Global Voices Video Scripts

UNIT 1
Alice: Hi guys! This is Alice. Welcome to my city, Shanghai.
So I’m a local tour guide here so we are right in the Shanghai old city area. Even behind me you can
see the typical Shanghai architecture. Here used to be the center of Shanghai for many years.
Narrator: The area around Yu Garden is in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Shanghai. It’s a big
attraction for both locals and tourists. Every day, the streets and shops are jammed with people.
Alice: Here we are right now in the Shanghai old city area, so this area some Chinese people also call
it the Yu Garden Area. So, this area for Shanghainese is a place for us to experience the traditional
Chinese culture. Especially in the Chinese festival times, like Chinese New Year, Chinese lantern’s
day. So, during Lantern’s Day time, here we do a very big and fancy lantern show. So, it has been a
tradition for Chinese people to come over here to enjoy the beautiful lanterns and try the local snacks.
Narrator: Shanghai is famous for steamed dumplings, which are enjoyed by locals and tourists alike.
Alice: Daily you can also see around us it is very busy.
Narrator: It’s busy not only for Shanghainese, but tourists from other parts of China also come to the
Yu Garden area to see its famous monuments such as the famous rock gardens, koi pond, and famous
Huxinting Tea House. Make a reservation, and you’ll be allowed to enjoy a traditional Chinese tea.
Alice: This area we’re in is right in the old Shanghai part, and in the back over there we can also see
the Yu garden which is a garden from 1559. It is the most famous private garden in Shanghai.
Narrator: People also come to go shopping. If you are redecorating your home, Old Shanghai has
many shops that sell local art and decorations.
Alice: Actually, in Shanghai’s old city area, especially along Shanghai Old Street, there are so many
places we can visit and so many interesting stores. Like this one we are in is a store for selling
Shanghai-style paintings.
Narrator: Shanghai style painting has over one hundred years of history and is influence by the
contact between the Asia and Western cultures. The four main elements of this style of painting are
the calligraphy, poetry, the painting itself, and the silk work.
Alice: So right now, we are in a very famous local painter store so you can see all the beautiful
artwork by the famous Shanghai painters.
Narrator: The Yu Garden area is an amazing public space with many beautiful things to take home.

UNIT 2
David Harrison: My name is David Harrison. I’m a linguist, and a National Geographic explorer. Some
people think a linguist is a person who speaks many languages. Actually, a linguist is a scientist who
studies language. There are more than 7,000 languages spoken in the world, and I have personally
explored more than 400 of them. I do this by talking with people in many different places to learn
about the knowledge they want to share.
I study endangered languages. These are languages that have very few speakers and may
disappear. I use a notebook and a pencil to write down the sounds of a language. Sometimes, I use
an audio or video recorder and I make the first-ever recordings of these languages.
In my work, I’ve talked with hunters and reindeer herders who live in the northern forests of Siberia. In
India, I’ve met traditional healers and Shamans. And in the Pacific Islands of Vanuatu, I’ve sailed with
fisherman in traditional wooden boats. All these people speak endangered languages.
In my work, I ask a lot of questions. For example, if I want to know about grammar, I ask speakers for
simple sentences, like How do you say: “I see a sheep”? By listening to them, I can figure out how
many different sounds are in the language and how they build words and sentences.
I collect as many words as I can, and I create talking dictionaries. This makes me a lexicographer:
a person who creates dictionaries. In my work, I don’t only ask questions though, I listen a lot, too.
By listening, I learn many new things. Things I didn’t think to ask. Often, people want to discuss the
environment. They want to share stories about bear hunting, fishing, or reindeer herding. These are
fun and interesting stories to hear.

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By listening to these stories, I have learned that indigenous people know a lot about plants, animals,
and the natural world. Often, much more than scientists know. For example, my friend Anselon Seru, in
Vanuatu, is a fisherman. He can name two-hundred-and-fifty different kinds of fish. My teacher, Marta
Kongarayeva, in Siberia, never got lost in the forest because she knew and could name every part of
the land. This forest is hundreds of miles wide. And my friend Anthony Degio, in India, can name many
different plants that are used to help sick people. This knowledge is very valuable, but it’s disappearing.
In my work I want to raise awareness about this. I also want to help these communities preserve their
languages and their knowledge. I call this work “Environmental Linguistics.”
It helps us understand how language connects to the environment. We all ask questions to get
information we need—I do this in my work every day. But by listening and being open to others, I’ve
learned so much about language, people, and our world. Much more than I ever expected to.

UNIT 3
Narrator: Joyce Poole has spent over 40 years as an elephant researcher. Her research has changed
the way people think about the social lives of elephants, and it was a big part in an international ivory
ban in 1989. She has worked as the head of the Elephant Program for the Kenyan Wildlife Service
and is the cofounder of Elephant Voices, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving elephants and
studying their social behavior.
She is also a National Geographic Explorer and a researcher at Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique.
Her impressive journey began when a famous scientist inspired her when she was a child.
Joyce Poole: When I was 11 years old, I went to a lecture by Jane Goodall at the National Museums
of Kenya in Nairobi. And after her fascinating talk, I turned to my mother and said, “That’s what I’m
going to be when I grow up.” I’ve studied elephants all my life and for me, they’re just extraordinary
animals. I can’t imagine a world without elephants.
Narrator: Now Joyce takes a cue from the elephant matriarchs. She’s now passing down her knowledge
to a younger woman scientist dedicated to the Gorongosa elephants: Dominique Gonçalves.
Joyce Poole: The first time I met Dominique, she said to me, “I want to study elephants.” And she is
just such a force of nature. She is a brilliant young scientist.
Narrator: Dominique Gonçalves is a National Geographic Explorer and manager of the Elephant
Ecology Project at Gorongosa National Park. Gorongosa is a 1,500 square mile park in Mozambique
that has a variety of different ecosystems. This mixture of plants and animals makes it one of the
most important wild places in Africa. After years of wildlife decline, a group of people, including
Dominique, are fighting for the park, the animals in it, and the people in the surrounding communities.
Dominique’s work focuses on monitoring the 500 elephants in the park and finding ways to solve
problems in the areas where humans and elephants share space. When she started at the park,
Joyce was a big help.
Dominique Gonçalves: With Joyce Poole, she is so sweet, so lovely. And we met, we clicked right away.
Narrator: Joyce taught Dominique to spot the elephants’ unique markings so they could recognize
and record each individual in the park. But Dominique’s true initiation came when she was finally all
alone with the elephants in Gorongosa as she began her job as manager of the Elephant Ecology
Project in the park.
Dominique Gonçalves: Normally, I would go with Joyce and I wouldn’t mind if the elephant charge
how many times because I am with Joyce.
Narrator: This day, Dominique found herself face-to-face with her favorite male elephant named
Aloisio and four other bulls.
Dominique Gonçalves: I remember Aloisio coming close.
Don’t charge. Be nice. That’s a nice bull.
So, I was just trying not to breathe hard and praying that he wouldn’t hit the vehicle or charge,
otherwise I’d be dead. But Aloisio came so close and he leaned his head down. I could see my face
in his (amber?) eye. That was the moment I decided that I can do it. That was a good moment for me;
one of the most important.

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Narrator: This milestone made Dominique confident that she could succeed in her new job and in the
years since, she has helped the park become a success story and has also shared her experiences
around the world.

UNIT 4
Description: In 2017, more than 1.1 million firefighters fought some of the most devastating and
destructive fires in American history. Less than 10% of the firefighters were women.
Voice over a radio: There are thousands of people in police and fire work. And recruits are constantly
being added to the ranks. But only those with certain qualifications are accepted.
Lacey: I never even thought about it. I never met any female firefighters, I didn’t see posters or media
stories about them. No one ever said to the little tiny Lacey: “Do you want to be a firefighter when you
grow up?” You know, I just never considered it an option.
Lacey: When you see a woman my size, who’s five-foot-two, and there’s middle-schoolers that are
bigger than I am, you might have a moment where you think, is she, can she really do everything that
a firefighter needs to do?
Stacey: You know I would say I’m aware that I’m the only woman on the crew.
Kim: I work at a fire organization with about 20 people in a small town. And only two of us are females.
Monique: On my crew we have 24. And I am the only woman.
Erica: With my department there’s only 2 of us. Just 2 ladies, that’s it.
Laurel: If I knew I was gonna be burning the next day, there’s a lot of prep. But I would still take that
extra minute to take off any fingernail polish because I didn’t want to be girlie on the fire line.
Stacey: I think that on a daily basis people think I’m the secretary for our company.
Monique: Women are not fire-fighters, I get it all the time, you know. You can’t be a fire fighter, you’re
a girl.
Kelly: At my station here in Yosemite. There was a gentleman that came into the office looking for the
fire chief. And he asked me where the fire chief was and I said, “well that’s me.” And he said, “well
they didn’t tell me you were a woman.”
Lacey: I really just stumbled into fire. One of my best friends from high school fought fire for a summer
and came back and said: “I totally found your dream job you have to come with me next year.” And
so, I followed him to a hand-crew, to a fire crew the next summer, and here I am. That was eight years
ago and I’m still in it. It’s hard to feel like you can ever get there. Because I don’t see any women like
in the job that I want to have so you get this tape in the back of your head, even if it’s really quiet,
saying “well you can’t do this because women don’t do that job.” Sometimes there’s a feeling that I
have to be twice as good to be considered as competent as my male coworkers. I don’t want to make
a mistake in front of the men because I don’t want that to reflect badly on all women. Which can get
in the way of learning and trying new things. But in this environment at the W treks, we make a really
conscious effort to make this a safe learning environment. It’s really great to get that—that different
leadership style, that different learning style, from someone that you can relate to a little bit more.
I would never have the chance to meet this many female firefighters if I just went through my fire
career on a normal trajectory. This is something we all need—to not get burned out. No pun intended!
Instructor: Last piece before we split, have your group back here loading up, getting ready to roll.
Have fun today.
Lacey: We do a job that is inherently risky. We go into areas that most people really wouldn’t want to
get near. And we do it because we care about the land, and we care about protecting communities.
Like look at these women!
Lacey: I think we place a lot of limits on our little kids and we kinda shove them down one path or the
other based on nothing else but these stories we’ve created in our culture. I want as many little girls to
see me in this outfit as I can possibly manage.

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Kelly: I hope that girls there’s someone out there that says “I want her job when I grow up”
Monique: I want to get in that front seat of that big ladder truck, and I want to be driving it so that
every little girl and little boy who sees me driving sees that there’s a woman in that seat doing that job.
Kelly: That’s my goal, for young girls coming up. So they see role models and they say “if she can do
it, I can do it.”
Stacey: They can do anything in the world that they want. And that’s not just firefighting. Any career.
Lacey: I want to break that chain! I want little kids to know that there are so many more options
when they grow up. And it doesn’t matter where you come from or who you are, that you can go find
something that makes you happy.

UNIT 5
Aziz Abu Sarah: My name is Aziz Abu Sarah. I’m a cultural educator and a National Geographic
Explorer. What I do is go around the world finding ways to connect people and to solve conflicts. It’s
hard for us to connect with people from other cultures. Putting yourself in somebody else’s shoes is
difficult! And this isn’t just about language barriers. It’s also about what we believe and what stories
we know about each other. Because of this, I think that tourism is one of the best ways to get to know
different people, connect with each other, and create friendships.
In 2009, I founded a company, Mejdi Tours. We use travel as a way to bring people from different
backgrounds and perspectives together. Imagine if the billions of people who travel to different places
every year took the time to see what they have in common with locals, instead of just taking photos
from the windows of their cars and tour buses. So, what I tell people is—don’t be shy. Go beyond the
usual tourist sites, museums, and monuments. Locals will usually be happy to help you or give you
some tips. They might even ask you to join them.
My first trip outside the Middle East is when I went to London. Everybody there spoke English, not
Arabic. And I had to learn to when I crossed the street, to look right not look left. And was just so
many differences . . . I didn’t know even how to navigate the city—the way the roads are. We don’t
use street names in Jerusalem. And so there were so many different things. I learned about the
culture. I learned about music. I went to the Les Misérables and seen my first musical. And there was
just so much difference, and that made me so interested in travel. It made me so curious about other
cultures. It made me want to explore more and more and connect with more cultures and more people
and understand . . . see the beauty of this world and connect with the amazing people who live in it.
I’m familiar with quite a few cultures. I’ve traveled to at least 60 different countries around the world
for work. And since I was a kid, I was always fascinated by Christmas. I didn’t really understand it,
growing up in a Muslim family. So one day I remember going outside and cutting a branch off of
a tree and taking it home and telling my parents that we are going to have a Christmas tree in our
home. And I was very lucky that my parents were amused by me and they totally agreed. And since
then, I’m always fascinated by other people’s festivals and celebrations, and I try to join in any of
those whenever it’s appropriate and OK because it’s something amazing to learn—not only your own
culture’s celebrations but also other cultures’ celebrations.
One thing in our culture that people from outside might not connect to—or find even impolite—is we
are loud. We are very loud, and we use our hands for a lot of gestures. If you don’t know that, you
would think we are yelling at each other, even though when we are just agreeing with each other. I
remember a friend visiting my family—she was from the States—and she saw me talking to my dad
and she thought I was disrespectful, and I was explaining to her that no, me being loud and moving
my hands with my dad . . . we were actually agreeing in everything we were saying. So sometimes,
we have to suspend judgment as we are learning about other cultures.
The problem is when you have a language barrier and you are visiting a place you stick usually to
the touristy areas. You don’t go outside; you don’t really connect with the culture you are going to. So
you want to push yourself out of your comfort zone. One way you can do that is ask people where you
[are] staying or in the restaurants about tips and what you can do outside the normal touristy areas.
Go visit a nonprofit organization. Go to a cooking class, for example. Try to understand the culture
where you are going, and don’t let a language barrier stop you from really connecting with the culture.

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UNIT 6
Melati Wijsen: My name is Melati Wijsen. I am a 19-year-old full-time changemaker from Indonesia.
My home is in the middle of the rice fields and very close to the ocean, which you can hear all day
long. Because of this deep connection to the environment, in 2013, I decided to take action to protect
my island home, Bali, from plastic bags. Bye Bye Plastic Bags was started by my younger sister,
Isabel, and I when we were 10 and 12 years old.
At first, we had no idea what we were doing. We had no business plan, no strategy, and no hidden
agenda. All we had was pure passion, our values, and a vision of a plastic-bag-free home, so we
started to speak at events and gatherings in our local community to spread the word. To our surprise,
people really identified with our message, saying things like, “Finally! Let’s do it.” And “We’re so ready
for this change!” Through this process, we were able to start building our team, which was made up
of many other young people on the island. From local and international schools all across Bali, we
started to make this vision a reality. Eventually, without planning, we became the largest youth-led
NGO in the country.
The most enjoyable part of our work is meeting other young people and sharing ideas about how to
make a difference. To date, we have spoken to more than 75,000 students around the world, where
we now have 50 global teams in 29 countries, all led by other incredible young leaders who are
saying no to plastic bags.
Working to make our island home plastic bag free was a lot of hard work. Even though our movement
was gathering followers like no previous organization of its kind, we knew we still needed to
convince those in power to actually make a positive change. We created petitions and met with the
government, but things moved slowly.
Over the years, we learned the importance of never giving up and to keep on going because change
does not happen overnight. Sometimes it’s difficult to stay motivated, but your team and the people
around you are there to support you. It’s not always easy, but it’s definitely worth it.
Fast forward six years later, and finally, in June 2019, our island home of Bali became plastic bag free.
Our team was so excited! We celebrated and jumped with joy the whole summer. But it was also the
moment we realized it was only the beginning for our movement.
We are continuing to educate and help the community effectively implement the new regulation on
single-use plastic. Many alternatives are now being developed or even better, we are going back
to traditional ways when plastic didn’t exist! People are using woven baskets, tote bags, and even
banana leaves. We smile when we see farmers headed to the rice field with their reusable bags or
when the women in the community gather at the markets with alternative bags on their shoulders.
Bye Bye Plastic Bags has become a living example that young people can do things. We believe that
if you have a big vision that is fueled with passion, if you’re committed, if you’re serious about change,
anything can happen.

UNIT 7
Question on screen: Why is connecting to nature important for people?
Juan Martinez: Getting outdoors is important for people because I think there are so many benefits
out of connecting with the outdoors and with nature and your outdoor spaces . . . we now know that it
proves that anybody who spends even an hour outside on their daily lives is less stressed, has higher
ability to deal with the everyday stress of life. But I think at the core element of it we are a society and
a human culture that has always been connected to the outdoors and to nature and to be able to
reconnect with that is literally written into our DNA and our instinct—to be able to do that.
Question on screen: How can people in cities reconnect with nature?
Juan Martinez: People can reconnect with nature even when it’s not available to their own
communities, I think, by really bringing it into their own homes. So, even bringing little plants, planting
something on your windows, connecting with your own pets, connecting with nature and the outdoors.
Even looking up to the sky and recognizing that there’s nature all around us and to feel empowered to
not—if you don’t see those spaces, to advocate for creating those spaces in your own community.
Question on screen: What is the first thing a person can do to build a green space in their own
community?
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 Global Voices Video Scripts

Juan Martinez: For anybody that wants to do the work that I do, or similar . . . or feels passionate
about building green spaces in their communities, I’d say the first thing is to go and talk to your
neighbors and learn what their vision is and share your vision about what you could do. And then
start to map out where all the decision-making points are for you to be able to do that. If it’s a
community garden you want to build and you see an empty plot right down your street, figuring out
who owns that plot—if the city has some jurisdiction over it. If you want to advocate for a park in your
own community, getting to know the parks and rec or management services in your city and your
community. It’s all about relationships, I would say, number one, so building relationships. That’s
probably the scariest part to do for anybody is to get out of their own comfort zone and reach out and
shake somebody’s hand and introduce yourself and why you’re passionate about what you want to do
and build green and open spaces in your own community.

UNIT 8
Gabby Salazar: My name is Gabby Salazar and I’m a National Geographic Explorer and a
photographer.
Question on screen: How did you get started in photography?
Gabby Salazar: I started photography when I was only eleven years old. My dad was a photographer,
an amateur, and he took me out to a friend’s backyard bird garden to take photos of birds and the
first time I saw a blue jay, actually, through the lens, I was completely hooked on photography. When I
took those photos back and shared them with my friends and family and noticed that they had never
really payed attention to how beautiful the blue jay was before seeing the photos, I kind of started to
understand the power of photography to influence people’s minds and to connect them with nature
Question on screen: What is the most exciting part of your job?
Gabby Salazar: The most exciting part of my job is to be outside and not know what is going to
happen at any given moment and to be surprised by what I’m able to find. And sometimes it may just
be a line of ants in an urban park, and sometimes it could be a family of lions out on a savannah. But I
love that no matter where I am, I’m able to find amazing scenes in nature.
Question on screen: What is a challenging part of your job?
Gabby Salazar: One of the most challenging aspects of my work is that I do my work in really remote
places. Recently I was in a rainforest in Indonesia. I was camping on a mountain for a couple of
weeks. And the first week it rained almost every day, all day. And it was difficult for me to stay dry and
for me to keep my equipment dry. But because I had time to think and really absorb the landscape, I
was actually able to create some different photographs.
Question on screen: How do you get creative?
Gabby Salazar: In order for me to get into my creative zone, I spend time in nature. Whether it’s
taking a walk or sitting still on a rock and just looking around, that really helps me feel like I’m ready to
take photographs.
Question on screen: Is taking risks part of creativity?
Gabby Salazar: I think taking emotional risks is part of creativity. I work in a lot of remote areas and
so I’m careful to not take physical risks and to always be safe but I like to push myself outside of my
comfort zone and that’s really critical to being creative and being outside of my comfort zone could
mean talking to people I don’t know, sitting down to dinner with a group of people in a new area and
learning about their lives, but that’s a really critical part of getting creative

UNIT 9
Sylvia Johnson: Hi! I’m Sylvia Johnson, and I am a National Geographic grantee and explorer.
Mermaids Against Plastic is a project in the Mexican Caribbean where we’re telling the stories
of women, scientists, and divers who are trying to do something about marine plastic pollution.
We’ve made two short films. One follows a woman who is a manta ray specialist, and she’s doing
microplastic studies in the ocean to see how they’re affecting manta rays. And the other is a scuba
instructor and trying to get the diving industry to be more sustainable and use less single-use plastic.

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Sylvia Johnson, narrating: Karen works in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve in the Yucatán
Peninsula. This biosphere is one of the most important protected areas in Mexico due to the number
of ecosystems there. The ecosystem brings a lot of tourism—people come to experience the
beaches, the forest, the animals, everything it offers. Even though these biosphere reserves and
national parks exist, that doesn’t stop ocean currents from coming to these areas. Despite being a
nature reserve, Sian Ka’an has been really affected by plastic pollution.
Karen is the founder and director of the Manta Caribbean Project, a nonprofit organization that studies
manta rays in the Mexican Caribbean. Karen has had a lifelong love of mantas and considers them to
be intelligent and curious animals.
She says one of the most shocking moments of her life was seeing plastic in front of one of the
mantas. And that’s where her microplastics trawling project came from. The goal of the project is to
identify and quantify the amount of plastics, microplastics, and marine waste in different areas of the
Mexican Caribbean.
They use a tool called a manta trawl to collect samples in the field. This tool captures microplastics
that they can then take to a lab. So far, Karen and her team have found plastic in every single sample
they have taken. Gathering this information is critical because this is the best chance we will ever
have to make intelligent decisions and be responsible for this plastic problem we have created. If we
act now, we’ll make a difference.
Tamara is another one of my colleagues on this project. We’ve also made a film about her and her life
as a diving instructor trying to raise awareness about the problems with single-use plastic. Tamara
has lived her whole life in harmony with the ocean and is deeply aware of the synergy between the
ocean and our own lives.
When she first came face to face with a huge arrival of marine plastic a couple of years ago, she had
a realization of how small we are in the face of this huge plastic problem. Since then, she has been
working to advocate against the use of single-use plastic.
She recalls that when she was growing up, people were used to relying on baskets and reusable
bags when they ran errands. Now that single-use plastic has created so many conveniences, there
aren’t enough people using reusable resources. We need to change people’s habits back.
Tamara is a really inspiring person because, despite the size of the problem, she sees a clear
tendency in the world that shows that it’s possible to eliminate single-use plastic. If we can change
people’s habits, that will be a huge help in the fight against plastic pollution. She’s working to make
Mexico a real example of environmental conservation and an example to the rest of the world.
Sylvia Johnson: We’re hoping to use these short films to inspire people, tourists, local businesses,
and decision makers to reduce the use of single use plastic.
I’m really inspired by the resiliency of the human spirit. I’m inspired by spending time outside in the
natural world. And I’m inspired by spaces where I see that there’s possibility for change, for different
ways of doing things.

UNIT 10
Narrator: Money matters as new landscapes emerge in familiar cities. Take the Lujiazui Financial
Center in Shanghai. Thirty years ago, there was nothing here, and today it’s one of the most
recognizable centers of global commerce.
Alice: Guys, welcome to the Lujiazui center area. This area is for you to see the new modern
Shanghai. It gathered the top four tallest buildings in Shanghai. Shanghai tower, which is the tallest in
Shanghai, the second tallest in the world.
Narrator: Shanghai Tower is 2,073 feet, or 632 meters high. It also has the highest speed elevator in
the world, which moves 70 feet, or 20.5 meters per second.
Alice: Next to the Shanghai tower we also have the second tallest building in Shanghai, which is
called the Shanghai World Financial Center. And then, we can also see the fourth tallest building
in Shanghai, Jin Mao Tower. Even right behind us, we can see the landmark beauty of Shanghai,
Oriental Pearl TV Tower. But can you imagine—this area we are in 30 years ago was nothing. Back
then, Shanghainese always say “we’d rather have a bed on the west side of the river rather than a

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house here.” But now the new fancy apartments are all located in this area. This is a change; this is
what happened in Shanghai.
Narrator: Things are changing on a smaller scale, too.
On screen: How do people pay for things where you live?
Andy: So I’m from Ecuador, but now I live in Toronto, Canada. And . . . one thing that is very different
here is the amount of contactless payments that you make. In Ecuador, we use a lot of cash, but here,
everything is electronic. You almost don’t even have to touch things in order to pay. I still use some
cash though when I pay for coffee in the morning or maybe laundry machines.
Pedro: I’m from Venezuela, but now I live in Ecuador. In Venezuela, we pay for things with the Bolívar,
but in Ecuador, we use the American dollar—so weird!
Lingo: We have WeChat and Alipay to use. So it’s very convenient—our internet in our life.
Yeah so like when you go and you need to pay just show them this code. So you can pay there. Also
for Alipay, so we have Alipay here. The same thing you show them this code and you can pay even to
buy vegetables for this dinner. And it’s very easy for us to do our shopping.
Cash I don’t really use. It’s been a long time since I used cash. But credit cards, yes I use it. Like for
travel I’d buy some tickets, buy some hotels and our rooms.
Mohammed: My name is Mohammed. I’m from Egypt. I live in Shanghai.
What I like here is everything is so convenient, you can use the transportation, use the thing called
(inaudible) or WeChat, we use it to chat with your friends, send people money, use it so you don’t
have to pay cash, tips, so I don’t have to keep change.
On screen: What’s one thing you wish you could afford?
Andy: I wish I could get enough money to buy myself a new electric guitar. I’m making a budget and
saving, and I should be able to afford it in a couple of months.
Pedro: I wish I could get a new camera. I wish I didn’t have so many bills!

UNIT 11
Ricky: One fact about myself that would surprise people . . .
David: I’m usually a pretty private person here.
Andrew: A lot of times I’m walking around with fish in my backpack.
Alize: I hate flying.
David: I hate snakes.
Andres: My first job was in a Mexican soap opera.
Jane: I think a lot of people would be surprised to hear that I’m really quite shy.
Steven: I like running in the mountains barefoot.
Neil: I do own more than 100 cosmic ties. This one is actually hand=painted.
Kuenga: I have a twin and we are pretty much like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in the
film Twins. She’s Arnold and I’m Danny.

UNIT 12
Jennifer Adler: My name is Jennifer Adler and I’m an underwater photojournalist.
Text on screen: Jennifer has degrees in marine biology and ecology. She uses this science
background to help her take underwater photos that focus on science and conservation.”
Question on screen: What is Walking on Water?
Jennifer Adler: Walking on Water is a program that I created to connect kids to their water. And I live
in Florida, where most of our water is underground and so I wanted to bring that water above water so

GLOBAL VOICES VIDEO SCRIPTS | T320

that the kids could see it. And so part of this was creating a 360 virtual tour—like google street view—
but in an underwater cave so that the kids could click through and see what it’s like to swim in a cave
with me. And then also taking the kids out to the springs and giving them cameras so that they could
take their own photos and be a part of the story as well.
Question on screen: What do hope to achieve with this project?
Jennifer Adler: My goal with the Walking on Water project is to connect kids to their drinking water.
A lot of times we grow up feeling really disconnected from it and not understanding where it’s coming
from, so the goal is to get them to experience it firsthand in the way that they haven’t before.
Question on screen: What advice do you have for young people who want to get involved?
Jennifer Adler: One thing I would say for students that want to get involved is to just ask questions
and try to understand, for example, where your drinking water comes from. That might be from an
aquafer, it might be from a river, from a lake, from a pond. And once you understand where that’s
coming from and understand that that also supports fish or manatees or it’s an ecosystem, it’s a home
for other creatures. Once you understand that maybe then you’ll want to protect it as well.

T321 | GLOBAL VOICES VIDEO SCRIPTS