Comm: "Kay Kay, on the back here, lives in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. She's an only child, and her parents work long hours. Her favourite game is solitaire.

"Erdo lives in one of the world's most difficult environments. Born into a nomadic herding tribe in northern Kenya, he has 21 18 .brothers and
sisters.

"We have been filming Erdo and Kay Kay since 1992.

"That year nearly every world leader came to Rio for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the Earth Summit which was designed to help protect the world environment from continuing destruction.

"The world's leaders agreed we should no longer take the environment for granted. They made promises to help safeguard it for future generations.

"Since then we've followed the lives of 10 children to see the effect of the changing state of our planet, and how the promises made in Rio have affected them.

"This film focuses on just two of those children - Kay Kay and Erdo.

"Erdo was born in northern Kenya, to Esther and Christopher. They're nomadic herders of the Turkana tribe.

"The Turkana way of life has changed little in thousands of years - with everything centering on cattle which are moved to wherever the best grass is to be found.

"But Erdo was born into a changing world."

Esther: "Things here are not like they were when we were small - there are so many more people around."

Comm: "Even then Esther was feeling the pressures of population growth and its effect on her environment. Her husband noted climate changes and its effects."

Christopher: "This year the drought's worse than anyone can remember - and we seem to be getting a lot more trouble with elephants bothering us."

Comm: "Erdo's father Christopher has two wives. Between them they've given birth to 19 children.

"Soon after he was born, Erdo's family fled for their lives when raiders from a rival tribe sacked their village. They stole the cattle and killed an uncle and an older brother.

"The attack over, they returned back to their abandoned village, to salvage their posessions."

Christopher: "What a waste - all this grass and no cattle."

Comm: "For three month old Erdo this was to be the start of a life of turmoil."

Esther: "Look!! They've wrecked our bed."

Comm: "They spend the afternoon collecting their few belongings. The village is deserted apart from a very brave teacher who has returned alone to check on his school.

Esther: "What is this?"

Teacher: "This is the work of thieves."

Comm: "Esther herself had been learning to read and write in the school."

Esther: "These books that we worked so hard for - where are we to get the money to buy them again? Why do they have to destroy the children's things?"

Comm: "With most of their cattle stolen, Erdo's family resort to the only way left to feed their children. They cut down the few remaining trees to make charcoal to sell in the nearest town."

Bruno Q: "Esther, what will the charcoal buy you?"

Esther: "This tree will buy some maize meal - enough to feed my children for three days."

Comm: "We returned to look for them two years later. Heavily armed cattle raiders were nearby.

"We found Erdo's family had moved back to their home in an area called Chumviere.

"Erdo is now 2 years old. Despite the danger, the family are happy to be back.

"But Esther fears the traditional herding life no longer has a future and relations with her husband have deteriorated.

"She's pregnant again - but against her will."

Esther: "I don't want more children, but since I am a woman and a Turkana, I have to listen to the voice of my husband."

Christopher: "The biggest danger is that he might not be able to go to school or get enough food because there are so many kids to feed."

Esther: "Don't believe him if he tells you he wants them to go to school. It's not true - I don't believe him. He wants them to be herders."

Comm: "Despite his parents' wishes, the danger of violence means Erdo's future may well be in the hands of others.

"That evening we heard gunshots ring out in the darkness.

"By now Erdo was 4, and he has another brother."

Christopher: "Since you were last here, there have been more attacks by cattle raiders.

"We're worried for Erdo's safety and for the other children. Practically every day you hear news of attacks."

Comm: "From the day he was born, Erdo's new brother has been chronically sick.

"To make matters worse, the continuing drought has forced elephants out of a nearby wildlife reserve in search of food."

Esther: "They came through here two days ago and ate my crops...look the dung is still fresh.

"An old man got trampled and they killed a cow. It's very dangerous for small children."

Comm: "Esther now spends much of her time making charcoal to sell in the nearest town for medicines for her sick child.

"It takes a full day for Erdo and his mother to make the thirty kilometer round trip to town to sell the charcoal. Esther knows she and her neighbours are turning the bush into desert - but for her it's a simple choice."

Esther: "When you're poor like us you thank God for each day you wake up, and your children are safe and sound. We live from one day to the next."

Comm: "In 1998, the bandits had finally won the day and forced the family to move on.

"Erdo's mother was building a new house. The land here was poor and difficult to live on - but at least it was considered to be safe.

"Esther was more than ever convinced the old herding way of life no longer had a future."

Esther: "It seems I am doomed to roam this land, building houses I can never complete.

"People love guns too much here - everybody is trying to get them. If you have one in your hand you don't feel like listening to anyone any more. The gun doesn't solve any problems. Violence only leads on to more violence.."

Comm: "And there had been another big change in her life. Erdo's father had left and moved in with his first wife, some distance away.

"In the meantime, the sudden rains had killed-off one of the main sources of food for Erdo and his brothers and sisters."

Esther: "All this rain came as too much of a shock to our goats - every one of them got foot rot and diarrhea, and then died of pneumonia."

Comm: "Two years later, the picture of Erdo's life had changed yet again.

"Erdo's father. Christopher is now separated from both wives. He and some other tribesmen are still clinging to the herding way of life. They have sold cattle to buy guns, and pooled their remaining animals into a single herd in order to protect them.

Christopher: "We can't trust the authorities to protect us - if we don't do this we won't survive much longer. Since you first came here in 1992 I've lost one hundred sheep and goats and twenty head of cattle.

"This gun represents protection - everyone has guns here now."

Comm: "The cattle raiders are known to be armed with powerful AK47s. Christopher and the other herders would have little chance against them with these ancient looking guns.

"Esther has decided she wants a different future for Erdo and her other children."

Esther: "For months Christopher and I have not seen each other until recently - but nobody has interest in the other."

Comm: "She's left Christopher to farm a small plot of land lent to her by a relative, not far from the town of Isiolo.

"She's had yet another baby, again against her will."

Esther: "I can no longer agree that a Turkana woman must obey her husband, because the role of a wife and a husband is to work together to help the family, and take decisions together - not on their own.

"I also came here because of famine. There's no point to the herding existence any more, because bandits can take your cattle from you at any time - and you have no power to stop them. In any case, as a Turkana woman, cattle are no good to you anyway: they're never sold to help your children or to send them to school. That's why I've decided to leave the old way. This shamba can solve my problem.

"With a good harvest I can get two bags of maize, and then sell one to pay school fees.

"I've formed a club with 15 other women here. We pay fifteen shillings a week into a fund, then every fifteen weeks you get a lump sum of 750 shillings.

"For the first time in my life I can plan for my self and my children."

Comm: "But Erdo is not living with his Mum. Esther wants Erdo to move here, but first she has to save up to buy a desk, a requirement to send him to the nearby school.

"In the meantime Erdo stay's with his father's first wife who's house is within access of a Korean run missionary school."

Esther: "When we found Erdo he was much more withdrawn and didn't speak to us while we were with him.
He's up very early. The Korean Missionary school he attends is several kilometers away. It's a long walk."

Comm: "Erdo clearly enjoys the first lesson of the day-music.

"While the children sing, the school cook prepares the free school lunch -one of the big attractions of the school.

"Erdo is now studying maths just like - as we shall see in a moment - his Chinese counterpart, Kay Kay who is thousands of kilometers and a continent away. Erdo doesn't find maths easy. But the free meal helps - many of the school children here are frequently hungry. And it puts Erdo in good heart for the long trip home.

"Erdo's mother Ester has decided education is the key to breaking the cycle of events of the last few years. For the time being, separation from her son is the price she pays for his education. But at least, in her view it will keep him alive."

Esther: "I wouldn't like Erdo to become a herdsman like my elder son. He was killed by the bandits. So making Erdo into a herdsman is just like selling his life."

Comm: "So Esther has chosen the settled life of farming saving for that desk for her son."

Esther: "I'm happy with the little I can get from this field. Out there with Christopher it was as if I was in the wilderness."


Part Two: China- Kay Kay 2000

Comm: "Kay Kay was born in one of the world's fastest growing cities, the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. We also started filming Kay Kay when she was born in 1992, the year of the Rio Earth Summit.

"Kay Kay is the only child her parents Liang and Cheung will be allowed to have under Chinese law."

Cheung (Mother): "Having our little family, husband wife and baby, that's the best. Now we've got our baby we're really happy."

Comm: "Kay Kay's father, Liang, works in a paper mill.- much of the equipment here dates from the 1930s and pollution levels are high - China . burns more coal than any other country."

Liang (Father): "All industry in every country pollutes. But our industry first has to grow and get strong. That's when our country can start to worry about pollution control."

Comm: "The Rio Summit was supposed to help show the way for .countries such as China to develop in less damaging ways.

"Kay Kay and her generation, living in China's polluted cities are six times more likely to die early of lung cancer than those in the cleaner air of the countryside.

"China's race to industrialise has transformed the lives of those living in her major cities."

Kay Kay: "Hello. My name is Kay Kay. I'm four. When I grow up I want to have high-heeled shoes, long hair, and be a teacher!!"

Comm: "Having just one child means Kay Kay's parents can spend more of their earnings on her."

Shop Assistant: "We don't have high- heels in your daughter's size."

Cheung: "It's useless trying to force her to do what you want. She has to have her own way."

Parents: "They don't have hi heels. We'll buy you an ice cream instead."

Comm: "Pampered city children like Kay Kay are sometimes called a generation of 'Little Emperors'.

"Kay Kay's family now have a standard of living their parents could not dream of.

"But the environmental cost is high.

"The traffic is so congested that Kay Kay's parents now have to live apart to be able to get to work. They can only manage to be together at weekends."

Liang: "With all these changes, you can't be sure what's going to happen.

"We're concerned about Kay Kay's safety growing up in our new society."

Comm: "The economic boom is concentrated in the cities.

"Since she was born, Kay Kay's parents income has doubled.

"Before she's a teenager, the world's most populous nation will be well on the way to becoming the biggest consumer society on earth."

Kay Kay: "If your mother loves you. And she hugs you. There is no end to your happiness!"

Comm: "The growth of Kay Kay's city, Guangzhou, continues unabated. It's now a city of 5 million people. Pollution levels are still rising. New elevated roadways and the beginning of a brand new subway system are helping people get around town."

Kay Kay: "Motorbikes, cars, factories, they all produce fumes - and pedestrians have to put on masks to be able to breathe.

"Those trees - don't cut down the trees! Let those trees live and carry on growing slowly! And let those drivers in their cars not let those fumes come out!"

Comm: "Kay Kay and her parents have moved since we last filmed her. They're renting a flat from her mother's employers.

"But life in Guangzhou's booming economy means Kay Kay's parents are working such long hours she rarely gets the chance to see them.

Cheung: "Sometimes we go for days without getting any rest and then we can only have a meal together once a month - often we can't even manage that."

Comm: "Kay Kay's father is now back under the same roof because he's bought a new motorbike with his increased earnings -- it cuts the time to work. He starts early in the morning and usually gets home at midnight. First he drops Kay Kay off at school.

"Kay Kay's school is jointly owned by a number of companies, including her Mum's. The children of employees pay reduced fees.

"Kay Kay's mother is a truck driver. In addition to her 8-hour morning shift she has another shift from 5pm till midnight. Between, there is enough time for a short sleep and to make a meal. This is one of the rare occasions Kay Kay's family are able to eat together."

Cheung: "Sometimes Kay Kay can't sleep at night - she gets afraid and waits for me to come back in the early hours of the morning."

Comm: "Most nights Kay Kay is left alone. She likes to play solitaire."

"When we first met Kay Kay in 1992, she lived with her extended family - four generations living under one roof.

Cheung: "Living this way is progressive - I don't know about the future - it's supposed to get better isn't it?"

Comm: "Kay Kay and Erdo live in vastly different worlds but they both have fragmented families. Eight years on from the Rio Earth Summit we are perhaps seeing a pattern emerging. Population pressure on the world's environment is increasing and our children are feeling it."