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[[Ukrainians living in South Africa are marking one year since Russia's invasion with a dance production titled "We Stand for Freedom." The performance, supported by the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, draws parallels between racial oppression under apartheid and Moscow's war on Ukraine. Vicky Stark meets some Ukrainians who fled the war in this report from Cape Town, South Africa.]]
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/ScriptUKR 1YR: SAFRICA UKRAINE DANCE (TV/R)
HEADLINE: Ukrainian Dance Production Shows Similarities of Russia’s War, Apartheid
TEASER: Ukrainians who sought refuge in South Africa yearn for peace so they can return home
PUBLISHED: Friday, 2/23/23 at 10:40pm
BYLINE: Vicky Stark
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Cape Town, South Africa
VIDEOGRAPHER: Shadley Lombard
PRODUCER: Vicky Stark
SCRIPT EDITORS: Holly Franko, Jepsen
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Original
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 2:45
VID APPROVED BY: wpm
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO))
[[Ukrainians living in South Africa are marking one year since Russia's invasion with a dance production titled "We Stand for Freedom." The performance, supported by the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, draws parallels between racial oppression under apartheid and Moscow's war on Ukraine. Vicky Stark meets some Ukrainians who fled the war in this report from Cape Town, South Africa.]]
((NAT – ORIGINAL, NO COURTESY SHOTS OF THREE WOMEN. MOTHER PUTTING FLOWERS ON MARTA’S HEAD))
((NARRATOR))
Crafter Violetta Velieva, (VILEEVA) 61, and her mother Luibo Dzhalalova (LOOBA DJALALOVA), 86, fled Odesa, Ukraine, a day after Russia’s bombs started falling last year on February 24.
They made their way to Cape Town, South Africa, where Velieva’s daughter Marta Kucherenko has lived for six years. Her son is still in Ukraine defending his homeland.
[[Radio track ... Velieva says she is worried sick about him.]]
((Violetta Velieva, Ukrainian Living in South Africa)) ((IN UKRAINIAN))
“It was very hard to leave my son in such danger, but he insisted on staying. He told me it’s better for him if we are not there. He took us to the border with Slovenia, from there we went to the Czech Republic. When he got back, he got a gun and now he’s guarding the city.”
((NARRATOR))
Her mother says she yearns to return to Ukraine.
[[Radio track … Dzhalalova had a simple but pleasant life.]]
((Luibo Dzhalalova, Ukrainian Living in South Africa)) ((IN RUSSIAN))
“I miss my village, and I don’t know what is happening with it because everyone has left there. We know a lot of Russians come there, and they bomb the forest.”
((NARRATOR))
To make ends meet in this foreign country, the two women are selling crafts like flower crowns, Ukrainian dolls and jams. Their goods are on sale at tonight’s dance performance called “We Stand for Freedom” being staged at the District Six Homecoming Center.
Ukrainian choreographer Kateryna Aloshyna was inspired by an exhibition by the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation, which is supporting this event and has criticized the South African government’s neutral stance.
[[Radio track … Aloshyna says she was inspired by an exhibition about apartheid]]
((Kateryna Aloshyna, Ukrainian Choreographer))
“And when we walked through that exhibition, we actually saw that South Africa went through the same past which Ukrainians are going now. I was so touchful (sic). We have some many (sic) in common, especially the value of freedom as a core value for the society.”
((NARRATOR))
The foundation’s chief operating officer, Phumi Nhlapo, says anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu stood for peace. She urged people to speak out because it helped to end apartheid.
((Phumi Nhlapo, Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation))
“When we asked other people in the past to support us in the struggle against apartheid. It was the people in those countries that pressured their governments to change their stance against South Africa and that’s possibly where the voice of the people can be heard in terms of their feelings about what is happening in Ukraine.”
((NARRATOR))
The United Nations human rights office estimates at least 8,000 non-combatants have been killed in the war in the past year with nearly 13,300 injured. It says the true figures could be much higher.
((Vicky Stark for VOA News, Cape Town, South Africa))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Cape Town, South Africa
Embargo DateFebruary 23, 2023 22:23 EST
Byline
((Vicky Stark for VOA News, Cape Town, South Africa))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
