The population problem : Brazil : the gathering millions.

The problem of population growth in tropical Brazil; in a maternity hospital, the seventh child is born to a Brazilian woman. In a village, DDT is sprayed on a village hut resulting in the destroying of tropical diseases such as malaria which used to account for high mortality. Large families are shown to be useful in working the land or working as a cowhand on a ranch. There is mass migration from the country to the cities. The North is considered to be poor and barren; the South is where the industry, mines and major cities are. Poor economic migrants are seen waiting transportation. Unfortunately, Salvador, one of the first cities en route to the prosperous south, is not equipped to cope with such large influxes of people. Shanty towns are built over the coastline; education is available but not high quality (a seventeen year old girl teaches a class of primary school aged children). Similarly, medical care is patchy. Unfortunately, work is still sparse and low paid. A 'parrot's cage', a public bus overloaded with people and luggage, is the primary mode of transport to the bigger cities such as Rio - the journey in a packed bus would take fifteen days. Rio is a city of beaches, leisure, the 'playground of Brazil' and also slums and favelas. Life in the favela is depicted; two children are fed with one spoon from a plate in turn. It is observed that there is no contraception for the poor. Free education is not available to the children of the favelas and the population is increasing exponentially. São Paulo, Brazil's second largest city suffers from the same problems. Volkswagen is a big employer; with scenes in the factory, it is noted that 2000 workers come from the North. With employment, a middle class has emerged with housing, small families and enough income to fund private secondary education. The construction industry uses casual labour provided by the rural incomers too. To the West, Londrina is a boom town; the state of Paraná is where coffee is grown and although the work is hard, wages are better. However, frost destroys whole crops, coffee plantations deplete the earth and it encroaches on the virgin forests. Brasilia is the new capital and offered hope of a better future. The population is at the midway point; the death rate is down, birth rate up which will result in the population doubling over 25 years.