VOA – CONNECT EPISODE #146 AIR DATE 10 30 2020 TRANSCRIPT OPEN ((VO/NAT)) ((Banner)) The Cutting Edge ((SOT)) ((Zack Jonas, Master Bladesmith, Owner, Jonas Blade and Metalwork)) Just about every tool in my studio can hurt me or worse, quickly or slowly. ((Animation Transition)) ((Banner)) Inspiring Women in Tech ((SOT)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor at The University of Toledo)) I just realized that in the 21st century, it is unacceptable that people die because of the lack of electricity. ((Animation Transition)) ((Banner)) Dancing in the Light ((SOT)) ((Gail Bryan-Vill, Host)) We put a positive message at the end of it. So, when they go, to remember to love yourself, to remember that you're worthy, to be smart, to be strong and don't give up. ((Open Animation)) BLOCK A ((PKG)) KNIFE MAKER ((Banner: Art as Work)) ((Reporter/Camera: Gabrielle Weiss)) ((Map: Wilmot, New Hampshire)) ((Main characters: 1 male)) ((NATS)) ((Zack Jonas, Master Bladesmith, Owner, Jonas Blade and Metalwork)) I don’t think there’s any real art without craft and I don’t think there’s any real craft without art. But I had a debate with an art professor at the School of Museum of Fine Arts and this was a nice guy. I really liked him. I liked his class. He was a drawing teacher. And I was working on a knife during the course of a semester, and then he wrapped his hand around the blade, covering the blade and he looked at the handle and he goes, “This is really beautiful. I love what you’ve done with the materials and texture, you know, colors and all of that. If it didn’t have a blade, then it would be art. Then it would be beautiful.” And I was like, “Come on”. I just rolled my eyes at him. ((NATS)) ((Zack Jonas, Master Bladesmith, Owner, Jonas Blade and Metalwork)) My name is Zack Jonas and I’m a Master bladesmith working out of New Hampshire. I make custom knives in all shapes and sizes, anything from hunting knives to cooking knives to samurai swords. I studied philosophy and I enjoyed critical thinking and debating and all of that. So, after college, I went, I got a job at a corporate law firm in Boston. And the idea of having to pay your dues for 15 years before life becomes anything other than a professional misery, you know. You’re a paralegal, you’re filing, you’re doing whatever you’re doing, which was a good test for me to realize that that field was not going to be my passion. Then I found my way into this class for bladesmithing and fell in love with it. So, nothing linear about the path but that’s how I ended up here. ((NATS)) ((Zack Jonas, Master Bladesmith, Owner, Jonas Blade and Metalwork)) This is one of my favorite knives I’ve ever made and this sword is kind of its spiritual big brother. There’s a lot of similarity to the shape and the flow of it. And this is a really complicated piece and I got a lot of the ideas from this. ((NATS)) ((Zack Jonas, Master Bladesmith, Owner, Jonas Blade and Metalwork)) In theory, the title of Master smith means that I have the skills to do almost literally anything that someone can come up with or at least to learn how to do it. So, I do a lot of kitchen knives. I do a lot of hunting knives. Desk knives, things like that, letter openers. And more elaborate projects, like swords and daggers and art pieces, you know, pieces that are built to be functional but have enough time put into the appearance that they are meant more for a display purpose. ((NATS/SOT: Zack Jones There’s yours coming up.)) ((Zack Jonas, Master Bladesmith, Owner, Jonas Blade and Metalwork)) Once I realized that bladesmithing could be a career, I, that became very appealing to me pretty quickly. But there’s a lot more that goes into being a professional knifemaker than just making the knives. I generally work seven days a week. I’m usually in the studio by seven o’clock in the morning. I don’t resent that. I love it. I love doing it and when I’m not in the studio, I’m usually thinking about the studio. But if you want to make this a business, well, you have to run it as a business. Well, I could quite happily be in the shop ten hours a day, seven days a week. And then, there’s also paying the bills for the studio and communicating with customers and keeping my order books, you know, tidy, and shipping and going to shows and applying to shows and all of those things that it’s just, there’s so much more to it than just doing the work. There was a funny moment early on after I built the studio. I woke up on a Tuesday or something like that and I just didn’t feel great. And I said to my wife, “I don’t feel great”. And she said, “Don’t go to work”. And I said, “What do you mean, don’t go to work? It’s a Tuesday.” And she looked at me like I was crazy. She goes, “You work for yourself.” And I went, “Oh yeah, I don’t have to go to work today.” ((NATS)) ((Zack Jonas, Master Bladesmith, Owner, Jonas Blade and Metalwork)) Obviously, that’s dangerous, that’s a slippery slope and you can just decide not to go in and then nothing gets done. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Zack Jonas, Master Bladesmith, Owner, Jonas Blade and Metalwork)) One of the things that I love about knives is their connection to the ancient past and I mean truly ancient past. I mean, just imagine life today, out in the woods. If you had to go out in the woods and survive for a week and you couldn’t cut anything, that would be tricky. So, the amount of power that mankind gained by adding the cutting edge to his, you know, arsenal is huge. One of the things that appeals to me so strongly about bladesmithing is that I’m taking these raw materials, a bar of steel, a block of wood, maybe a sheet of metal, and you shape those from, you know, essentially nothing into these objects that are not only beautiful but also powerful and useful tools and have a deep connection to history and culture. So, I really enjoy that aspect of it. But it’s hard, it’s hard work and it’s pretty dangerous. You know, just about every tool in my studio can hurt me or worse, quickly or slowly. But I feel really fortunate to be able to do what I do and to have my life set up the way that it is. I get to do what I love. I get to do it as much as I want, pretty much, which is a real, I mean, it’s a good place to be. ((NATS/MUSIC)) TEASE ((VO/NAT)) Coming up….. ((Banner)) Hi-Tech Tomatoes ((SOT)) These are so important for us because we depend on them for our quality and our size of our tomatoes. BREAK ONE ((ANIMATION EXPLAINER -- W/ GFX, CAPTIONS, PHOTOS)) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2020 BUMP IN ((ANIM)) BLOCK B ((PKG)) HIGH--TECH TOMATOES ((Previously aired April 2019)) ((Banner: Hi-Tech Tomatoes)) ((Reporter: Crystal Dilworth)) ((Adapted by: Martin Secrest)) ((VOA Persian)) ((Map: Camarillo, California)) ((Main character: 1 male)) ((MUSIC)) ((Popup Banner: Houweling’s grows tomatoes in a 50 hectare sustainable greenhouse. The greenhouse is 24 times more productive than a conventional field.)) ((Casey Houweling, Owner, Houweling’s Inc.)) Obviously there’s glass up there. That’s to let the sun through. There’s nothing better than the sun. There’s no artificial light that can replicate the growing capabilities of the sun and all the other great things that a man-made light bulb can do. We turn everything from the nutrients, combined with the sun, into the plant factory which actually is alive and it moves and it does all kinds of things and that transforms it into tomatoes. It’s really quite a complex system because plants have balances. They either want to produce leaves or they want to produce fruit. You want to encourage the fruit but not too much, because you need leaves, because these plants that are in here will last for a year. So, we want the factory up top to continue to produce the sugars to keep that plant going but we don’t want to starve it of sugars and say we’re going to steer it all to the tomatoes. These rows, from one end to the other, are 125 meters long. But every plant down here is the same and that’s the key to growing in a system like this. ((MUSIC)) ((Popup Banner: Water for the greenhouse is collected from rainfall on the roof.)) ((Casey Houweling, Owner, Houweling’s Inc.)) So, every drop of water the plants get, they use and what they don’t use gets recycled, sterilized and resent out to the plants. We use high quality fertilizers, which is nutrients, you know that. I mean, basically what the plant gets is what we as humans need to survive. Through that whole process, we use probably about 10 percent of what a field farmer uses to produce the same amount of product. I think one of the biggest challenges in the world from a food perspective is the imbalances of the rich and the poor countries. Really, this kind of technology and other technologies, we have the capabilities to feed the world, to feed double the population of the world easily with utilizing what it is. But it takes money. It takes planning. It takes foresight. And you know, do we, as a world population, take this seriously enough to work together for the common good and do it in a manner where you can do this profitably? Because I think often times what gets left out of this, is the economics behind it. You know, it has to generate wealth. My heart goes out for the people that can’t feed their kids, right? I can do a little. You can do a little. I think that together if we all do a little, then we can start making some really big differences. ((MUSIC)) ((PKG)) GIRL POWER ((Previously aired March 2020)) ((Banner: Empowerment)) ((Reporter/Camera: Jeff Swicord)) ((Editor: Jacquelyn De Phillips)) ((Map: Toledo, Ohio)) ((Main character: 1 female)) ((MUSIC/NATS)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) I was born in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Congo and I grew up in Kikwit which is a small town. So, it has brick houses, roads and everything except that there was no running water, no electricity. ((NATS/SOT: Dr. Mubenga FS 275. 75 watts each.)) ((MUSIC/NATS)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) When I was 17, I got really sick and when we called the doctor, she told me, “You have appendicitis. You need to go under surgery right away.” Unfortunately, there was no electricity in the general hospital. So, for three days, I was between life and death. ((NATS/SOT: Dr. Mubenga I’m going to check this and make sure everything…..this one is a little bit…..)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) After those three days, where I was really in pain and I was scared, I find my motivation to become an electrical engineer. ((NATS/SOT: Dr. Mubenga This is good. If they break, the whole line is broken. There is this connection here.)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) I just realized that in the 21st century, it is unacceptable that people die because of the lack of electricity. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) I came to the United States to study electrical engineering at The University of Toledo. I was very interested in renewable energy. So, when I was doing my undergrad, I learned to design and install solar systems and completed my bachelor's, my master’s and my Ph.D. here. ((NATS/SOT: Dr. Mubenga So, this week, we are going to continue with introduction to C and some of…..)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) I could see that it was very important not only to find solutions to problems but to teach others how to find solutions and how to implement those solutions. So, that's why I became a professor to pass on the knowledge I've learned. ((NATS/SOT: Dr. Mubenga This is a way to get the answer.)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) Typically I have zero women. We are lucky to have three women in class. ((NATS/SOT: Dr. Mubenga You got it? Okay, good.)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) Why do we have few women in the STEM field? Science, technology, engineering and math. ((NATS/SOT: Dr. Mubenga Oh, Connor. Jennifer?)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) It's very easy when you go in a store, you see all the toys for women and girls are dolls and things like that and for the boys you would have tools. So unfortunately, society is pretty much sending a message that science, technology, engineering and math is for men. ((NATS/SOT: Dr. Mubenga And then you have the LED here.)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) Right now, there's a lot of work that's being done to say, “No, you are a woman. You can do STEM.” That message needs to be sent early. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Courtesy: Dr. Sandrine Mubenga)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) After I got my professional engineer license, I started SMIN Power Group because that was my dream. In 2013, then we opened the office in Kinshasa. We installed solar systems and designed solar systems for communities in the Congo. I always wanted to lead a company that would provide energy solutions in places like Kikwit. It's not as much the money but it's the social impact coming from my experience, you know, almost dying because of the lack of electricity. It was a huge effort to educate the customer. And we were pleased to see that after this effort, that more people are interested in solar in the Congo. So, it's been a positive experience. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Popup Banner: Toledo’s Science Center, Imagination Station, hosted a Girl Power! Event.)) ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) The University News Network wrote an article. It was called, Women Killing It In Sustainability and they listed me. And Imagination Station read the interview. So, they contacted me. They said, “We are doing the Girl Power! event to introduce girls from Toledo to the STEM field. Would you like to be part of it?” So, that’s how I was invited to be the keynote this year. ((NATS/SOT: Girl Power! Host Please help me give a big round of applause to our amazing speaker, Dr. Sandrine Mubenga.)) ((NATS/SOT: Dr. Mubenga Thank you very much for this introduction.)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) I believe they had about 200 girls attending. It’s always energizing to be around young people full of hope, you know. I just love that positive energy. ((NATS/SOT: Dr. Mubenga So that together we can find solutions to our problems.)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) I was surprised by the level of maturity of some of those girls. I remember one of them asked me if it was difficult to be a mother and to pursue a career in STEM. She must have been 10. And I realized that often times that is a reason that would slow women to go into the STEM field. So, I explained to the girl that I basically had my children as I was building my career. If you have a good support system, if you are well organized, you can pursue your dream, have your kids, have your company. ((NATS)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) I think the best way to encourage more women and young girls is be there. ((NATS/SOT: Dr. Mubenga You are a natural. Wow!)) ((NATS/SOT: Instructor Yeah, she’s getting it.)) ((NATS/SOT: Dr. Mubenga She’s good.)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) First, show them that it is possible to be done. ((NATS/SOT: Instructor Great!)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) I think it's possible that one day, half of my class will be women. ((NATS/SOT: Instructor Put your code right there.)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) If we focus more into introducing STEM early on, in the school program. ((NATS)) ((NATS/SOT: Little girl Thank you.)) ((NATS/SOT: Instructor You’re welcome.)) ((Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, Ph.D., PE, Electrical Engineer, Professor, The University of Toledo)) So, this is what we would like to see. ((NATS)) TEASE ((VO/NAT)) Coming up….. ((Banner)) Positive Vibes ((SOT)) ((Gail Bryan-Vill, Host)) We need human interaction in a positive way to balance all that negativity out. You need the positivity. And so that's what we're trying to do, bring positivity into this space that we have. BREAK TWO ((ANIMATION EXPLAINER -- W/ GFX, CAPTIONS, PHOTOS)) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2020 BUMP IN ((ANIM)) BLOCK C ((PKG)) BUILDING DESKS ((Banner: Desks During the Pandemic)) ((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry)) ((Camera: Mike Burke)) ((Map: Chantilly, Virginia)) ((Main character: 1 male)) ((Sub characters: 2 female)) ((NATS)) ((Colby Samide, Founder, Desks for Distance)) My name is Colby Samide. I'm 17 years old and I'm a junior at Woodgrove High School. Right now, we're at Moss Building and Design in Chantilly. They've offered me space for a build day. ((NATS)) ((Colby Samide, Founder, Desks for Distance)) We're building 50 desks. 30 of them are going to schools and 20 are going to kids in need who reached out to me personally. ((Courtesy: Desks by Dads - Jess Al Berrellez)) I came across a group called Desks by Dads in Maryland. It’s a group of parents who are creating desks for children in need and giving them through the school system. I saw the idea and I've wanted to give back for a while and now after moving here, because I love this community and I figured this was a great way to do it, to use my skills. ((NATS)) ((Colby Samide, Founder, Desks for Distance)) It's super fun working with wood and seeing what I can create and I really enjoy it. ((Courtesy: Colby Samide)) When I first put out my Facebook page saying what I was going to do, it was, it kind of went semi viral in the community overnight. ((Courtesy: Colby Samide)) Everyone just kept re-sharing it. So, donations were plentiful. People have been really generous with it. So, thankfully, donations have covered everything. So, that's awesome. I'm just really glad the community has been able to fund this project. ((NATS)) ((Jennifer Zschunke, Manager, Community Relations, Moss Building & Design)) I think that Colby is doing a wonderful thing. ((Courtesy: Desks for Distance)) We noticed that there was a new organization that popped up on Facebook. ((NATS)) ((Voice of Colby Samide, Founder, Desks for Distance)) Hey everybody, this is Colby Samide from Desks for Distance and today I'm going to be showing you how to build this simple yet good looking desk. ((NATS)) ((Jennifer Zschunke, Manager, Community Relations, Moss Building & Design)) We realized very quickly that this was something that we could get involved in because he had received so many orders for desks that he couldn't fulfill them quickly enough. Desks are hard to get these days. Once most of the schools in the area turned to virtual learning, we kind of pounced upon this idea to do a Build-a-Palooza as we call it for today. We have a wonderful relationship with Lowe's Home Improvement. They provided all the materials. We provided a lot of the labor to put the desks together are most MOSS employees and we're asking for volunteers all day long to help sand and finish the desks. ((NATS)) ((Jennifer Zschunke, Manager, Community Relations, Moss Building & Design)) And we also had our lunch catered by Sultry Soul Foods. ((NATS: Start here, then go here.)) ((NATS)) ((Jennifer Zschunke, Manager, Community Relations, Moss Building & Design)) We reached out to My Guys Moving and Storage and they're helping to deliver the desks to those who have reached out to ask Colby for the desks. ((NATS: Slide in, perfect.)) ((NATS)) ((Colby Samide, Founder, Desks for Distance)) Delivering the desk is the best part. ((Courtesy: Colby Samide)) I try to deliver them whenever I can which just makes me feel really good when I see the face of the parents or the kids when they see the desk. ((Dylan Samide, Colby’s Mother)) ((Courtesy: Colby Samide)) Ever since I can remember, little toddler loved to build things and sort of tinker around with how things would work or fit together. ((NATS)) ((Dylan Samide, Colby’s Mother)) He has built me several things. He was sweet. He surprised me for my birthday with a daybed, bought the materials and made it in the garage. I think he's learned so much just when he started doing this, I guess, three-and-a-half weeks ago….. ((NATS: Colby Samide So now, we have to position the frame on top of the board.)) ((Dylan Samide, Colby’s Mother)) ((Courtesy: Colby Samide)) …..which is the initial wanting to really, you know, give back and help a few families if he could. ((NATS)) ((Colby Samide, Founder, Desks for Distance)) ((Courtesy: Colby Samide)) That's what my main goal is right now, to try to get the message out and have people recreate this idea in their communities. ((NATS)) ((PKG)) NYC BLOCK PARTIES ((Banner: Dance it Out!)) ((Reporter: Anna Nelson)) ((Camera: Natalia Latukhina, Vladimir Badikov)) ((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki)) ((Map: New York, New York)) ((Main characters: 1 female)) ((Sub characters: 2 female; 3 male)) ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Popup Banner: What started as a salute to pandemic frontline workers, has evolved in this New York neighborhood )) ((Gail Bryan-Vill, Host)) I heard banging like a pot and I'm like, “What is that?” I'm looking at TV. I’m like, “What is that?” And she says, “Oh, seven o'clock, we cheer.” And then I started to see it on the news. And I said, “Oh, I have nothing to do. I'll do it too.” ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Jo Vill, Host)) So, she decided she wanted to be a part of this. She had a bell and a whistle when she came outside and she started ringing and clapping with everybody else. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Gail Bryan-Vill, Host)) It's so fulfilling that before we start, it's almost like at 6:30, my heart starts to beat fast. You know, like I'm going to perform, you know, and it’s just the excitement of it. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Gail Bryan-Vill, Host)) There was so many people that were, at first, afraid to dance and then they realized that it didn't matter how you dance. Because when I see them not moving, I will move with them or I push them in the middle and say, “Dance!” and they would dance. And now they’re dancing freely like there is no inhibition at all. They just dance, whatever comes out, it comes out. And they’re so happy and they tell me later, “Thank you. You know, it made me feel so free because I had nothing.” ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Kahlila Kramer, Yoga Teacher)) That’s my husband and he’s a doctor and he got very sick. He got exposed at work and he had COVID for three weeks. I’ve never seen him so sick and it was really scary. ((Anthony Vavasis, Doctor)) It’s because so many people either have permanent injuries or died and I feel so fortunate that I didn’t. And I got pretty sick and so we didn’t know what was going to happen. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Gail Bryan-Vill, Host)) To me, one minute you can change your life by thinking something negative. So, I figure if you can get an hour of freedom with other people, it’ll take that out of your spirit. Just take it away. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Jo Vill, Host)) Sometimes my wife, she’ll come out here. She'll see somebody slap somebody’s hand because they forget. She’ll come and spray them with alcohol. ((NATS: We give out masks.)) ((Jo Vill, Host)) And we give out masks and water. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Frederique Dessemond, Designer)) This is something that really grew and became this, which is for me now what should be tomorrow. ((Emmanuel Babou, Gallerist)) I mean, this should be happening in every block right now because it goes beyond race, sexual orientation, body types, age. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Gail Bryan-Vill, Host)) We put a positive message at the end of it. So, when they go, to remember to love yourself, to remember that you're worthy, to be smart, to be strong and don't give up. We need human interaction in a positive way to balance all that negativity out. You need the positivity. And so that's what we're trying to do, bring positivity into this space that we have. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS ((NATS/VIDEO/GFX)) ((Popup captions over B Roll)) Near the Turkish Embassy Washington, D.C. May 16, 2017 President Erdogan’s bodyguard attacks peaceful protesters “Those terrorists deserved to be beaten” “They should not be protesting our president” “They got what they asked for” While some people may turn away from the news We cover it reliably accurately objectively comprehensively wherever the news matters VOA A Free Press Matters CLOSING ((ANIM)) voanews.com/connect BREAK THREE ((ANIMATION EXPLAINER -- W/ GFX, CAPTIONS, PHOTOS)) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2020: BUMP IN ((ANIM)) CLOSING ((ANIM)) voanews.com/connect SHOW ENDS