VOA – CONNECT

EPISODE  46
AIR DATE  11 30 2018 

TRANSCRIPT

 

OPEN  ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Opioids in America

((SOT))
You're evicting homeless people. I just try to let that sink in sometimes, like you're telling homeless people, they've got to leave.

((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Dungan Cuisine

((SOT))
I was born and raised in Kazakhstan and my family was originally from China. We are Chinese Muslims. Lamian is the food that Dungan people eat every day.
((Banner))

AmeriCans

((SOT))
Our primary competitor would be China. There’s no question about it. They are very creative. They make a quality product.
((Animation Transition))
((Open Animation))

 

BLOCK A
 

((PKG))  THE UNWANTED – PART 4 
((Banner  

Living America’s Opioid Nightmare))
((Popup Banner
More than 115 Americans die each day from opioid overdoses.
VOA looks at three stories from the epidemic))
((Banner:  The Unwanted:  Part 4
Producers:  Jeff Swicord, Chris Simkins, Jacquelyn De Philips
Camera:  Jeff Swicord, Chris Simkins, Mike Burke, Marcus Harton))   
((Map:  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania))
((Text over video
Kelly, who has been struggling with addiction for years, has made a major decision))
((Britt Carpenter, Philly Unknown Project))
Kelly has finally decided to get off the streets and with that she has decided to go into housing.

((NATS))
((Kelly, Addicted to Heroin))
Definitely time to get the f*****out of here, before I end up in a homicide. 
((Britt Carpenter, Philly Unknown Project))
Kelly was, you know sort of fighting that. When they found the apartment for her, she told me that it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders.  
((NATS))  
Outreach Woman: You’re not bringing anything?  
Kelly: No. 
Britt: She also told me she was scared.
Outreach Woman: Where you going? 
Kelly: I don’t know. 
((Britt Carpenter, Philly Unknown Project))
Kelly is experiencing a lot of emotions. She is being taken from an environment that she knows all too well. She is going to miss chasing that high, daily. She’s going to have to fight to continue to stay off the streets. But it very well may be the thing that saves her life.
((NATS))

*****


((NATS))
((Britt Carpenter, Philly Unknown Project))
We're sitting two weeks away from the next eviction of the Frankfurt encampment. I am really hoping that this eviction is going to be handled a lot better than the last one.
((Dave, Addicted to Heroin))

Guess what, guess what they have for me?
This bridge community is not like the rest of the world. Our 24 hours feel like 72. The increase of homelessness in Kensington in a short period of time, and it's crazy to me the increase of insanity.  The majority of the people that live in this community have lost all couth. They've lost all respect of self, let alone the property or others.  They don't bathe. They don't have regular conversation. They don't pray. Half of them don't eat or sleep. People down here are interested in one thing and that's getting high.
((NATS))
((Britt Carpenter, Philly Unknown Project))
The tensions right now in Kensington are higher than I've ever seen them.
((NATS))

Woman: I told her.  I said next time you come, next time I see you, you better have it. 
((Britt Carpenter, Philly Unknown Project))
You're evicting homeless people. I just try to let that sink in sometimes, like you're telling homeless people, they've got to leave. When that last eviction mandate came in, it was disorganized chaos. I think the city may have learned a little bit from that and has now increased their resources.

((NATS))
Outreach man: What’s your plans now?
((Britt Carpenter, Philly Unknown Project))
They're coming up with, you know, some beds in the city for them. But what are you going to do to get them to transitioned to the next level? What about those who aren't going to take that help? They're going to move to the next encampment. They're going to stay as long as there is easy access in one of the largest open-air drug trades in the country. When people start to say the word eviction, they get scared.  And when they get scared, they take off.  When they take off, we lose track.  How do you save somebody overdosing when you can't get to them?


 



((Britt Carpenter, Philly Unknown Project….and….Kelly, Addicted to Heroin))
Britt: So, I was really excited the other day.  I got the phone call from my friend that said you're looking to talk to me.
Kelly: Yes.
Britt: And she had told me you had some good news for me.
Kelly: I did.
Britt: Yeah.
Kelly: Yeah, I knew that I had told you that I started like the housing process or whatever.
Britt: Right.
Britt: You didn't pursue it.
Kelly: Right, single female, I mean, I was at the bottom of the list for like priority.  Apparently the bridges being closed made me a priority.  All of us under there know that they weren't just going to keep leaving us, living under the bridge like that, just doing whatever the heck we wanted to.  I knew I wanted to get out. I just didn't know how.
Kelly: Stop dude.
Kelly: And I definitely was not doing another winter out here, like them two-degree days. Yeah, I can't do that again.
Britt: When are we moving in?
Kelly: Tomorrow.
Britt: Tomorrow.

Kelly: Tomorrow.
Britt: That's excellent. How do you feel about that?
Kelly: Good. I mean it's stressful. It's, you know, there's anger, there's hurt, there's sorrow, there's happiness, there's all of that. That's life.


((NATS))

*****

((NATS))


((Mike DiBerardinis, Managing Director, Philadelphia))
I want to thank everyone for coming out to support this cleanup effort. We, in Philly, have worked really hard with the Opioid Task Force, early in the administration, to figure out how do we cut down on the availability of prescription drugs that lead to addiction? How do we communicate and educate across neighborhoods the dangers of these drugs?
((NATS))
((Maria Quiñones-Sánchez, Philadelphia City Council))
Thank you Mike D. and all of the folks involved in the city.  I don't think that the city’s yet developed what is going to be the public safety strategy to disrupt the lawlessness that exists in Kensington and how does it win back the confidence of the long-term residents here.  80 percent of the people that are here, are not from this area. So, we need to change the narrative that they're going to come here and do drugs.  The long-term residents here, they're very frustrated and they should be.  I'm outraged.  I'm angry.  I'm disappointed that we can't protect them.
((NATS))
((Mayor Jim Kenney, Philadelphia))
Good morning everyone and thanks for being here and I want to thank all involved. None of us created this problem but we're living with it and we have to address it and the measures that we've taken early on, weren't effective.
Chris: What about the evictions coming up?  Do you think you have adequately prepared?
Kenney: I think on the next round of movement of people from under the bridges, we have resources for that. We're not moving the last one yet because we don't have resources for that. So, we haven't moved anyone without a resource to go to.
Chris: Were there mistakes made in the first go round, do you think?
Kenney: No, I don’t.  I don't think so.  I think they maintain the fact that they're not back. They're in other areas of the city.  So, we're not turning anyone away, but we only have limited resources but we'll put whatever resources we have and increase those resources the best that we can. That's all we can do.
Chris: What about the federal government? 
Kenney: What about them?

Chris: Can't they play more of a role? Won't you want their help?

Kenney: Do you watch TV every day?  You see Donald Trump on television every day?  You think he's talking about this problem?
Chris: He has committed to fighting the opioid epidemic.
Kenney: Well, when I see the first resource come, I'll believe it.  And we need to deal with folks who are here, who are suffering.

((Dave, Addicted to Heroin))
I see the city taking advantage of the photo ops. That’s what I believe sincerely. I don’t believe that they’re helping us any more or any less. It's just coincidence that, you know, Kelly and I got housing two weeks before were leaving. It's not because they, all of a sudden, added some program or did something different.  You know, it's a nice photo op for the city. It makes the people that are in seats power look good. And I can’t be mad at them. I probably would do the same thing.

 

*****

((Britt Carpenter, Philly Unknown Project…..and…..Kelly, Addicted to Heroin)) 
Britt: The day Kelly moved into her apartment, she was smiling from ear to ear. She actually seemed a little bit more peaceful than I’ve seen her ever.

Britt: Wow, Kel this is amazing.

Kelly: Here’s the living room.
Britt: I like it.
Kelly: The kitchen with food.
Britt: With food! A refrigerator!
Britt: Kelly does this feel like home to you?
Kelly: It does.

Britt: Sitting on that couch, just sort of kicked back and put the feet up, and smiled and was just happy to be where she was, soaking it all in.
Britt: Slide a cheek. Let me sit on the couch with you for the first time.

Kelly: Yes.
Britt: This is just the beginning to a brand new chapter. Are you excited?

Kelly:  I am. But you know, like I said, like it takes from it just knowing, you know, I called the clinic but…..
Britt: The methadone clinic?

Kelly: Right.  Like I don't even have an appointment day yet. They have to do some type of request to make sure if it's okay if I return.

Britt: You know be proactive about it because you want to make sure that you start receiving the wellness cares sooner.  So, if something opens up sooner, tell them that you're willing.

Kelly: Right. See now the problem with that is I don't have a phone. 

Britt: You know these are all little obstacles or hurdles actually to get over, and you've overcome the biggest obstacle.  You got off the street. You were under that bridge and on the streets for.....

Kelly: Way to long.

Britt: Long enough.

Kelly: Feels like a lifetime.  You know and not everything's always going to line up perfectly.

Britt: This really right now, little hurdles and you’ll get through it. You’ll get through it. You’re a survivor.
Kelly: I know. I know.
((NATS))

 

*****
((Banner

Living America’s Opioid Nightmare
continues on VOA Connect in the weeks to come))

 
TEASE  ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
VietCajun
((SOT))
We sprinkle that with VietCajun seasoning right now.  The VietCajun is something totally different.  My version is, I use a lot of Vietnamese seasoning
 

 

BREAK ONE                                                                             
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BLOCK B
((Banner:  What We Eat))


((PKG))  DUNGAN RESTAURANT    
((Banner:  Something New)) 
((Reporter/Camera: Yuyang Ren))  
((Adapted by: Ailin Li))
((Map: New York, New York City))
((Banner:  The Dungan people are Muslims of Chinese origin. Most live in Central Asia.))
((NATS))
((Aliakbar Azimov, Manager, Lagman House))
This is the first Dungan restaurant in New York, but I also think it’s in entire America. It’s like the very first place where they serve authentic Dungan food. We are trying to introduce the culture to America and American people.
((NATS))
((Aliakbar Azimov, Manager, Lagman House))
Lamian or Lumian is the food that Dungan people eat every day. It’s like how Chinese eat rice every day. Lamian is like, for us, is like rice basically. Lagman is actually a way of saying Lamian in Russian language, but in our language, we say Lumian, which is, “lu” means pull, and “mian” means dough, so the pulled dough basically.
((NATS))
((Aliakbar Azimov, Manager, Lagman House))
I was born and raised in Kazakhstan and my family was originally from China. I like to say we are like, we are Chinese Muslims. I like to introduce myself like Chinese Muslim, Dungan or Huimin (Hui people).
((NATS))
((Aliakbar Azimov, Manager, Lagman House))
Here, living here as a Dungan person, you feel like you want to be Dungan. You want to be who you are and you are proud of your origin, but back in Kazakhstan, like when I went to school, I was embarrassed to say like Dungan, or like I’m not Kazakh. Here, when I tell people story how like, who I am, or like how our people, where’re from, they are very fascinated by the fact, “Oh, that’s very interesting.” That’s so cool to be such a diverse, like a mix.  I feel just proud to be Dungan.


((PKG))  VietCajun       
((Banner:  Something Reimagined))
((Reporter/Camera:  Elizabeth Lee))
((Adapted by: Aisha Henderson))
((Map:  Houston, Texas))   
((NATS))
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
This is how we sort out the crawfish. Back in Vietnam, my grandmom was a very great cook.  So, I have the taste many years growing up with her, so I kind of have that taste in me while I work along help her along to prep the dish.
((NATS))
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
My name is Trong Nguyen. I’m the owner and also I’m the chef of this Crawfish and Noodles. I was born in Vietnam. When I left Vietnam, I came to the U.S. through the refugee because my family was military family to fight side-by-side with the U.S.
((NATS))
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
The first immigrant came to the U.S. is pretty much the people live in the shrimp boat. You know they do a lot of shrimp and stuff. So, a lot of Vietnamese is familiar with the seafood industry.
((NATS))
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
They do a lot of crawfish. They do a lot of shrimp, a lot of catfish, alligator, you know, on the Cajun style. So, from there, the Vietnamese is seem to understand the culture more, so the Vietnamese dive into that kind of business.
((NATS))
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
Most of my supply is come by some of the Vietnamese vendors, same with the crab, same with the shrimp because Vietnamese have a very large community that do shrimping and fishing.
((NATS))
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
Most of the Cajun, they already have Cajun seasoning and stuff like that, so all they do is just modify a little bit and you get a good meal on the table to serve the customers.
((Terri Tran, Customer))
It’s delicious. It’s very flavorful. There’s lots of seasoning on it, and the crawfish is cooked perfectly.
((Mike Vandenbold, Customer))
I was born and raised in south Louisiana, so I know Cajun crawfish. So, when we came here, the extra VietCajun spice is what made it for us. We like these better than the traditional Cajun crawfish.
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
We sprinkle that with Viet-Cajun seasoning right now.  The VietCajun is something totally different.  My version is, I use a lot of Vietnamese seasoning to mix it in some of the Cajun part to make it because Vietnamese like seasoning.  They like garlic. They like butter. They like onions and stuff. And then some of the spice in there we love. The main thing is good food needs to be shared.
((NATS))

 

TEASE  ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
How Things Get Done
((SOT))
So, as you notice, these containers have curtains on them, they have doors on them, okay.  So, as they take these to the input, they will start unloading these by hand.
 

 

BREAK TWO                                                                             
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BLOCK C 
((Banner:  Behind the Scenes))

 

((PKG))  At FedEx  ((Russian Service))  
((Reporter: Lesia Bakalets))

((Camera: Sergey Sokolov))

((Adapted by:  Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Memphis, Tennessee))  
((COURTESY throughout: FedEx))
((NATS))
((Rick Armstrong, FedEx worker))
All of these folks were trained around this aircraft.  All the equipment that you see, these guys are all cross trained. 
((Walter Kirkeminde, Senior Manager, Memphis Hub, FedEx))
We would actually call this the Memphis World Hub because it connects all of our network around the world. 
((Rick Armstrong, FedEx worker))
So, what you’re seeing is the offload of the 767, okay.  So, this offload crew here, about a 12 person team.  So, what they’re doing is they’re taking these containers and bringing them down to the ground.  They’re going to take them on one of these dollies in the tug and they’re going to pull them to one of the inputs that we have here, okay.  So, as you notice, these containers have curtains on them, they have doors on them, okay.  So, as they take these to the input, they will start unloading these by hand.
((Walter Kirkeminde, Senior Manager, Memphis Hub, FedEx))
Memphis will sort 1.4 million [packages] a night, through this facility every night, about 700,000 in the day time.
((Rick Armstrong, FedEx worker))
They want to do this as fast as they can, okay, because we have, again, these folks need to go and load other aircraft.  They have a parameter they have to meet, so, about 35 to 40 minutes, but the faster we unload these aircraft, the faster they get boxes to the input.
((Walter Kirkeminde, Senior Manager, Memphis Hub, FedEx))
So, it will ride the belt system.  It will be sorted automatically, some of it by hand and it’ll get reloaded into a container, go back out on an airplane.  As packages are shipped, we’ve already determined the optimal routing to get the package as quickly as we can to the customer.
((Rick Armstrong, FedEx worker))
We want to be as safe as we possibly can, but at the same time, be as efficient as we possibly can. 
((Walter Kirkeminde, Senior Manager, Memphis Hub, FedEx))
Certainly we avail ourselves of technology as much as we can, but there is quite a bit of manual, you know, human work.  We actually have over 7,000 employees just to sort these packages.
((NATS))
((Walter Kirkeminde, Senior Manager, Memphis Hub, FedEx))
So, we serve 220 countries.  We’re going in and out of 375 airports around the world.  The FedEx network connects 99 percent of the world’s GDP [gross domestic product]. 
((NATS))



((PKG)) An Independent Can Company
((Banner:  An Independent Can Company))

((Reporter:  Michael Bowman))
((Camera:  Adam Greenbaum))
((Adapted by:  Martin Secrest))
((Map:  Baltimore, Maryland))
((NATS)) 
((Rick Huether, President, Independent Can Company))
We are the largest manufacturer of specialty tins in the United States.
((Reporter))
Safe to say, tons and tons and tons of…..?
((Rick Huether, President, Independent Can Company))
Oh, thousands of tons of steel. I can tell you that.
((NATS))
((Reporter))
And who are you up against, in terms of competition?
((Rick Huether, President, Independent Can Company))
Our primary competitor would be China. There’s no question about it. They are very creative. They make a quality product. Our specialty industry has really been hurt badly by the low-cost countries. Through automation, we can compete, but an awful lot of companies did not have the wherewithal to invest. So, we have been very financially and physically responsible. And so we’ve been able to buy highly automated equipment. And as we’ve automated, we’ve increased our employment, because we can protect the jobs we have, and (it) permits us to go out and secure new jobs.
((NATS))
((Bryon Borrell, Lithographer))
Yeah, it’s a trade. There are craftsmen in here that have been doing this for 20, 30, (or) 40 years. I mean, you’re trained to do this. You go through apprenticeship programs. They don’t have that too often now in the United States. You don’t find that with companies that have apprenticeship programs, be it electrically, engineering, printing like we’re doing.
((NATS))
((Banner:  In June, 2018, the Trump Administration placed tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from China, Canada and the European Union.))
((Bryon Borrell, Lithographer))
They’re putting taxes on imports on raw materials, which to me really doesn’t make much sense because that could only affect companies inside the United States that are producing. I mean, you’re talking people that make washing machines, people that make cars, people that make motorcycles, us, where we make cans. I mean, it has the potential to affect everybody.
((NATS))
((Rick Huether, President, Independent Can Company))
OK, this is a new press line that we’ve just put in, which is a high-speed stamping operation. And this is brand new, it’s just being put in, and we’re hoping to have steel for it.  Right now, the steel that’s qualified is from Europe and right now, we need to get steel from US Steel or Arcelor, whoever will provide it.
((Reporter))
So this is state of the art and it’s in danger.
((Rick Huether, President, Independent Can Company))
It is in danger. It’s a big investment we made before we knew that we were going to have challenges on steel supply.
((NATS))



NEXT WEEK

 


CLOSING  ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect

 


BREAK THREE                                                                               
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SHOW ENDS