What you pay for your morning fix equals a day's wages for the millions of workers who harvest the bean. Since its discovery in the Ethiopian hillside in the sixth century, our beloved cup of joe has been a dominant force in shaping the economic and social structures of entire nations. Black Coffee provides an intriguing glimpse into the dark side of the brew, which is the second largest trading commodity in the world after oil, and like sugar, has been instrumental in promoting the slave trade. The three-part series, from Montreal's Irene Angelico (The Cola Conquest) casts a critical eye on its human rights and ecological record that remains dodgy at best, and also links our morning ritual to the rise in the café culture and the fair trade movement's efforts to guarantee small growers at least a decent price.

This 7-part series exposes the Nation's water crisis. Host BOB MCDONALD challenges our comfort level, as we do take water for granted, and calls us to take action by presenting potential solutions.Through a progression of interviews with top water scientists , this series explores the issues, the science, and the human impacts on water. The first six episodes will examine freshwater issues in one of Canada's distinct regions. The National Perspective will provide a picture of Canada's water issues on a national scale.

A documentary on the history of the most important economic link of Canada's Great Lakes region to the United States: The Welland Canal. This epic documentary, timed with the Canal's 175th Anniversary celebration in 2003, traces its history from its conception in 1824 through its continued evolution and expansion. The Welland Canal is a story of tremendous achievement and vision, a story of business, engineering, architecture, economics, geography, and history, and the development of a nation.

Eleven intrepid Canadian teens – members of a Toronto Catholic District School Board leadership program – sign up for a three-week trip to Kenya. They have no clear idea of what's ahead – just “Teach in the morning and build in the evening.”

In the heart of Masai Mara country, a new world awaits. Language barriers. Lack of books and resources. Teaching in a stifling one-room classroom. Building a schoolhouse from scratch – with no modern equipment. Digging six-foot trenches with shovels. And no one expects to be chased by a wild elephant! That’s just the beginning … Nothing could have prepared them for the magic that would mark the next weeks.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow chronicles the struggles of African Americans, on the streets and in the courts, to put an end to a system of government-sanctioned racial oppression and segregation. The four-part documentary starts with the Reconstruction period after the American Civil War - a time that held so much promise for free black men and women. In the early 20th century, new laws segregated and disfranchised African Americans and undermined their aspirations for land, civil and political rights, and legal due process. In the period between the wars these laws were reinforced by terror tactics, most notably lynchings. The series concludes at the height of the Civil Rights movement, a century after the Emancipation Proclamation, when African Americans at last began to realize true opportunities for education, business, and land ownership.

A remarkable journey around the globe, investigating the spread and development of the English language and examining how vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar vary dramatically not only between countries but also from region to region in Britain.