Americas Now

Chile - Saving a Language. A 25-year-old Chilean musician is trying to keep the culture of a tribe alive by saving its language. His name is Keyuk and his mission is to use the ancient words to unite descendants. Linguists estimate there are some 7,000 different languages still spoken in the world today. But a recent study indicates half of those languages could disappear by the end of the century. Portugal - Cavaquinho. It may look like a ukulele, but this stringed instrument is called a cavaquinho.

Costa Rica - Saving Earth. Costa Rica is the eco-capital of Latin America, offering rich biodiversity and generating most of its electricity from clean sources. In fact 25 % of its land is designated a wildlife reserve or National Park and protected from development.Costa Rica was on a mission to become the first country to have zero emissions by 2021. Last year, it had to revise that goal and admit it was overly ambitious. Argentina - Solar Villages. In Argentina, solar energy is already making a huge difference.

Cuba - HIV Children. The World Health Organization calls it one of the greatest feats in medicine today. Doctors in Cuba have discovered a way to prevent pregnant women with HIV from transmitting the virus to their children. Antarctica - Blind birdwatchers. A blind birdwatcher from Uruguay proves you don't need sight to see. Through the sounds of nature he is able to envision the world that surrounds him. He explores the sounds of nature in Uruguay and Brazil and he goes as far as the Antarctic. Americas Now follows him.

The Waorani tribe, which resides deep in Ecuador's rainforest, was known in the 1980s for being aggressive with Western white explorers, missionaries, and tourists. The tribe's members have become entrepreneurs by developing a chocolate endeavor that has garnered many green certifications and earned a Latin American environmental award.

Forced Sterilizations - Thousands of women in Peru in the 1990's were coerced into sterilization. Dan Collyns in Lima investigates the legacy of this controversial poverty alleviation and population program. Next: the Americas Now "Game Changer" report profiles - Saskia Nino de Rivera - an activist working among mothers and their children born in Mexican overcrowded and inadequate prisons. Finally: Our video essay looks at Urban gardening in Venezuela; a nation undergoing chronic food shortages.