Women's American ORT: Action Alert

The Visionaries

List of Stations Airing The Visionaries

Photos from The Visionaries Shoot

THE REPORTER
FALL 1999

Public Television Zooms In On
Women's American ORT

By Amy Stone

When PBS producer Beth Murphy, who's covered stories in Kosovo, Bangladesh and Moscow, tells you at the end of the Women's American ORT shoot, "I've never had so many good interviews in one show," you know you can expect a blockbuster half hour.

The Visionaries, a program carried by more than 175 Public Broadcasting Service affiliates around the country, was shot this past summer in Odessa and Chicago, and covers the ORT program and the visionary Women's American ORT volunteers behind it. The Visionaries series documents people and organizations making the world a better place, and is hosted by Sam Waterston, of NBC's Law & Order.

National President Pepi Dunay was on location with The Visionaries crew at ORT Odessa in Ukraine and at Zarem/Golde ORT Technical Institute in Chicago. In Odessa, The Visionaries focused on Masha, a 12-year-old student at the ORT school established with major funding from Women's American ORT. In Beth Murphy's words: "Masha's teachers told us that when she first came to the school, she was very shy and timid around adults. At the end of the shoot, Masha and her 14-year-old school friend, Pasha, were showing us around Odessa, speaking English and saying that it was an honor for them to be with us. ... [That] is the best reflection on the school that there could possibly be."

In Chicago, The Visionaries interviewed Mejrima, a 35-year-old Bosnian refugee who arrived in Chicago in March 1998, unable to speak English. Fifteen months later, a graduate of Zarem/Golde Teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) intensive training, she was the student speaker at graduation. Mejrima is now studying office computer programs at Zarem/Golde, and her 12-year-old daughter, Sabina, is in e-mail contact with Masha, thanks to the ORT and The Visionaries connection.

Mejrima's breakthrough in English came in part through her "Telephone Learning Companion" conversations with WAO member Sarah Blumen. The two spent hours on the phone during the year, and The Visionaries crew was on hand to record their first meeting, at graduation.

WAO members are eloquent when they talk about the ORT program. Linda Kirschbaum, board member and Young Leadership Chair, told The Visionaries crew: "Helping someone get a good education and feel empowered to determine their own destiny is one of the most important gifts you can give."

Amy Stone is Director of Marketing and Communications at Women's American ORT.

	ORT Odessa Students Masha and Pasha, eye to video camera, with The Visionaries staff Kelly Doran and Bruce Lundeen.

	Sam Waterston, host of The Visionaries, at studio recording session.

	Masha and Pasha with The Visionaries producer Beth Murphy at the Odessa steps.

	Murphy interviews WAO National President Pepi Dunay.