Nine children is raised in a conflict zone or warzone. Thats a total of 250 million young people, according to a unicef report. Many of them battle depression, develop aggressive behavior, or face psychological trauma. Civil war has been raging in syria for five years now. Unicef estimates that more than 8. 5 million children in the country are effective. Affected. A safe, carefree environment is almost like a distant t dream. The game is quite simple, a variation of blind mans bluff. First, two kids are blindfolded. Then colored pencils are scattered on the floor. Whoever finds the most is the winner. Were in a rebeloccupied neighborhood of aleppo. Its full of orphanages and daycare centers. Some of these children have lost everything, while others just come to play. When they first come to us, theyre in a terrible state emotionally. They wont participate in activities. They wonont play. Theyey feel abandonened and just keep t to themselves. In time, as they start to play and interact, itit gets better. They learn to talk w with theirr peers anand engage in discussio. Asmaa, on the left, is 10 years old. Shes already wearing a headscarf. Boys and girls play separately. I come here because its so much fun. I hope the kids club never closes. Most of all, i love hearing stories. I always learn s something new. When i get home, i tell them all to my mother, and she gives me a little present. This boys face is still covered in soot from a recent bomb attack. This is an eveverpresent rereay in the lives of aleppo children. Parents, siblings, relatives, and friends injured or killed. Images sent by opposition activists in aleppo. Aleppos children have no chance of a happypyife. Preeens love coloring bookoks. Abdel aziz aloush, on the left, is the director of the my childhood club. His goal is to provide the kids some space where they can forget about the war for a few hours. In rebelheld areas of aleppo, going out to do some shopping can be deadly. Children are always at risk of getting caught in an attack. On the streets, one is always looking for signs of danger from above. The e reat of plplanes and helicopters is alwayays present. Thats why the kids club meets underground. Only here do they have a bit of protecection. Its safer here underground. The problem is getting the kids home safely. Its really diffult. Parentnts dont want to let them come here at first because the the k kids club offefer she, but theres no daylight. Here they play worryfree. For a while, their fears disappear, and no one needs to dwell over whether its safe or not. Our goal is to take the kids out of this neverending circle of violence, away from the images of blood anand mutilated bodies. We just wantnt to provide them a space where e ey can have fun. After four years of warar,e inches f forward undererground. The children r read a story abot a boy who forgot his water bottle. Its a humanizing tale about shararg. Ababdalla is nine and, like e te for a long time now. W. School the explosions are the worst thing. When the bombs go off when were playing, we e always hide. I would like to leave aleppo anand get away from m the bombi. If they stopped, then id be happy to stay. The kids cant decide whether theyd w want to flee aleppo or stay. Adults are waging a war they cant understand. At least for a while, when theyre down here, they can feel carefree, almost like normal children. A flight from syria to germany takes just over four hours, but at the moment, its like a journey to a different planet. Peace, wealth, and safety are just some of the privileges children here enjoy. Another is a huge range of options for day care facilities. One of the trends is preschools in nature, far away from the hustle and the bustle of the concrete jungle. These kids are turning the woods into a playground. The hillside provides a national slide. And yellow plums along the way are a welcome morning snack. Every day, they explore the forest on the northern outskirts of berlin. Fouryear old vivit has already been participating for two years. And today, shes been allowed to join the group of older kids for the first time. Her mother says theres no better place for a childld to develop. When i lived in the city, i was shocked at what my kids were always picking up from the ground. Everything was disgusting or full of cigarette butts, garbage, and dog poo. There was no natural place for my kids to develop in the city. The kids go outside in all seasons, regardless of the weather. Theres no scheduled routine. Instead, the day is filled with the childrens discoveries. At the moment, theyre learning how to use hand tools. Andreas apelles has been working here for 14 years as a preschool teacher. He knows that going to the woods is good both for the childrens minds and their bodies. Our aim is to give them a sense of mindfulness that they can communicate to other children to tell them things like, why kill that bug . Why step on the nettles . Theyre important for the snails. When the sun comes out, snails can hide behind the leaves. And butterflies lay their eggs on them. Or look at this plant, you can eat it. Dont destroy it. Its important to us. A trip like this can be exhausting. Around midday, the kids head back to base. Duduring the winter, they warm p at the campfire. If it gets really cold, they can move into the nearby house. Plastic toys arent allowed. But there are always plenty of activities to keep them busy. And sometimes special guests come to visit. The neighbors sheep come here looking for food on this property. The ram died, so it was buried. Theres anan appreciation for everything. Even when the kids are exploring and taking dead animals apart, theres still respect. I believe that this respect for nature and its creatures will transform into respect for other human beings, as well as a sense of responsibility for the environment. 4yearold vivit really enjoyed her first day in the older childrens group. And she and the other kids are already looking forward to their next adventure in the forest. Kids who have a lot of responsibility at a young age are also robbed of a protected childhood. 150 million Children Worldwide work to help support their families, although child labor is illegal in almost all countries. According to the indonesian government, there are 1. 7 million child laborers in the country. Nongovernmental organizations estimate a much higher number. On the island of sumba, many children have a job that, at first, may not really look like work. Its a wild race, and a very dangerous one. 9yearoold sharul l is despere to win. He risisks a lot evevery time he mounts his horse, all to earn money for his family. It looks l like paradidise here. The boys father proudly leads the horse and his two sons down to a perfect sea, glittering in the Early Morning sun. Theres a slight breeze. Its hard to imagine that, by evening, some of these children might be thrown by their wild steeds and get seriously injured. Like sharil a riding accident left him paralyzed on one side. I am so glad that the racing starts today. Unfortunately, i cant race myself anymore, but ill be cheering my brother on. Sharul and sharil are twins. Theyre only nine, but theyve been jockeying in horse races for over half their lives. The brothers live on sumba, an island in eastern indonesia. People here are crazy about horses. Every family owns one, and every child can ride. Each year in early summer, the big races take place. The jockeys families have set up tents around the arena. Sharul and sharil sleep here during the competition. Most of the jockeys in the camp are under 12. The youngest have just turned four. The smaller and lighter the jockey, the faster the horses can run. Of course were all friends. Wewe play together. But in a race, were opponents. Everyone wants to win. Horse races have taken place on sumba for as long as anyone here can remember. And now, this years competition is getting underway. The entrants come from across the archipelago. Theyre from sumba, bali, lombok many of indonesias islands. But t theres a dark side to the cheerful event. Some of the e young jockeyeys wl end the day with broken bones. Spectators report that two children have even died while racing. Its an extremely dangerous sport. I fell off my horse. And the other horses trampled me. All i know is that i ioke up inn the hospital. And my mom and dad were crying. Why put so many children at risk . Sumba is one of indonesias poorest regions. Life here can be very hard. By riding in the races, the children can contribute to the Family Finances or even dramatically improve them. A childjockey can earn up to 500 euros per week. Thats a huge sum here. Im not afraid. I do it every single day. It doesnsnt matter how the hore behaves. Im not scared. The Children Wear practically no protective gear when theyre racing just a light helmet and a cloth mask to keep out the dust and the sun. Each also carries a whip to urge the horse on. The jockeys ride barefoot and bareback. According to the twins father, thats traditional. Im proud that my son works as a jockey. Its just a shame that my other boy sharil cant ride anymore. That makes me very sad. Sharul and ththe others w wat for the start signal. The children cling tightly to the bodidies of their steeds o close that they can feel every heartbeat, each panting breath. The race, once around a dusty track, lasts for twowo hectic, exciting minutes. The races used to be just a local event and mostly just for fun. But then money began to play a bigger and bigger rorole. The horses got faster. The jockeys got smaller. Both horses and children are now key elements in a tough business. Sharul is one o of the best riders here. Thats why ive bookeded him to ride my horse. A good jockey makes s u happy. Because he always wins. The stands s are full of punters, gamblers, speculators. The atmosphere is the wideeyed and feverish one found at tracks all over the world. Betting is actually banned in indonesia. Anand the races also break the countrys childprotection laws. But on sumba, tradition has proven more important than laws. Out on the track, the horses reach speeds of up to 60 kilometers an hour. This time, sharul doesnt place first. Im happy, but i know i can do even better. And there are more races ahead. Good jockeys can run in up to five races per day for up to 10 days in a row, two months of the year. Thats how long the season lasts. And during it, the child jockeys dont go to school. Some cant read, write, or do basic arithmetic. But theyre brilliant riders. Another two years and ill be too old to race. When you get older and heavier, you cant keep up anymore. Then its all over. So then we go to school more often. The light is beginning to fade on sumba. A. Owners cool down their horses on the beach. The little jockeys are on their way to bed. A brief moment of childhood before hitting the track for another wild race. And now to o our series gll ideas, in which we meet pepeople who are actively protecting fauna and flora. This time, we go to lalaos, onef the countries which is home to ththe asian blacack bear or moon bear. There used to be a large number of them, but now they are on the list of endangered species. What has happened . Our reporter Michael Altenhenne went to the nature reserve tat kuang si in the north of laos to find out. Kungfu is absolutely crazy about strawberry jam. At o only four months old, hees the youngest resident in the sanctuary. The young bear was just skin and bones when he was seized from illegal animal traders. Fatong yangs been fattening him up since he arrived. Besides kungfu, australian ngo free the bears has managed to rescue three other cubs so far this year. Normally, young bears spend the first three years of their lives with their m mher. But shes usually killed, and the cubs are kepepunder awfuful conditions. Kungfus brotheher died in captivity. He prorobably starved to death. The animals haveve really terrible time. This fulllly grown asiaian bk bear, alsoso called moon bear, s almost two meters s high staini, and weighs in at 150 kilograms. In tat kuang si sanctuary, they try to keep the animals under the most natural conditions possible. The bear refuge lies in the north of laos right next to a wellknown waterfall. The nearby touristst attractionn means a lot of visitors take advantage of the chance to also see the bears. Hardly any of the visitors can imagine the ordeal these poor like kobobi, who lost his right front leg afafter he was trapped by poachers in a a snare. Hehe was destined for an illegal bear farm. Luke nicholson explains to the visitors that bear bile is used in chinese medicine. And it commands a high price. In a a bear bile e farm, bess are e housed in 20 cages and bie is extracted by susurgical mean. Imagine that tormement every couple o of days and you a living on meagager rations of food. These pictures show a bear bile farm near the laotian capital vientiane. The bears face is a portrait of pain. Nobodydy knows how many farms le this are in laos. Its actctually illegal in laoso treat animals like t this. But as a all too often in southeast asia, enenforcemt t ad punishmement are totally inadequate. Luke nicholson says the greatest threat to animals is human poverty. You can find products from the illegal wildlife trade in almost every local market here. Theyre popular with chinese tourists. Bear teeth here. Those are being sold for 50 u. S. Dollars ea. We have a bear claw here. Right next to them, laos whiskey with animal parts preserved in them, includiding bits of bear. Recently, we had a seizure on the vietnamese bororder of bear paws destined d to china to bebe bear paw soup. Thehe battle to p protect ans and species cant be won without environmental awareness. So tat kuang si bear sanctuary regularly invites school classes. Lot of the kids dont t even know that Ursus Thibetanus is resident in their forests and also a thrhreatened species. More education is neededed, especially in ral environments. Becacae hunting g wild animals s a way of life there. The kids have to learn that the bears are so endangered they might well disappear altogether from laos very soon. Time for a snack. The food is hidden in balls so the bears can train their natural foraging instinct. The conservationists are supported by foreign donors. 38 asian moon bears now live in the open here far too many. The reserve wawas only desigigno but allolowing these colossal creatures back into the wild would bebe too dangerous. There is a number of reasons why these bears s cannot returno the wild. Some havave physical trauma, soe have been haha raised frfrom littttle cubs. The bears that have been hand raise haveve been in printed on humamans. They wilill go directly to a village looking for food. That is when we get t conflict. Free ththe bears is buiuildia much l larger refu a about an hours drive from the historic city of luang prabang. Itll use 26 hectares of farmland. Its an ambitious and expensive project which will offer a home to 150 bears. The refuge is urgently needed. Finally y making an effort to clclose down the cruel and i ill bebear bile farms. The rescued bears will need a new home. Tourism is an integral component of this development. Tourism m dollar to drive this prproject for r the duratition y are lolooking at. It is s a massive project and will take a lot to operate. Today s some monks have come from the nearby viagage of tat kuang si. They bless the conservationists work witith a buddhist r ritual. The ceremony is supposed to bring luck to the workers there and fend off evil spirits. Free the bears cerertainly need every bit of supportrt they can get so that kungfu and his friends can enjoy a Brighter Future in laos. Take a look at our facebook site some time, where you can find many other surprising storieies like this onene abt eagles c chasing drones. That was it for today. Visit us online or write us a mail to global3000 dw. Com. Were always happy to get questions and input from our viewers. You can also visit us on facebook. See you next time. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org]8uxunnn . nnwc0b 10 14 16 10 14 16 [captioning made possible by democracy now ] amy from pacifica, this i is democracy now didnt know anything ouout donald trump until he took out thosose ads and called for our execution. Every time ihink aboutut that, i think k had this in the 1950s,e would have been modernday emmet tills. What would have happepened . Somebody f from the darkrkest ps of society would have come to our homes, k kicked in o our do, and drug is from our homes and
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