Explore countries in the Caribbean, Cuba, Mexico, South America and Cuba.
Guatemala: Natividad, a 14-year-old Mayan girl, faces important decisions about her future. Many age-old traditions and a strong sense of identity thrive in her isolated mountain farming village. However, a newly built road and the increasing scarcity of farmland have begun to bring changes and choices in community lifestyles.
El Salvador: Marvin, age 15, reveals that during the civil war of the 1980s, his parents fled their native country to Nicaragua, his birthplace. Upon returning to El Salvador, they rebuild their lives along with other refugee families at Nueva Esperanza, a jungle cooperative settlement where Marvin now attends school.
Haiti: In a south-coast fishing village, 14-year-old Marie Julie attends school and inhabits a two-room house along with her sister, mother and grandmother. Desperately poor, they all work to feed themselves and keep the family together with dignity. Marie Julie recites meaningful Haitian proverbs which enlighten her day, and introduces the village’s sport of cockfighting.
The Dominican Republic: Jonathan, age 13, resides with his family in a Santo Domingo housing project. Having broken his arm in the aftermath of the hurricane “Georges,” Jonathan wears a cast signed by classmates. He not only shares his zest for school and sports, particularly baseball’s Sammy Sosa, but also for historic colonial sites, including Faro a Colon where Christopher Columbus is buried.
Peru: Bette Tuso, a thirteen-year-old Aymara Indian girl, exhibits the traditional lifestyle of her two-mile-high village in the Andes Mountains where cultural roots predate the Spanish Conquest. While the men farm and herd, the women spin and weave cloth. All the villagers prepare for a gala fiesta, at which Bette makes her dancing debut.
Set also includes programs on Africa, Asia, South Africa and Native Americans. Study Guide included.
2 DVD Set, 1999 Color English 90 mins.
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