VOA – CONNECT 
EPISODE  #  151    
AIR DATE  12 04 2020    
TRANSCRIPT 
 
 
OPEN  ((VO/NAT)) 
((Banner)) 
Pandemic Travel  
((SOT)) 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
Although most of the people in the plane were  
following the rules and wearing their masks, 
but when the time came to exit the airplane, the social 
distancing went out of the window. 
((Animation Transition)) 
((Banner)) 
Women’s Business 
((SOT)) 
((Kelly Forbes, Founder, LOVE Painting 
Company))  
Like one day, I'm going to get my contractor's license 
so I can hire women and they can make more money, 
you know, and that's what I did.  
((Animation Transition)) 
((Banner)) 
Inclusive Acting 
((SOT)) 
((Keely Cat-Wells, Founder, C Talent)) 
I decided to start C Talent and saw that the 
accessibility and people with disabilities are so 
underrepresented. 
((Open Animation))  
 

BLOCK A 
 
 
((PKG))  INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL DURING A 
PANDEMIC  
((TRT:  9:58)) 
((Banner:  Traveling With Caution)) 
((Reporter/Camera:  Deepak Dobhal)) 
((Map:  Washington DC; Mumbai; Aurangabad))    
((Main character:  1 male))   
((NATS)) 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
My name is Deepak 
Dobhal.  I am a reporter with this show Connect.  You 
may have seen some of my stories, but not me.  
In Connect, reporter is always behind the camera, 
but we are breaking this rule for this particular story.   
      Actually, I want to show 
you what it’s like for someone in the US to travel         
       
internationally during a pandemic.  My mother lives in 
       
India and she’s not well.  So, in four days, I will be  
traveling from Washington, D.C., to a city called  
Aurangabad in India.  This was not an easy decision.  
Every time you step out of your house, your chances 
of getting COVID increase and I have to travel 18 
hours by plane and then eight hours of cab ride  
plus time at 
the airport.  There are many things that I have to do  
before I fly.  So, let’s get going. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((BANNER:  Wednesday)) 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
The first thing that I want to do is to take COVID test. 
((NATS:  CVS Phone Message)) 
Thank you for calling CVS pharmacy. 
To schedule a test, please visit www.CVS.com/corona
virus. 
Appointments must be made online as we cannot  
accept them over the phone at this time. 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
We have an appointment for tomorrow. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((BANNER:  Thursday))   
((GPS Audio)) 
Your destination is on the right. 
((CVS Pharmacist)) 
In the bag, you are going to see a test kit. 
((CVS Pharmacist)) 
That one, yeah. 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
This one?  Should I open it? 
Okay, let’s do it. 
Okay.  Thank you very much. 
((CVS Pharmacist)) 
You’re welcome.  Take care. 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
Bye. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((BANNER:  Friday)) 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
Generally, 
when I go to India, I spend time buying gifts for family 
and friends. 
But this time, the priorities were different.  So, when a 
colleague of mine offered me a mask, which is  
considered much more safe than the one I had, 
picking it up seemed better use of my time. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
Definitely, it feels much more safe. 
I hope all these things work. 
All this is not just for my own safety.  It’s also to 
protect people I will come in contact with, including 
my mother. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((BANNER:  Saturday))  
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
I just got a text from CVS and my test results are  
ready.  It has been less than 48 hours, so not bad.   
Let’s check.   
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
You have negative COVID-
19 test result.  So, that’s good. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((BANNER:  Sunday))  
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
It’s Sunday morning.  I have to leave within a few  
hours and I’ve 
just received an email from Indian government which 
says that my application for exemption from institution
al quarantine has been rejected 
and the reason is that no authentic RT-
PCR lab test report is attached.  I did attach a report 
which I got from CVS. 
They are saying ‘no authentic report.’  So, I guess, 
the CVS report I sent them, they didn’t find it  
authentic.  Maybe they don’t know what CVS is. 
((Popup Banner:  CVS is a large, US pharmacy 
chain))  
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
This is another layer of uncertainty when you’re going 
from one country to another 
and there’s no phone number given.  
There’s nothing here where I can find what to do. 
At this point, there’s nothing I can do.  So, I’m going  
ahead with my plans.  I will try to convince Indian  
authorities that I have a genuine test report and I  
hope that they will let me go to my final destination.  
But it’s all up in the air at this moment. 
Also, it’s not just this one thing.  It’s international  
travel and during these 
COVID times, there are so many things that can go  
wrong. 
So, there is no point stressing.  I have done my part  
and we’ll see what happens. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
The airlines is giving me the option to change my first 
domestic flight because they’re saying that it’s fairly  
full.  Although I don’t want to travel with too many  
people, but I have a connecting flight, so I don’t think  
that this option will work for me. 
This is new.  The Indian government now requires  
passengers traveling from the US to give their contact
details.  I think it’s for contact tracing purposes in  
case of any COVID exposure. 
I think United was right.  Although the airport is mostly
empty, this plane seems full. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((United Airlines Announcement))  
Masks are required to be worn for the entire duration 
of the flight covering both mouth and nose entirely. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect))  
The first leg of my journey 
is over.  It was very concerning to sit in a small 
packed plane.  Thankfully, it was a short flight. 
I hope my second flight to Mumbai is not so full.  It’s a
15-hour flight. 
((NATS)) 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect))  
Another form.  All passengers have to fill Indian  
government’s self-reporting form. 
Without it, you can’t board the plane.  It has questions
about pre-
existing medical conditons, symptoms related to  
COVID, plus the form says that you agree to follow all
the procedures.  Otherwise 
legal actions can be taken against you. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect)) 
There are more people in the plane than I was  
expecting. 
But, at least, the middle seat is empty for most of the 
passengers and some people are really prepared. 
Although most of the people in the plane were  
following the rules and wearing their masks, 
but when the time came to exit the airplane, the social
distancing went out of the window. 
Now, the biggest thing is to convince Indian  
authorities that my COVID test result 
is authentic and I should be exempted from the seven
days mandatory quarantine before going to my  
final destination. 
After passing through immigration and 
customs, this is where the officials are checking  
COVID-related papers.  Let’s see what happens. 
Strangely, no one here asked me 
about my COVID test results or mentioned that I have
to quarantine because my application for  
exemption was rejected.  Instead, I have been 
handed this paper.  It has 
all my contact details and the 
officials here have told me that I have to get it  
stamped at the city office in Aurangabad, the 
city I’m going to, 
and then quarantine at home. 
((NATS in Hindi / English translation)) 
((On the phone with Aurangabad collector’s 
office))  
I’m calling from Aurangabad collector office. 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect))  
From Aurangabad collector office, okay.  What’s your 
name? 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect))  
As I was leaving the airport, I got a call from the city  
office where I was supposed to go and get the paper 
stamped.  Once I 
explained to them that I have a valid negative test  
report, 
the official asked me to just send the report to him  
and he would contact me if there’s a need. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Deepak Dobhal, Reporter, VOA Connect))  
So far so good.  Now it’s seven to eight hours journey 
home.  The long trip is almost over and now I can just 
focus on my mother. 
((NATS)) 
 
 
TEASE  ((VO/NAT)) 
Coming up….. 
((Banner)) 
Creating Equality 
((SOT)) 
((Kelly Forbes, Founder, LOVE Painting 
Company)) 
So, I was just young and I was a woman and I just 
generally got paid much less than other people.  Like I 
was going in people's houses, doing the whole entire 
job, was making 14 dollars an hour and the foremen 
were making 25, 30 dollars an hour.  
((NATS))

 
BREAK ONE									 
BUMP IN  ((ANIM))				  
 

BLOCK B   

((PKG))  FEMALE PAINTER   
((TRT:  04:56)) 
((Banner:  Women in Business))   
((Reporter/Camera:  Genia Dulot)) 
((Adapted by:  Philip Alexiou)) 
((Map:  San Diego, California))   
((Main character: 1 female))   
((Sub character:  1 female))  
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Kelly Forbes, Founder, LOVE Painting 
Company))  
I was painting at a high rise, not so great apartment 
building, actually right in this neighborhood.  And I 
was working alongside this cleaner and she was 
crying.  She was like, “How are you able to do this?” 
Because we make a lot more money than cleaners.  
“You know, it's a man's job.  I wish I could do this and 
all these things.”  And I was really moved by that.  
And I was like one day like I'm going to get my 
contractor's license so I can hire women and they can 
make more money, you know.  And so, that's what I 
did.  
((NATS)) 
((Kelly Forbes, Founder, LOVE Painting 
Company))  
I was in contractor license school and I was like nine 
months pregnant.  I was the only woman and I was 
like wobbling in there.  I was really uncomfortable.   
((NATS:  Kelly Forbes and her daughter)) 
Can you wave at the camera?  Hi.   
((Kelly Forbes, Founder, LOVE Painting 
Company))  
It's very masculine.  It's very sexist.  It's very ageist as 
well.  So, I was just young, and I was a woman, and I 
just generally got paid much less than other people.  
Like I was going in people's houses, doing the whole 
entire job, was making 14 dollars an hour and the 
foremen were making 25, 30 dollars an hour.  
((NATS)) 
((Kelly Forbes, Founder, LOVE Painting 
Company))  
Well, I created my own company when I was 16 years 
old as soon as I learned to paint a room.  I just came 
up with the name Love Painting Company because I 
love love and I love the word love.  But I started a 
physical, real like live company that has a contractor's 
license and all of those things in 2017.  
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((NATS:  Kelly Forbes and Jennifer, Employee, 
LOVE Painting Company))  
I'm also impressed that you know that painters wear 
white.  
Well, a lot of it's to hide like plaster and product 
instead 
Yep. 
of landing on the clothes. 
Yep. 
and white matches everything and so any paint 
splattered  
Yep. 
on your clothes it matches.   
((Kelly Forbes, Founder, LOVE Painting 
Company))  
You’re carrying like five gallon [19 liter] buckets of 
paint.  They're extremely heavy.  You're carrying 
heavy ladders, going up and down and up and down 
all day.  So, it's pretty physically demanding.  
((NATS))  
((Jennifer, Employee, LOVE Painting Company)) 
So, I think that's a common misconception in society 
that like women can't do these like hands-on jobs that 
might take physical labor.  And I think that, you know, 
women can do anything a man can do.   
((NATS)) 
((Kelly Forbes, Founder, LOVE Painting 
Company))  
Like, we hire men as well.  It’s not a sexist thing or 
people who identify as somewhere in between both 
genders, like we're very encompassing.  But also, a 
lot of women, people really trust them.  And they 
come in their home and they feel people with families 
or say like an older woman who lives alone, like they 
feel very comfortable with that.  And women are really 
great painters as well.  
((Kelly Forbes, Founder, LOVE Painting 
Company)) 
It's just, it's a feminine process in general. You're like 
coating unique things.  It's not like carpentry where 
like carpentry you're cutting wood and it's like a 
measurement and it's like a straightness and it's very 
exact, whereas like, so it’s like a very feminine, like 
finesse process to paint things.  And then there's like 
the intuitive color consultation side. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Kelly Forbes, Founder, LOVE Painting 
Company)) 
This yellow and this purple will not be in the home on 
the walls.  It's a palette for them to work off of, to add 
art and accents, throw pillows, blankets, stuff like that.  
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Courtesy:  LOVE Painting Company))       
((Kelly Forbes, Founder, LOVE Painting 
Company)) 
And I was just there one day by myself like working 
and I was like I'm just going to raise the pay for 
everyone to 20 dollars an hour.  When you walk onto 
the company, you're going to make 20 dollars an hour  
((Courtesy:  LOVE Painting Company)) 
((Kelly Forbes, Founder, LOVE Painting 
Company)) 
because anything less than that is a joke in San 
Diego.  If people don't want to pay that, then that's 
fine.  They can work with other people that take 
advantage of people and pay less but that's not what 
we're going to do.    
((NATS:  Kelly Forbes and her daughter)) 
Going to make you a little fort right over here.  Get in 
your secret fort.  We're not going to tell anyone you're 
in there.  She loves painting.  Maya, do you like 
painting?  She loves painting.  
((Kelly Forbes, Founder, LOVE Painting 
Company)) 
There are weeks when I have projects where I feel 
like I don't see her.  And then I'm on my phone a lot or 
those things.  But I hope that what she sees is like 
anything that she wants to do like she can do it, you 
know.  And I think kids mirror what they see more 
than anything.  So, I hope that that's what she sees, 
you know.  
((NATS/MUSIC))
    
TEASE  ((VO/NAT)) 
Coming up….. 
((Banner)) 
Breaking Barriers 
((SOT)) 
((Keely Cat-Wells, Founder, C Talent)) 
If they just gave me a high-waisted bikini, you 
wouldn’t be able to see it.  So, they could’ve made a 
very small adaptation, but they just chose not to. 
Why do you think Chadwick Boseman kept his 
disability a secret for four years?  How different would 
his career be if he told people he had cancer? 

BREAK TWO									 
BUMP IN  ((ANIM))				  
 

BLOCK C  
 
 
((PKG))  C TALENT   
((TRT:  05:48))   
((Banner:  Actors with Disabilities))  
((Reporter/Camera:  Genia Dulot)) 
((Map: Los Angeles, California)) 
((Main characters: 1 female))   
((Sub characters:  2 female;  2 male))   
((NATS /SOTs)) 
((Video clip / Courtesy:  ABC Studios-20th 
Century Fox Television-Silver and Gold 
Productions-The Detective Agency / 
"Speechless")) 
Are you from California?  I love your accent.  
I am totally from Cali. 
So, in England that’s like exotic and sexy? 
Very much so. 
((Keely Cat-Wells, Founder, C Talent)) 
I auditioned for a big role.  I found out that I booked 
that big role which was just incredible.  And I went to 
a fitting and they asked me to try on a bikini and 
obviously I have an invisible disability until you, kind 
of, see it.    
((Keely Cat-Wells, Founder, C Talent)) 
So, I put on the low-rise bikini that they gave me.  And 
then the next day, I received an email telling me that I 
did not have the role anymore because my ileostomy 
and the bag, the prosthetic bag attached to me, was 
too unsightly for the screen and it’s going to be too 
off-putting to the audience. 
((Photos / Courtesy:  Keely Cat-Wells))  
((Keely Cat-Wells, Founder, C Talent)) 
It started when I was training in college.  And I just 
started to feel sick and then I started to be physically 
sick and then I couldn’t even drink water.  And I just 
had this excruciating pain, stomach pain.  I had eight 
major operations until I had an operation that 
eventually saved and changed my life completely.  
They realized that it was just my large colon that just 
was not functioning properly at all and because of all 
of the surgeries I’ve had, there was just no salvaging 
the colon.  So, what they did was they placed an 
ileostomy, which is where a portion of your small 
intestine basically comes out of your stomach and you 
wear a prosthetic device for the rest of your life. 
((Keely Cat-Wells, Founder, C Talent)) 
If they just gave me a high-waisted bikini, you 
wouldn’t be able to see it.  So, they could’ve made a 
very small adaptation, but they just chose not to. 
Why do you think Chadwick Boseman kept his 
disability a secret for four years?  How different would 
his career be if he told people he had cancer? 
((NATS/SOTs) 
((Video clip Agency reel / Courtesy:  C Talent 
Agency)) 
Hi. 
Hi. 
My name is Ariana.  
C J Jones  
Miracle Pelayo 
Erica Chirino signing, Erika. 
I’m Skyler Davenport. 
Paul Ford. 
I’m represented by C Talent.  
By C Talent. 
C Talent. 
C Talent. 
C Talent. 
C Talent Management. 
By C Talent. 
((Keely Cat-Wells, Founder, C Talent)) 
I decided to start C Talent as soon as I lost that role 
and saw that the accessibility and people with 
disabilities are so underrepresented. 
((Miracle Pelayo, Actress, C Talent))  
When we are faced with challenges in life, it could 
either make you or break you.  Now that I am older, I 
am proud to say that I can handle my disability with 
even more grace. 
((NATS/SOTs:  Miracle Pelayo and Alexa)) 
Alexa, open Tommy Hilfiger adaptive. 
Okay.  Would you like to see clothing options?  
Yes.  
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((TV ad clip / Courtesy:  Tommy Hilfiger)) 
INCLUSIVE 
BY DESIGN 
((Miracle Pelayo, Actress, C Talent)) 
I have cerebral palsy and that comes with being born 
premature.  I was actually bit with the theater bug 
when I was 12 years old.  My parents took me to go 
see the Miracle Worker on my 12th birthday.  And 
what started everything was the girl that was playing 
Helen Keller was able bodied and she was playing a 
disabled character.  I turned to my dad and I said, 
“Dad, I want to do that but I want to show people that I 
can do this no matter if I am in my wheelchair or if I 
am in my walker.”  My very first big project was 
Nickelodeon’s Bella and the Bulldogs. 
((NATS/SOT:  Miracle Pelayo))   
((Video clip / Courtesy:  Nickelodeon Network / 
"Bella and the Bulldogs")) 
Why doesn’t he just cancel Christmas while he’s at it? 
And I became the first actress in a wheelchair to be 
on a kids’ TV show in Nickelodeon history.  
You’re the one who’s going to need a wash.  This is 
for Tex Fest.  
((Skyler Davenport, Actress, C Talent))  
In 2012, I had a stroke.  I am visually impaired.  I am 
legally blind, can’t drive.  You wouldn’t know it.  I am 
afraid they won’t hire me if they know.  
And did that happen?  
No, I actually, I just got done on a feature film, playing 
a lead where the character is visually impaired.  So, 
there you go!  I’ve never fired so many gunshots in 
my life, which is a good thing. 
((Video clip / Courtesy:  Paul Ford)) 
You’re asking me if I’m a mob boss.  No, I’m not.  I’m 
in construction.  You’re asking me if I killed my wife.  
No. 
((Text on screen:  ACQUITTED IN FIRST WIFE’S 
MURDER IN 1997 DUE TO MISSING WITNESS))  
((Paul Ford, Actor, C Talent))  
I have a disability called “osteogenesis imperfecta,” 
which is a lack of collagen or deformed collagen that 
builds around the bone.  Basically, you name it, I 
broke it.  
((Paul Ford, Actor, C Talent))  
I mean, it’s the same in any industry that you are in.   
If you’re a disabled person, especially when you are 
three-foot-eight [112 cm] and you don’t fit the norm.  I 
mean, when people, even to this day, when people 
look at for someone disabled, they want someone 
who’s not, doesn’t look disabled, like oh, you wouldn’t 
know them if you did a shot from here on up.  You 
wouldn’t know they were a disabled person.  That’s 
what they are looking for because they want to like 
slowly bring it in.  But I work harder than the average 
person and I can overcome anything you’ve got.  I 
mean, I did a film where I was climbing a mountain, 
because the “cabin” they had me sitting in, yes, it was 
a horror film, was up a hill and so, there was no way a 
chair was going to get up there but I got up there to 
make the shot.  
((NATS)) 
((Scott Rosendall, Actor, C Talent)) 
We have about two percent of roles being of disability.  
So, if we represent anywhere from 13 to 25 percent of 
the population and we are only seen two percent of 
the time, that’s a problem.  Of those two percent, 95 
percent go to able-bodied actors.  
((Keely Cat-Wells, Founder, C Talent)) 
The great benefit of having a company that just solely 
represents people with disabilities, it makes us, our 
community, of importance.  It brings a form of 
credibility to people with disabilities. 
((NATS/MUSIC))

CLOSING  ((ANIM)) 
voanews.com/connect  


NEXT WEEK  ((VO/NAT))                             
((Banner)) 
In the coming weeks….. 
((Saqib Siddiqui, Patent Attorney, Kindergarten Parent))   
How was school? 
((Azaan Siddiqui, Kindergartner)) 
Terrible.   
((Saqib Siddiqui, Patent Attorney, Kindergarten Parent))  
Everyday, after 4 p.m, my kid is just so sad, you know.  And I 
have to, I have to say, ‘Good job.  You did great.  I’m so 
proud of you.’  They feel like they’re doing something wrong 
by not understanding.   
((NATS)) 
((Mahwesh Siddiqui, Online Advertising Consultant, 
Kindergarten Parent))  
I mean, teachers are doing a great job, you know, they’re 
trying their best to do what they do in class, but it’s not 
sustainable.  But let’s just admit it, this is not normal times.  
It’s a pandemic. 
((Saqib Siddiqui, Patent Attorney, Kindergarten Parent))   
My biggest concern is we’re, like, dimming their yearning for 
learning.     
 
 
CLOSING  ((ANIM)) 
voanews.com/connect  

 
BREAK THREE								 
BUMP IN  ((ANIM))		 
 
 
CLOSING  ((ANIM)) 
voanews.com/connect		

 
SHOW ENDS