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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: TV US- Afghan Refugees-Technology
HEADLINE: Afghan Refugees Get Technology to Help Transition to Life in America
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 2/07/2022: at 9:40am
BYLINE: Jessica Stone
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: Jessica Stone
PRODUCER: Jessica Stone
SCRIPT EDITORS: KE(1st), MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): AP, Reuters
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB _X_ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 2:51
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: Opening lines doesn’t match video. Let’s change the script when we screen it. SJ))
((INTRO:))
[[U.S businesses and Asian-Americans are stepping up to help Afghan refugees adjust to life in the U.S. with technology training and tools. One resettlement effort that began in a military base in Indiana has spread throughout the United States. VOA’s Jessica Stone has the story.]]
((Courtesy WRTV.Com/YouTube))
((Date: September 25, 2021))
A local infrastructure company is stepping in to help the Afghan refugees that are here in Indiana as we speak.
((NARRATOR))
By the time Rupal Thanawala appeared in this local news report in September, she had cut her work hours in half to spend four months making sure Afghan refugees at the resettlement camp outside Indianapolis had something she did not have when she immigrated to the US: technology.
((Courtesy: Zoom))
00:26 ((Rupal Thanawala, Asian American Alliance))
“I come from India, where I did not have access to technology. Being an immigrant - I know the journey, not able to speak English and not able to learn fast enough. You need a laptop to apply for a job, build a resume, look for house, apply for all the benefits.”
((NARRATOR))
((Courtesy: IEA))
This time, the refugees are receiving technology thanks to donations from Amazon, the Asian American Alliance, and the Society for Information Management. An Indianapolis-based infrastructure construction company called IEA donated hardware…and the labor to create a computer lab for the Afghan families at Camp Atterbury.
((NARRATOR)) ((Courtesy: US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE))
Sona Rahmani - a refugee herself - was teaching children English when the laptops arrived in the classroom
((Courtesy: Zoom)) (
((Sona Rahmani, English Teacher for Refugees (voiceover)))
“Not a lot of kids in Afghanistan have laptops or iPads. They don’t even know how to use them. That’s why when they saw for the first time, they were really excited. They have joy and they're interested.”
((NARRATOR)) ((Courtesy: US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE))
Rupal can’t forget the face of a 10-year-old-girl she calls Salma:
((Rupal Thanawala, Asian American Alliance)) ((Courtesy: Zoom))
“It was her first opportunity to sit in a classroom and to learn with a laptop. She was in tears.”
((NATURAL SOUND FULL))
Saturday!
((Courtesy: US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE))
((NARRATOR))
Other military bases in the U.S. have replicated Rupal’s project at Camp Atterbury.
((Courtesy: Zoom))
((Aaron Batt, Operation Allies Welcome))
“[The] majority of them immediately responded and said, ‘Here is our nongovernment organization, who is taking charitable donations. We would love for them to work with her. So that we can do something similar to what you’ve established at Camp Atterbury.'"
((NARRATOR)) ((Courtesy: US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE))
In all, 500 used laptops and tablets obtained through Rupal’s efforts were distributed across 8 military bases. The program is winding down now and operating at just 3 bases.
Rupal’s next challenge? Making sure each family among the 54-thousand who immigrated transition to life in America with that donated technology. After all, she says, many of them gave our troops something they needed in Afghanistan.
((Rupal Thanawala, Asian American Alliance)) ((Courtesy: Zoom))
“If not for these Afghan guests, who would have been our interpreters? Who would have supported all the … supplies that they needed?”
((Courtesy: RUPAL THANAWALA))
((NARRATOR))
Welcoming the Afghans is personal for Rupal. Her son is a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. ((Courtesy: US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE)) Another chapter in the American story: immigrants raising the next generation to defend and care for their new country.
((Jessica Stone, VOA News, Washington))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Washington
BylineJessica Stone
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
