Life-Links

What makes your home country what it is? Three young people try different ways to find an answer.

How does it change your national identity if war forces you to leave home? Yulia is from Donbas and fled with her family to Moscow, where she's trying to readjust.

Elisieu is working hard to write history: He's active in four independence organizations demanding the separation of Catalonia from Spain - following in his family's footsteps.

Singing racist songs and organizing neo-Nazi marches: Once, Felix was deep into the right-wing scene. But then he found out how wrong it is. Since then, he's helped others exit the scene.

A reindeer herder from the Sami people finds grazing grounds locked by ice more often, making it difficult to feed the animals. But without herding, his people will lose culture, language, tradition and identity.

The Pacific Island Kiribati could be uninhabitable in the next few decades. See how Tinaai is battling climate change and coping with an end to her home.

Meet two young people dealing with effects from climate change today: A Pacific Islander likely forced to move in her lifetime and a Scandinavian whose traditional reindeer grazing grounds are disappearing.

From bathrooms in parks to the anonymous hand job on a back street, one young Berliner had a new sex partner every day, for a year. And he did it in the name of art.

This woman and her fiance need help to move but that doesn't affect their passion for each other or make their touch any less meaningful. See this love story.

It's always tough to discover and realize your own sexual desires. But what about when you have few desires at all? Meet one young person who just doesn't find sex appealing.

From cruising for anonymous sex to not being able to have sex on your own: meet three 20-somethings battling through difficulties to have just the right amount of sex in their lives.

Walls divide citizens from stateless, Jewish from Muslim, haves from have-nots. Meet those held back by borders.

A former US Marine who can't go back to America 'I just wanna jump up, run over and go home, but I can't.'

The story of a local named Sundus: the frustration and anger of living behind the walls of the West Bank.

Sami took the Balkan route to Sweden and brought DW Life Links along for one of the toughest international crossings.

They may be from different parts of the world but Amin, Ka-yeon and Alina share a common challenge: carving out their identities in the face of discrimination and prejudice.

As a child Aminatu (name changed) remembers being held down naked and cut. She suffers pain when she has sex as a result and fears she will for the rest of her life.

For a long time Mariam wouldn't talk about her FGM. She felt alone and withdrew. But reconstructive surgery and the ability to speak openly in Germany has given her hope.

Bintou was a teenager when she 'faced her crocodile' - that's how they imagined FGM in her village. She was in a group of 30 girls. Three girls died. But that wasn't the last traumatic experience in her life with FGM.

Gundo comes from a village in Senegal where it was normal for girls to be cut. But the women and girls living in Dougue were determined to stop the practice. Now they want to convince others to #endFGM.

The pain of being cut and the trauma of having something stolen from you - female genital mutilation (FGM) affects 140 million women worldwide. Meet young women dealing with having been cut.

An imam, an ex-Salafist, a former US-marine - they are all united in the fight against radicalism and "Islamic State".

Farming coca, taking drugs, drinking alcohol - Gilda, Dominik and Emma are from different parts of the world, but they have one thing in common: their lives have been ruled by drugs.

Gilda would much rather be a teacher, but for now she is forced to pick coca leaves, the base ingredient of cocaine. It’s the only way she can hope to support her family. "It’s exhausting and the money is never enough."

Emma hasn’t had a sip of alcohol for three years. But even now that she’s sober, she still struggles because Fins like to drink a lot. Despite such surroundings it’s a major stigma to be a young alcoholic in Finland.

Dominik started taking drugs as a teenager - everything from marijuana to hard chemical substances. From then on, his life went downhill. Now he’s in prison for aggravated assault. He said: "Drugs made me violent."

Lydia is fed up with being single. But finding a boyfriend isn't easy: "There are no good guys", she says. Experts say Taiwanese women are "too well-educated, too successful". But Lydia will keep searching for Mr Right.

He's picky and busy and on top of all that a little shy. Guy has a hard time finding a Jewish girlfriend which hasn't even changed by moving from the US to Israel. So he's hired a matchmaker to find the perfect woman.

Speak to a woman he fancies? Stefan would never dare to. That's why he's always been single. At 29, Stefan decided to overcome his shyness, so he won't always have to come home to an empty apartment.

Terrible shyness, high expectations and busy schedules make it hard to find the One. Three young single people from Taiwan, Israel and Germany try to overcome their very own hurdles.

Ships make for some of the toughest workplaces on earth - and they are where Jeroen, Alamgir and Paul have all found jobs. It’s hard work, long hours and little pay - and it’s starting to take its toll.

When happiness rests on an unattainable ideal: the stories of a plastic surgery addict, bodybuilder and ex-anorexic.

Meet David, Leonidah and Ali: a Jew in Hungary, a young woman with albinism in Kenya and a refugee in Germany. They’ve got one thing in common - they’re facing intolerance and are determined to fight it.

Mohamed fled from Syria to Spain. Now the graffiti artist is developing an online game based on his escape.

Mexico aims to increase its surveillance capacities, but Irene refuses to accept that. She wants more data protection.

Bangladeshi blogger Ananya risks his life just by writing. Islamist fundamentalists want to kill him over his words.

A refugee, a data protection activist and a blogger are fighting online to escape the realities they are living in.

Imam Ramazan works in an Austrian prison de-radicalizing young Muslims. He shows them what Islam is really all about.

Dominik found purpose as a radicalized Salafist. He knows he was clueless and is spreading the word on YouTube.

Former US-marine Kurt wants to act against "IS". He's preparing to fly to Iraq to fight with Kurdish forces.

From the Zambian outback to a remote village in Bulgaria and the industrial north-German city of Bremen: three young teachers who are determined to educate - however many challenges come their way.

Poverty, parental illiteracy and long distances mean almost a third of girls in rural Zambia have no access to education. Innocent Banda, a 29-year-old volunteer teacher, is fighting to change that.

Bulgaria is in dire need of good teachers, but it pays them less than any other EU nation. 23-year-old Aleksandar is one of the few stepping into the breach.

Marlou is a trainee teacher from the 'wrong' side of the tracks. She wants to inspire disadvantaged children that they can become something too. But the rigid rules of Germany’s education system are getting in the way.

Thomas plans his life around working out and has muscles many men would die for. But when the young bodybuilder looks in the mirror, he doesn’t see the perfect physique others do. What if he never achieves the perfection he desires?

Isis is caught up in Brazil's craze for plastic surgery. She is just 23 and has already undergone liposuction and breast-enlargement procedures. “I just want to feel better about myself,” says the naturally beautiful Brazilian.

Antonia thought being thin would make her happy, but instead she slipped into a spiral of despair and landed in hospital. Now she’s through the ordeal and is a role model to thousands worldwide.

Tsegi can’t breathe like other people. The young Mongolian has severe lung problems - that are man-made: she’s from Ulan Bator, one of the world’s most polluted cities.

David fought for his Queen and country in Iraq and Afghanistan. But when he returned home, his nation failed him. This is the story of post traumatic stress disorder, the invisible battle scar.

A man in need of a new heart, an ex-soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder and a woman whose lung problems are man-made. They're all under 30. And they're fighters.

20 year-old Alexander really needs a new heart - the one he was born with doesn't drain blood properly. But Germany's organ donation system is in crisis, and he doesn't know how long he'll have to wait.