Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Nicaragua, Spain
The film crew met with a team from Ayuda en Acción, and it appears that its organizational heart is in the right place. Yet, despite the presence of over five hundred NGOs working to improve the lot of Nicaragua’s poor, their plight worsens every year. Many local activists and intellectuals do not trust the non-profits, and accuse them of having their own enrichment as concern numero uno.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Nicaragua, Spain
That literacy will directly contribute to the health and well being of a people few can doubt. But are a literate people more likely to care for the environment? One man thinks so, and has started a grassroots neighbors teaching neighbors project for the good of both la gente y la tierra.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Nicaragua, Spain
Does graphic and violence-ridden television news that presents the worst aspects of a society also bring out the worst in its audience? Our filmmaker seems to think so, and believes that it is young viewers who pay the price when spectacle trumps thoughtful analysis and measured presentation.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Nicaragua, Spain
Does broadcast media really have a responsiblity to promote and defend human rights? Or is it to simply make shows that people like and that attract ratings? Several Nicaraguan journalists and media producers discuss these ideas in a round table discussion.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Nicaragua, Spain Catalonia
Spain has never been a country afraid of divisive politics, and filmmaker Joan Planas has no fear of getting controversial when presenting his views of society, church and state. Note that the older gentleman is not speaking straight Spanish but Catalan, and the Spanish captions reflect not his exact words but are the same as the Spanish subtitles seen in white on the screen.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Nicaragua, Spain
Not only does our filmmaker continue with his diatribe against the state of society as he finds it in Nicaragua, but the story takes an investigative turn. We find that not only doesn’t sponsored-child Christina del Carmen match the photo that had been supplied by Ayuda en Acción, she is also not yet enrolled in a school.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Spain
Joan Planas continues to pull no punches, taking on NGOs, television, and the Catholic church. Oddly enough, despite his firebrand rhetoric, the film ends on a rather conservative note, suggesting that perhaps what poor nations need is not so much charity but rather a change in actitude, or “attitude,” so as to reflect the mindset of people in successful nations. Tune in to find out the details.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Peru
Most people agree that there’s nothing quite like a tasty wood-fired grill, but because the traditional stove of the Peruvian highlands lacks adequate ventilation of the home and kitchen, serious health problems can arise. A team of researchers have identified this unique regional problem and worked with a clever team of engineers to design an affordable and elegant safer alternative that will be accepted and used by the local people.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Peru
Daily exposure to wood smoke can really wreak havoc on the body. It affects the eyes, the skin, and, of course, the lungs. With small material investment, kitchen smoke is minimized through a cleverly designed, well-ventilated, stove.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Peru
The inhabitants of the first village where special stoves were installed experienced a marked improvement in their respiratory health. Word quickly spread to a nearby community which then made the change over to the new technology. As the materials are inexpensive, it should not be difficult to get all of Peru to switch to the new stoves.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Spain Andalusia
See how students at the Rodríguez Casado de Palos de la Frontera Institute in Huelva, Spain learn to use the oil found at home to make biodiesel, an alternative car fuel.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Spain Andalusia
In the second part of this series, we see the rest of the process of making the alternative car fuel, biodiesel, with some students from the Rodriguez Casado Institute in Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, Spain.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Spain
From a photography exhibit on endangered vultures to students who prefer the beach to the classroom as a manner of studying their environment, a Spanish news channel reviews a plethora of eclectic news briefs.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Spain
The Ideas Club presents eclectic news briefs on student map-making contests, a dedicated dancer of many styles, climate change and a forestry training program for unemployed workers.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Spain
Chambao introduce themselves in this way: The sound of waves, smooth sand, friends and music, a “chambao” is not just a fleeting space set up on the seashore with rugs and cushions, lit up by a bonfire; it is also a place where the simple joy of being alive is the important matter.
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