounds. While the girls sweep the breezeway the boys cut the grass with machetes. Each class also cares for its own garden plot. Mercedes under fifth grade class gave vocabulary words just like Mario's class. As the teacher gives them a new word the students look it up in their dictionaries. Later they will write their own stories using the new words. Mercedes, Mario and all the children in Honduras are especially proud when they sing their country's national anthem at school. Here in these African highlands nearly every boy spends part of his life as a herd boy. Every year old Salo is a herd boy. Every morning Salo brings his family's sheep to a field where they can graze. Salo is the youngest boy in his family and responsible for taking care of the animals. He spends the day watching over the sheep and searching for new places where he can feed his animals tomorrow. It is winter now so Salo brings his sheep to the fields a few miles from his home. He goes to graze here after the harvest each fall. When spring planting begins Salo and the other herd boys must take their animals farther up into the mountains to look for pasture lanes. This rhythm of life has been followed for centuries. Here in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho. Lesotho Lesotho Lesotho Lesotho is a small country located in southern Africa. It's slightly larger than the state of Maryland. Lesotho is one of the few countries in the world that is completely surrounded by another country. It is located inside the country of South Africa. Rivers and steep mountains create natural boundaries on all sides between these two countries. The Caledon River is Lesotho's border in the northwestern part of the country. This section of the Caledon River is fairly shallow and provided a natural place for travelers and traders to cross until a bridge was built between the two countries. It is here at this busy border crossing that Lesotho's capital city of Maseru developed. Maseru is also the commercial center for the country. Citizens are called Basutu. Their first language is Sasutu. Although many also speak English. Maseru is in the center of the lowland region which stretches along the Caledon River. Most people in Lesotho live in the lowlands. We will visit the lowland village of Harapulo. Many Basutu are farmers who live in small villages in the lowlands. They settled in this part of the country because it has the best climate and soil to grow their crops. In the lowlands the village is here awakened by the sounds of the herd boys gathering their animals. This is the village of Harapulo. Molifi is 17 and began watching his family's cattle when he was three years old. Molifi and his friend Lebo Hong take turns watching each other's animals. By sharing the responsibility each gives the other a chance to go to school. This year Lebo Hong watches the animals on school days. Molifi wants to become a teacher. Molifi and Lebo Hong are spending the day with their friend Tom Lafour. Tom is a Peace Corps volunteer in Harapulo and works at the school. Molifi is a friend of mine in the village who I play soccer with basically who I share my time with and he basically taught me how to become a herd boy in Lesotho. It was good for me to get out and just experience what exactly a herd boy does and to be with them and take a little bit of pride into what they do every day here. Cattle to the Basutu is really a sign of wealth and security. It's an investment for the people and it's very important. It's a very important aspect of the Basutu life. After grazing on the maize stalks for a few hours the cattle are thirsty and need to find them water. Water is sometimes found at the bottom of a Donga. Dongas are huge gullies caused by severe soil erosion. To prevent further erosion the Basutu plant bushes and place rocks in the Dongas to help hold the soil in place. The herd boys have a harder time finding water during the winter months because this is also the dry season. The rainy season occurs in the summer but some years the needed rains come. Basutu and nine other countries in southern Africa have experienced many periods of drought. Without the summer rains the crops won't grow, the animals weaken and die and natural sources of water dry up. Rain is so important for the people of the Basutu that it is part of their national motto houtso pulanala which means peace, rain and prosperity. This is the last god for rain. In recent years the drought has caused many problems for the people in Molifi's village. They are mostly farmers and depend upon the rain for their survival. Several months ago the village chief called a pizza to discuss last summer's drought. The pizza is a meeting in which the entire community is invited to discuss issues that are important for the village. Tom also attended the pizza and suggested a way to store extra drinking water. He told the group about the drought relief program run by the Basutu government the Peace Corps and the Agency for International Development. This program gives villages the supplies needed to build a water catchment system which is designed to collect and store rain water. The people of Haropulo decided to build their water catchment system at the school. The first step was to build two foundations which will each hold a 10,000 liter water tank. Rocks are brought down from the mountains and are then mixed with cement to create the base for the water tanks. During construction the students have summoned their classes outside. This afternoon Tom has a surprise for the older students. He has just received a package from his worldwide schools class in Oregon. The fourth grade students from Morningside School sent letters and pictures to each of the Basutu students. The water catchment system at the school is almost completed. Guttas have been placed along the roof so that rain water will run into the huge water tanks. When the tanks are full they will supply the village with drinking water for two months. Now they must wait for the summer rains. I think the community of Haropulo is mostly similar to other communities across Lasutu in the respect that there is that sense of teamwork and of compassion for other people. They're making sure everyone's getting enough to eat, that the crops are growing properly and that everyone's happy and their health is good. So that's the best thing about this whole experience is just this team effort that we've experienced here. The rest of the country is covered by four separate mountain ranges. This region is called the Highlands. We will spend a day here in the small village of St. Rodriguez. Small isolated villages separated by steep mountains are found throughout the Highlands. The temperatures are cooler here and snow falls during the winter months. In the Highlands most families raise animals such as sheep, cattle or angora goats. These goats have long silky white hair which is made into a type of yarn called mohair. Seilo the herd boy lives in the Highlands in the village of St. Rodriguez. Most days in St. Rodriguez begin the same way. Seilo and the other herd boys lead their animals to a pasture and most women and girls work close to home. One important job for the girls is fetching water. The main source of water in St. Rodriguez is from the spigot in Seilo's backyard. His family shares this water with all of their neighbors. Nine year old Dineo lives next door and gets water from the spigot several times a day. This is Dineo's favorite job because her best friend Momarake lives here. Momarake is Seilo's cousin. After Dineo and Momarake finish their morning chores they go to school which is just up the road. Some students live in small villages further up in the mountains. They must walk more than an hour along rocky paths to get to school. During winter months these students must leave their houses long before daylight. This is a Catholic elementary school that is run by the nuns who live in the St. Rodriguez mission. The children assemble each morning to sing the national anthem and to say a prayer. Today Dineo is one of the students selected to lead the class. After the assembly the students begin their lessons. Dineo is in the fourth grade which is called standard four. There are almost 100 students in this standard four classroom and Dineo's mother is the teacher. School children learn all of their lessons in English when they reach standard four. Dineo's class has a guest today. It's Peace Corps volunteer Sue Drake. Sue was a teacher in Iowa. She now works with teachers in the Highlands. I'm going to have an English lesson and a friend with me today. A special friend. And he's in my pocket. He's in my pocket. Table. My name is Table. I think I see another friend. My name is Table. What is your name? My name is Tavisen. Tavisen, I am up. Tav, I am down. And run. What are we using? All the policies. Soon it will be lunch and Papa will be served to all the children. Papa is made from ground up maize that is mixed with hot water. Maize, which we call corn is prepared for almost every meal. This valley has some of the most fertile land in the area. It is extremely important to the village of St. Rodriguez because most of their food is grown here. At the end of winter the men and boys plow the fields. When the weather warms up they will plant the maize. Any maize stalks that are left over in the fields will be used as kindling to cook with or to heat their homes. Nothing is ever wasted. Very few trees grow in the mountains because most of the soil has been washed or blown away. Since there is little firewood the basu-tu look for other types of fuel to make their fires. The most common source of fuel is found on the ground. It's cow dung. Once cow dung is completely dried it hardens and becomes a clean burning fuel. Dineo is using dried cow dung to build a fire in her backyard. When the fire becomes hot enough she will begin cooking Papa for dinner. Dineo's mother and Sue are working next door at Seilo's house. These kernels will later be ground up to make Papa. The country is special in so many ways but what I I see special about it and what we can learn from the basu-tu is that they slow down enjoy life they're giving, they help each other families and friends and neighbors. Another day is ending in the basu-tu and the women are preparing dinner. The men return from the fields the girls finish their chores her boys return home when the sun rises tomorrow the rhythms of basu-tu life will begin again in the mountain kingdom of lasu-tu. I'm motherland and I love it. It's a rich culture it's a rich very old ancient culture their languages and their lives and their religions and there are basic differences strict is the religion, how do they live day to day. The Uzbeks, the Kyrgyz, the Khazakh, the Tajik, the Turkmen Welcome to the Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz is dead. The Kyrgyz Republic commonly called Kyrgyzstan is a country that preserves its traditions while working for change in a changing world. Kyrgyzstan is small in size but within it there's tremendous diversity. Diversity in its history its people its culture. Through the eyes of its young people we'll explore that diversity and perhaps discover how it thrives and draws its character from the mountains the valleys, the history of this special country. The Kyrgyz Republic is located in Central Asia it's on the same latitude as our state of Pennsylvania and is about the size of Minnesota it shares borders with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan Tajikistan and China its capital city, Bishkek lies in the northern part of the country with over 600,000 people living here it's about the size of Milwaukee, Wisconsin or Memphis, Tennessee until 1991 Kyrgyzstan was a part of the Soviet Union and most of its ties were with other Soviet republics but today the country is an independent republic the Kyrgyz Republic and the people of Kyrgyzstan are working hard to make a new government to develop a new economy but not only are they building their way to the future they are also reaffirming their ties with the past their heroes their religions their links with the land and with the nomadic lifestyles of their ancestors because of its location in Central Asia bordering on several other countries Kyrgyzstan has long been a crossroads of travelers from many different nations travelers who brought their trade lifestyles and religions to this land in ancient times this part of the world was also crossed by what is known as the Silk Road the explorer Marco Polo traveled through this region and traders and camel caravans carved routes to the mountain passes and valleys of Central Asia to bring valuable and beautiful silks out of China and to Persia and Europe many of these different nationalities and were the ancestors of people who live in Kyrgyzstan today my name is Melis and my surname is Tumanov Melis' name comes from the initials of four men who strongly influenced the growth of communism Marx Engels Lenin and Stalin Melis lives in the town of Jalalabad it lies in the southwestern part of Kyrgyzstan 360 miles from the capital city of Bishkek Jalalabad is a crossroads of people from many different nations you can see the diversity in their clothes hear it in their languages this man is wearing the Kyrgyz national hat and this man's hat shows that his native culture is Uzbek in our country lives many nationalities Melis and his friend Anara are both Kyrgyz in their school there are many other students of different nationalities not to mention Chinese Korean and others despite the many differences these are people who share the same country work together and remain friends separating Bishkek from Jalalabad like a gigantic wall or the Tian Shan mountains this mountain range is higher it is known Rocky mountains in places towering over 24,000 feet more than 4.5 miles high the lifeline between Bishkek and Jalalabad is a winding, ribbon like road that is steep, rocky and slow to travel by truck it can take more than 12 hours to travel the 360 miles between the two cities and in the winter ice and snow often make this road impassable but trucks are the main form of commerce between the two parts of the country divided by these mountains the trucks carry fruits and vegetables from the rich Furgana valley around Jalalabad and the trucks returning from the north bring clothes and manufactured goods to the town where Melis and Anara live it is not only the commercial products of these places that are different the land and climate the way people live and dress and think make Jalalabad feel like a different country from Bishkek as in our country, Detroit and Chicago are cities of manufacturing and commerce while the valleys of central California offer fruits and vegetables to the nation in Jalalabad the warmer climate the fertile valley means that farming more than factories shapes the lives of the people down here there is industry things revolve around the produce that we make the fruits and vegetables that come in from the Furgana valley from our town Michelle Hawk is a volunteer with the Peace Corps for two years she has been teaching English at the school Melis and Anara attend there is a lot of respect a lot of respect for elders my children call me Eje but that means older sister that's a way you refer to any female who is older than you are all of the women in this school I call Eje because they are women who are older than I am it's respect and all of the terms that they use for respect are family terms and it feels comfortable it feels warm the volunteer is a good teacher because she is prepaid for the lesson my friends Ernest and I like to play computer games I love training I love coding I love music my favorite English songs part of the character of Jalalabad is found in the variety of foods here like the people the foods have come from many different nations food isn't just something that people eat in Jalalabad it's an important part of how they live and how they show their guests that they are welcome people go out of their way to make someone feel welcome and they'll lay a table with anything in their home just to make you know how important it is that you've come to them respect for the family it has always been an important part of the culture here and now respect for religion is regaining a new importance that had been lost under the former Soviet government the most common religion in Jalalabad is Islam it's believers are called Muslims like the Jewish and Christian peoples they believe in the one and only God whom they call Allah the holy book of Islam is called the Quran it contains the words of Allah as delivered by the prophet Muhammad some 1500 years ago Muslims also acknowledge the teachings of Allah's earlier prophets such as Jesus and Moses as described in the Jewish Torah and the Christian Bible people worship Allah in a mosque although men and women typically worship separately the south is very different from the north being Islamic influence is heavier down here it makes attire for women more important I don't wear shorts I rarely wear sleeveless things outside the historic culture of the region is also found through great interest in its legends and heroes of the past greatest among the Kyrgyz national heroes is Manas many many years ago Tajikistan, Uzbekistan Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan lived together Manas is the king in that time the epic poem of Manas has been passed on by voice for a thousand years the great orders who recite this poem are called Manas Chi and the spirit of his epic reflects the spirit of the diverse people of this land who joined together to assert their unity and independence in times gone by welcome my name is Abarama Khalek I'm 15 years old I love Sokoluk I live always here it's a very beautiful town all the way across the Tian Shan mountains from Jalalabad lies the town of Sokoluk Sokoluk is a suburb of Bishkek the capital city the growing season here in the north is much shorter than in Jalalabad many families have their own gardens to grow fruits and vegetables that they will preserve for the winners which can be cold and long we have apples apricots potatoes tomatoes a leg's father is a lawyer and his mother teaches school as in Jalalabad there is much respect for parents and grandparents here my family come here many years ago it was in the beginning of this century and my father's parents came here from Ukraine and my mother's family came here from Volga from Russia because of Sokoluk's location and history almost half of the people who live here are Russian their background traditions and dress this place a different feel from Jalalabad which draws much of its personality from its land and its location as a meeting point for travelers Sokoluk, on the other hand is influenced by other cultures to the north and by the city of Bishkek Bishkek has institutes universities but there aren't in Sokoluk there is also industry in Bishkek although without the former ties to the other Soviet republics it is now difficult for factories to get raw materials and supplies factories in Sokoluk have the same problem this means that fewer people have jobs and families are poorer than before independents from the Soviet Union I like to read books English language is difficult at all the speaking is difficult Luis teaches English us he is a very good man Luis Rivera is a Peace Corps volunteer here from the United States my goal here is to teach children English to exchange my life in the United States with them to teach them of our culture in the United States the people, how we live today is the last day of school for Luis and his students the beginning of the Sokoluk summer vacation the last bell the actual closing ceremony for the school year everyone is very excited about it of course I have many friends in Kyrgyzstan we like to go to discotheques we like to dance play guitar guitar is one of my friends from Sokoluk another mountain trip this time not across the Tian Shan mountains but deep into their heart these trucks are carrying goods to China goods from Russia and from Bishkek not long before they reach the Chinese border they'll pass by the mountain town of Narin Narin is in the southeastern part of the Kyrgyz Republic while Sokoluk draws from the resources of nearby cities and Jalalabad rests at a crossroads of travel and trade Narin is isolated by its geography the people here have little contact with other towns and cities these mountains hold Narin in the palm of their hand they curl around it on both sides squeezing it into a long and narrow shape because of the valley Narin is a mile wide and ten miles long and it's not just the town that the mountains have shaped they've also molded the lives of the people their traditions, their culture for centuries past and even today they've been home to shepherds and to nomads nomads are people who travel from place to place in search of good pasture land for their horses or sheep the ancestors of the people here are pure Kyrgyz unlike the other places we have visited few Russians or Uzbeks visit Narin so the mountains have played a big part in keeping the Kyrgyz language alive and keeping Kyrgyz customs a part of everyday life nonetheless the traditional customs have been modified with much more modern ones my name is Medina I'm fifteen years old school year is finished we have a disco we dance and we play I like the songs of Voice to Man Michael Jackson the most important persons in my life is my parents Medina's father is a banker in Narin her mother is a veterinarian and a homemaker when I need something I speak with my mother she always understand me she always helped me Mr. Jack is my teacher he is a good teacher before Mr. Jack we didn't know English well he is always smile he is very crazy Mr. Jack is so strange for us because he is from other country he has other language he is American real American as a Peace Corps volunteer I was sent to Narin as the first foreigner to come and teach English in school number two and met many people who have told me that I'm the first American they've ever seen what do the people do in the winter when it's so cold how do people live it is our big problem because of its altitude in the mountains this town can be cold in the wintertime minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit sometimes this snowstorm happened in June in the hills outside Narin we live in high mountains and we have problems with water light of course that's because it's become a new country and now they need to build all the new things our ancestors they lived in mountains and they had many ships they lived in Yurta Kyrgyz Yurta they moved from one place to other place like many of our own Native Americans this moving about and living in temporary homes is not so common today but gave birth to many traditions that are still honored in modern homes the biggest custom that is Kyrgyz has to do with going to somebody's house to be a guest and it comes from their ancient traditions and customs when they were nomadic people when they had Yurtas out in the middle of a field people would come by and after a long trip they would sit and to eat and to drink and so it continues today when you go to somebody's house you must take at least some food and some drink or else you will be offending them there are few people here still live in Yurtas today but in some homes there is a room called the Kyrgyz room where families still honor the ancient traditions it's set up kind of like the traditional Yurta they sit on the floor because there was no furniture in the Yurta when you move it around and so they always sat in the circle the carpets are all made of wool in the Kyrgyz Yurta when you walk in it's round but on the right there was the kitchen and there was a small cooking place and that's usually where the women worked and the men were on the left so still today in the Kyrgyz room there is a tradition that the men sit on the left and the women sit on the right all men and women always speak always say to us about peace then we must help each other curious people may always help of all the people that I've ever met anywhere in the world I've never felt as at home as I have here with the Kyrgyz the school year has reached its end Medina and her friends gather one last time for their class picture I want to be a designer as Medina thinks about her own future she also thinks about the future of her town and her country after finish school I want openly fashion store in Narin in my Narin town where everybody can buy good clothes now we have problems with money with export import and filter if we will open the stores if we will work with our wool I think it will be good I wish you good health happiness blue skies a good table and a piece you are my friends and I your friend too goodbye my American friend bye bye bye the trumpeter of Krakow one of the most storied figures in the history of Poland sounds his call to vigilance each day Poland a nation of 37 million people in central Europe has had much need of vigilance in its thousand year history in centuries past the trumpeter of Krakow warned of an invading army today's trumpeter standing inside a church tower high above Krakow plays his symbolic call to vigilance once an hour his is a mournful tune at noon each day the modern day trumpeter's alarm is broadcast over national radio as the time signal 750 years ago an invaders arrow caused the trumpeter to end his alarm in mid note today the traditional hey now like the 13th century version ends abruptly Krakow itself spread out around the trumpeters tower is like a page from a living history book ancient Krakow was located at the juncture of two important trade routes it served as Poland's first capital until Warsaw assumed that role in the 1600s as the 1980s gave way to the 90s modern Poland arrived at a key juncture and took the path of democracy great works of art which fill museums and churches are a welcoming sign throughout Poland one of the most renowned religious edifices is the Wawel Cathedral it and the adjoining castle are reminders of the prominent role the Catholic Church has played throughout Polish history Polish royalty, kings and patriots are buried in churches Tadeusz Koziuszko who fought in the United States Revolution is one of these patriots during periods of occupation by foreign powers it was the church that kept alive the spirit of Polish culture its national identity we are really very history conscious and it has helped us to a great degree it gave us inspiration for the fight for a better future in recent years the Solidarity Labour Union made headlines in history by standing up to the communist government and setting Poland on its march toward democracy for the first time in many years Poland has a freely elected government Lekwelsa, the new president had headed the once outlawed Solidarity Union the break with its communist past has left Welsa and Poland with a number of challenges serious pollution is a problem in some sections of the country and no less daunting is the effort to turn over about 8,000 government run businesses to privately owned companies evidence of the changing business landscape can be seen on the streets of Warsaw changes are also occurring in Poland's schools where student elections have taken place for the first time Poland's move away from domination from the sense of anticipation in the country Polish students are learning English in the ways of western democracy taught in some cases by Peace Corps volunteers invited to Poland by the new government a pearl necklace a pearl necklace okay, pearl pearl pearl early students are very different here the system is very different and discipline outward discipline is much more important in Poland and in Europe in general I think students stand when a teacher or any adult walks into the classroom students stand when you ask them a question and they have to respond in general it's a lot easier on the teacher they're used to a method where the teacher sits at the desk and asks the students when the students have prepared something that they need to know the answer know a certain grammar point and when the teacher asks that means the teacher has the grade book out and if she asks you a question or he asks you a question and you don't know the answer then you get a bad grade if you answer correctly you get a better grade if you answer middling but you get grades for your answers in class and so it's kind of an intense environment in the school allowance allowance allowance I'll even pay for this food the study of English is not the only subject Polish students have in common with students in the United States Jane Becker and other Peace Corps volunteer in Poland has had the opportunity to learn what's really on the minds of young people there none of them talk about going to school far away it's either the University in Warsaw or the Technical Institute all all of the girls want to get married and have families some of those girls want to have careers want to do what their mothers do I want to work in the Foreign Trade Center the way my mother does young people in Poland are similar in many respects to students in other countries they play sports, they read and they think about the future right now I'm changing houses but usually I like to read and I like to listen to music that's been mostly well it's music from 60s and 70s I don't like the modern music like disco or something like that it's my kind but the old music some of Poland's youth help keep the past alive folk dancing is one way they do it these high school students in Bialystok city in northeastern Poland are dressed in traditional costumes of that region their dances are vivid reminders of earlier times the Poles have reason to be proud of their recorded history it goes back to the year 966 and is a history marked by a respect for learning it is also a history brimming with tales of how Polish people survived through hard times World War II started in Poland when the Germans invaded on September 1, 1939 that was followed 16 days later by a Russian invasion before the war ended in 1945 6 million Polish citizens perished most of them in death camps the toll amounted to 20% of the population one in every five people in Poland at the time the entire Jewish population was virtually wiped out the older generation remembers war in a direct way and the psychological impact is to be felt even now if you talk to younger people to pupils in schools or students it is more complicated but I would say that the traces of this calamity are to be seen everywhere in Poland Poland's capital Warsaw looks today like the modern city it is but 90% of its buildings 9 out of every 10 were damaged or destroyed in the nearly 6 years of World War II the German and Russian invasions were not the first for Poland in the 1800s Poland didn't exist as a nation its territory had been carved up by Russia Austria and Prussia until the end of World War I Poland could not be found on a map geography has played an important role in Poland's history the low lying planes that permitted easy travel by traders and armies easy access as well although its political fortunes rose and fell with the years there has been a steady commitment to learning in Poland this is evidenced by the work of Marie Curie a pole who won two Nobel prizes for her discovery and later work with radioactive elements Nicholas Copernicus who died in the year 1543 is known as the father of modern astronomy he showed a disbelieving world where the Earth is the center of the universe other Polish notables include Joseph Conrad author of Lord Jim and classical composer Frederick Chopin achievements of another sort can be seen all over Poland they are as different as the Barbican of Warsaw part of the city's ancient defense against invaders and the Białystok Palace once home to a powerful family now it is a medical school just as residents of the palace have changed so has Polish society it's still not easier I hope in future the life in Poland will be easier according to these changes which are going now you can find more stuff in the stores they are still very expensive but you have choice so it's very important because like two years or three years ago the stores were empty and even if you had money you wasn't able to buy anything and all Polish people they have hope it's very important to have hope that everything will change for better in Poland Polish people are continuing to adapt to their new roles but there's no doubt they will cherish and hold dear the past but really if you just open your eyes it's an incredible country and so much of course has been saved so painstakingly and rebuilt after so many wars again and again it has an even more special value it's a wonderful country because it's the most interesting country in the world I am interested in what's happening here and I like it to be good we have now a new president I think that he will be good you know it's hard to say there are many things so special for example our history you know in the past Poland was a great country but now it isn't so good but I think we will manage and our new president will make it much better than it is now he wants to to build a new and better future for their country and we hope very much we will succeed we are optimist with all the changes polish people have been able to depend on the trumpeter of Krakow his sound has reverberated through polish history for he is not only a reminder of a proud past but a signal that the polish people have hope for the future he is refusing at the beginning to say that he has he feels some certain prestige being here he is sitting in the job very seriously so he is just coming to work in here and to perform the work the best he could I have been selected to replace the old trumpeter who has gone for a pension so I replace him in here