FOR COLOMBIA'S YOUTH, MISERY AND RESILIENCY.

Byline: - David Kronke

WITH ALL EYES anxiously focused on the Middle East, the National Geographic Channel tonight reminds us again that the whole world is awash in woe. ``World Diary: Colombia's Forgotten Children'' examines the innocent victims of the South American country's never-ending civil war, offering a few (perhaps too optimistic) glimmers of hope amid the unrelenting gloom.

Brazilian journalist Helena Cavendish de Moura tells us that more than 2 million Colombians have been displaced by the ongoing battles, and offers snapshots of a handful of these. One man has set up a makeshift school for kids behind his shack in a shantytown. A former photojournalist ministers to runaway teens on the streets of Bogota, attempting to rescue them from their lives of prostitution and drug abuse.

The most surreal - and, it seems, deeply metaphorical - way of coping with the harsh circumstances surrounding them comes from a man who has set up a school for aspiring circus performers. De Moura profiles a student, a formerly homeless teen who now trains to become a juggler, which he sees as his only way out of poverty - how, exactly, does one reach that conclusion?

De Moura also interviews a young deserter in the war, who tells how he was recruited - which is to say, kidnapped - by guerillas at 13. We're told that his identity is being protected - his eyes are blurred out in one shot, but oddly enough, the next shot closes in on them; eventually, his entire face is seen. So much for protection.

``Colombia's Forgotten Children'' is evocatively photographed by producer Sean Fine, and de Moura tackles an important subject, but she expends too much energy dragging herself into the drama. She prattles on about how rattled her nerves are after traversing a military checkpoint and portentously intoning at times, ``I brace myself for the next part of my journey,'' and,``In this neighborhood, I fear for my own safety.'' (Well, yes, the country is in the middle of a civil war.) It's a manipulative yet absorbing look at just another of our globe's ongoing tragedies.

WORLD DIARY: COLOMBIA'S FORGOTTEN CHILDREN - Three and one half stars

What: Documentary on the tolls taken by Colombia's unending civil war, hosted by Helena Cavendish de Moura.

Where: National Geographic Channel.

When: 9 tonight.