VOA -- CONNECT
EPISODE 22
AIR DATE: 06 15 2018
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
The Right Word
((SOT))
Words that I have given in the spelling bee, I love sardoodledom. I think it is just a fun word.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Nutrition Delivered
((SOT))
It’s a blessing to me when I can get up and just be able to put a meal in the microwave.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Opioids in America
((SOT))
My main concern was how is this going to affect my getting my daughter back. That is paramount.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((Banner: Living America’s Opioid Nightmare))
((ANIMATION W/ GFX, CAPTIONS, PHOTOS))
((Banner: More than 115 Americans die each day from opioid overdoses. VOA looks at three stories from the epidemic))
((PKG)) THE DAMAGE DONE / ALLISON: PART 1
((Banner: Allison: Part 1))
((Producers: Chris Simkins, Jeff Swicord, Jacquelyn De Phillips))
((Camera: Jeff Swicord, Chris Simkins, Marcus Harton))
((Map: Miami, Florida))
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
I started smoking pot when I was about 18. I was 19 when I met my husband. He kind of introduced me to oxycodone. I got in two car accidents back to back and I went to a doctor. You have doctors that are called pain doctors. They go from prescribing nothing to prescribing a very powerful opioid that turns into this beast you can’t control. A lot of people turn to heroin because it is significantly cheaper. When you find something you like in that drug culture, you kind of stick with it.
((NATS))
Do we have any aluminum foil?
That’s a negative.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
John and I have been together, now, 10 years. He was my knight in shining armor and then we slowly fell into addiction. And we split up for about four or five months when I went into rehab. I could feel a piece of me missing, but I was so broken outside of our relationship, there’s absolutely no way he and I would’ve been good together.
((John Lowe, Allison’s Husband))
In order for us to be the best version of ourselves, we had to worry about ourselves for a minute.
((NATS))
That’ll do.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
After him graduating rehab and being there for the same amount of time, it allowed us to come back together as the people we were when we first met.
((NATS))
Now pour some more, I’ll tell you when.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
We’re involved in family court and my daughter is with my mom. She has been taken out of my husband and my custody for the time being. We’re building slowly towards her coming and living with us.
((John Lowe, Allison’s Husband))
My focus is being the best father, the best provider, the best person I can be. And there is nothing that I wouldn’t do for her.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
We are still left with all the problems and the debt that we had incurred before we went into rehab and then starting off trying to find a place to live, getting all the essentials, a bed.
((John Lowe, Allison’s Husband))
Finding balance when it is so tilted. You’re still weighed down by your past and here you are trying to balance everything out. Just because of the wreckage.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
It’s impossible.
((John Lowe, Allison’s Husband))
It is really hard to find that balance right now.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
But we manage.
((NATS))
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
I used to tell him all the time, I’d ask him to tell me a story just like I did, tell me a story. And I’d sit there, and I’d listen.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
Jen has made this entire process bearable. She is answering my phone calls whenever I’ve needed her whether she’s in a meeting herself, if she’s with her family, she’ll step outside. She has been a constant in this flux. She’s kind of helped me stay grounded and if I needed advice she’s been there. She’s an amazing person, that Jen.
((Jen Ellison, Peer Counselor))
So how was Christmas?
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
Christmas. Christmas was difficult. I’m not going to lie. My mom at the last minute decided that she was uncomfortable having John and I there because my sister and all of them haven’t, haven’t quite gotten to the point where they want to be around us.
((Jen Ellison, Peer Counselor))
But you know, just because you guys are healing, and your healing process, and you’re feeling good, doesn’t mean that they’ve let go yet. You know? And it’s on them.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
I think that’s the hardest part. I’m so eager to get back in touch with my family.
((Jen Ellison, Peer Counselor))
A lot of people want to heal those relationships and they don’t really grasp that the other side isn’t necessarily ready to heal, or willing to heal right away. You can’t force somebody to see you change. Part of letting go is letting go of your family to allow them to heal too as hurtful as it can be. That’s why we say build a support network because other people have done this too. That’s why we see them three times a week to work on how they feel and how difficult it is. Part of getting sober is making a new family sort of. At least you guys have each other, which is great because there is a lot of people alone. But you guys have each other. You know, and if you have positive people to spend, you know, holidays and stuff with,
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
Right.
((Jen Ellison, Peer Counselor))
you know that really helps.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
Instead of sending my daughter to foster care or a foster home, my mom offered to take temporary custody of her so I could focus on myself and John could focus on himself. She has been with my mom since I entered rehab, so it’s going on almost 11 months that I haven’t been around her.
((NATS))
John Lowe, Allison’s Husband))
Hey, you want your Goldfish, huh?
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
I think my mom is uncomfortable with me having my daughter for a lot of reasons. I haven’t been the most present mother. My mom has been her caregiver for almost her entire life because I was there, but not there. I was using, I was getting high. I think my mom is extremely uncomfortable. She’s not quite sure of my resolve. Addiction is not just about the addict, it affects the whole family. And it has caused my mom to be very distrustful of not only me, but of my actions.
((NATS))
Okay let’s go find daddy.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
I can’t force it. I cannot pressure her. It’ll end up causing more harm than good. My intentions for this scenario as far as staying clean, having my daughter, having a relationship with my mom, having John have a relationship with my family, and having that family unit be whole. That’s what I want out of all of this.
((NATS))
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
I have court for the shoplifting.
((Jen Ellison, Peer Counselor))
The incident.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
The incident. In rehab, I fell into a group of girls who was stealing from different stores. I ended up taking quite a few articles of clothing from Target and they got me for shoplifting. I made a really bad decision, and I’m human. I know it’s going to happen, but it was just….
((Jen Ellison, Peer Counselor))
You’re in rehab so it’s like a bunch of, I mean, in rehab, nobody, you’re all there together. So, no decision making process has been positive so far.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
Right.
((Jen Ellison, Peer Counselor))
To meet people in treatment. It’s really common when you stop doing something you’re used to doing all the time and you’re looking for things to fill the void. Without drugs, you look for some kind of excitement, and sadly, you know, breaking the law is exciting because you’re kind of used to doing that in a sense. You know it’s kind of sad, but it’s kind of true, at the same time. So, is it uncommon that somebody would go out and do something like that? You know, with three, four weeks clean and sober? No, actually it’s not.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
My main concern was how is, how is this going to affect my getting my daughter back? That is paramount. Anything and everything to do with her is paramount in this situation. And I’m terrified, terrified.
((NATS))
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
My greatest fear is going on probation and losing my job and then, in turn, having this family court process drag out even longer. That means more time without my daughter. That means falling back into a depression. That means a greater chance of relapse. That’s not something I’m willing to allow to happen,
((NATS))
Judge Michelle Gonzalez Paulson now presiding.
((Judge Paulson))
Good afternoon everyone. Thank you. You may be seated. First case being called is Allison Nicole Norland.
((Allison Norland, Recovering Addict))
Good afternoon judge.
((Text over video))
Living America’s opioid nightmare…..continues on VOAConnect in the weeks to come
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up….
((Banner))
Through their eyes
((SOT))
I try to look at things with a lot of light, a lot of what draws me to is positivity.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((Banner: Helping the Sick))
((PKG)) CALIFOOD
((Banner: Through Food))
((Reporter/Camera: Arturo Martinez))
((Map: Los Angeles, California))
((NATS))
((Richard Ayoud, Executive Director, Project Angel Food))
This is the first time in the country that a state has invested in a program like this. So, they’re investing in Project Angel Food and five other organizations across the state that provide medically-tailored meals. And they’re targeting people with congestive heart failure because they use the healthcare system the most.
So, there’s going to be a thousand clients over three years who are going to look at them a year before they got the food, while they got the food, and a year after they got the food, to see how they did, how their life changed, how long they stayed out of the hospital.
((NATS))
If we keep someone out of the hospital for one day, it saves five thousand dollars, and five thousand dollars will pay for this whole program for three months, providing them three meals a day, three months, and the nutrition counseling they need.
((NAT))
This one is barbecue shredded pork.
((Marjory Smith, Beneficiary, Project Angel Food))
I am part of Project Angel Food, and I do receive my meals. They come every Monday and I receive seven meals, which is one meal per day. It’s a blessing to me, when I can get up and just be able to put a meal in the microwave. And it goes according to our diet. It’s whatever our doctors put us on.
((Richard Ayoud, Executive Director, Project Angel Food))
There is science behind what we do, and it’s the registered dieticians who provide that science. They go through all the different guidelines, from the different associations, the Diabetic Association, the Heart Association, and look at what the requirements are, and then we build meals that fulfill those requirements.
((Marjory Smith, Beneficiary of Program))
Even though we still get weak and out of breath and all those things, but the point is, I do have a nutritional meal coming in, to where yes, it helps you.
((PKG)) CANCER PHOTOGRAPHY
((Banner: Through Art))
((Reporter/Camera: Elizabeth Lee))
((Map: Los Angeles, California))
((Madeline Morales, Student Photographer))
I try to look at things with a lot of light, a lot of what draws me to is positivity. Something that means love or happiness. I could say something with my pictures about my cancer journey with just, like, one picture. It helps me take my mind off of it. A distraction to think of something else other than cancer, cancer, cancer, chemo. I was diagnosed when I was 11, and it’s a muscle tumor.
((Monica Valdez, Madeline’s mother))
She’s relapsed twice. They both have been really, really hard to deal with. Pablove, it’s that one positive thing in her that she’s always looking forward to.
((Ashley Blakeney, Program Manager, Pablove Shutterbugs Program))
We invest in underfunded cutting edge pediatric cancer research. We improve the lives of children and teens living with cancer through the arts.
((Madeline Morales, Student Photographer))
It makes me feel excited, a little bit nervous, you know, putting your art out there and seeing what people have to say about it.
((Ashley Blakeney, Program Manager, Pablove Shutterbugs Program))
Pablove Shutterbugs serves as a distraction for these students while they’re going through their treatment because it literally is an out of hospital experience. We provide all of the cameras free of charge to our students and it’s something that they can literally take with them anywhere. Being in these classes with other people that completely understand their experience and can be a community with them has been really impactful and has really made them feel a lot more comfortable in what they’ve been through and where they’re going with it. So, to date, we have served about 1,300 students across the country. We encourage them to use the camera and use what they learned to tell their cancer experience and to share that with the world. We do sell our student prints and so with each print that we sell, all of the proceeds go into funding our research grants.
((Bayu Lukman, Student Photographer))
Hello, my name is Bayu Lukman and I have some photos in this gallery. Most of my photos’ themes focused on hope. Hope is, I’d say, decently important as it’s a strong motivation to just keep on living through what you’ve been through, in a way, because when you have cancer and you’re like super young, you don’t know what’s really going on and then when you realize it, you kind of get really depressed and you don’t want to live anymore. You need to stay optimistic and push yourself through. Pablove helped me understand more about the struggles of cancer and has given me a small chance to actually assist in the world a bit with photography, I’d say, to express my story and allow it to hopefully reach other kids so they can understand how to deal with it hopefully.
((Madeline Morales, Student Photographer))
I think with photography and having that faith in God has really helped me a lot to staying positive and being motivated to want to keep fighting this disease.
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up….
((Banner))
Leo Sarkisian
((SOT))
Art and music. What finer passion can I have? It’s been my entire life.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG)) SPELLING BEE -- JACQUES BAILLY
((Banner: The Joy of Spelling))
((Executive Producer: Marsha James))
((Camera: Kaveh Rezaei))
((Map: National Harbor, Maryland))
((Jacques Bailly, Spelling Bee Pronouncer))
So, the words that I’ve given in the Spelling Bee, I love sardoodledom. I think it is just a fun word. It is a useful word, and the speller who got it was Kennyi Aouad, and he thought it was just the funniest thing he had ever heard, and he couldn’t stop giggling, and I had to sort of reel him in and, you know, bring him down to get him to spell the word. That was a neat moment.
It may sound like a joke but I usually say I get a front row seat at the best event in the world.
My name is Jacques Bailly. I am the official pronouncer for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
As a child, I had a total fascination with language. I was trying to learn French all my life, I still am. The spelling bee sort of fed into that in sixth grade. I had Latin in high school. I have sort of drifted throughout my life. Just one thing would keep interesting me. And languages kept my interest all the way up till now.
I didn’t win any spelling bees in six and seventh grade, so I was really hungry and really wanted to win, and in eighth grade, that was when I won each spelling bee I was in until I won the big National Spelling Bee. In the National Spelling Bee, my final word was elucubrate.
I became involved with the National Spelling Bee because I wrote to them and I said, I don’t know if you remember me but I won the spelling bee ten years ago, and since then I have learned Latin and Greek and German and a lot more French, and I think I might have a skill set you might need for something or other. And it just so happened that they did need somebody to be associate pronouncer, which, at that point, was basically a chief fact checker at the Bee. I had a hidden mission, because I thought they were using words that were too hard. I thought that we don’t need words that nobody has ever heard of to get a champion. And at that point, believe it or not, we didn’t, but now they study so hard that we need the impossible words.
Most of us in our daily life might misspell accommodate. These kids are at an age where their memory is amazing. And they have time to devote to this and they love it. We need to find words like ‘ursprache’ because they have studied so much that you’ve got to look for the nooks and crannies.
So, these kids have a very deep knowledge and deep intuition, a ‘sprachgefühl’, a feeling for the language that is much broader and wider and more informed than most adults.
People think length matters for these spellers. For most of them it doesn’t. A long word is usually a lot easier. The four-letter words are often the hardest.
I have a particular view about human rights. I think the most fundamental one is the right to education and working with the Bee enables me to do something that I am able to do, to inspire people to educate themselves. My role is to help the spellers so it is very much sort of an affirmation and a role where I get inspired by them. So, it’s more than fun. It is really meaningful.
((PKG)) GRADUATION DAY
((Banner: The Joy of Graduation))
((Reporter/Camera: Esha Serai))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
((Map: Baltimore, Maryland))
((NATS, band))
((Banner: Graduation ceremony, June, 2018))
((Kelvin Williams, Graduate, Dunbar High School))
Dunbar High School is a high school for professional health careers, and it gets you ready for college, and the next level. Dunbar is just an amazing school.
((NATS))
((Rohan Lindsay, Teacher, Health Career Program))
I had the pleasure of teaching one class of 12th graders. Most of these students I taught them, a lot of them anyway, I taught them in the 9th grade. And I had an awesome class that I taught in the 12th grade, with a medical ethics class, and they’re very inquisitive, direct. They were questioned, and they basically wanted their voices to be heard. That’s the type of class, I would say, this 2018 class is, yes.
((NATS))
((Carl Kuniken, Graduate, Dunbar High School))
The biggest thing is finding where you belong, whether it be in sports, or science, or even fashion, but really, finding out where you fit in. But people tend to give up, and they also have dreams that they believe will just fall in their lap, but, from my understanding, you have to earn and take what you want. You can’t sit back, and allow stuff to come to you. Take what you want. Don’t let others give it to you.
((PKG)) LEO SARKISIAN / WEB VIDEO
((Banner: Remembering Leo))
((Producer: Karina Choudhury))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((Banner: Leo Sarkisian was the creator and long time host of VOA’s Music Time in Africa))
((Voice Over))
And now here’s Leo.
((Leo Sarkisian))
And I am Leo Sarkisian. Happy to have you with us today.
This example, is the South Central province of the country and the dance music is from the ethnic group called Beti.
((Banner: He traveled Africa for half a century with his wife, Mary))
((Leo Sarkisian))
Art and music. What finer passion can I have?
((Courtesy: Artwork by Leo Sarkisian))
((Leo Sarkisian))
It’s been my entire life. It’s from my childhood right up ‘til today, and maybe into the future. I will still be doing my art and I will be dancing with my music. What else? It is passion.
((Caption over still: Leo Sarkisian 1921 – 2018))
CLOSING ((ANIM))
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SHOW ENDS
