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CAR / MIA FARROW
STORY: CAR / MIA FARROW
TRT: 3.14
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SONGA / NATS
DATELINE: 7-10 NOVEMBER 2013, BOSSANGOA, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
1. Wide shot, Évêché site for displaced people
2. Med shot, Évêché site
3. Med shot, Mia Farrow in a displaced camp
4. Close up, cooking pot
5. Med shot, Mia talking to an IDP
6. Close up, Mia’s hand and a notepad
7. SOUNDBITE (Songa) Feikeram Pulcherie Displaced Person:
“When we fled, my husband also fled to the bush. I took the little children, but we went in a different direction. I don’t have any news of my husband, whether he is alive or dead. I don’t know what should we do. We are living only with the help from people.”
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Mia Farrow, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador:
“What’s clear is that people even in the displaced setting, they try to go about their lives, they try to build a little market place in a makeshift camp. They try to raise their children and keep them safe, but what they really want is to go home. And they can’t, because they are afraid and it is truly not safe for them to leave certain confined spaces.”
9. Wide shot, empty village
10. Med shot, empty village
11. Close up, damaged pot in mud
12. Wide shot, Mia in front of destroyed house
13. Med shot, Mia picking up a plate from the ground
14. Close up, plate in Mia’s hands
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Mia Farrow, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador:
“The road to Bossangoa was in itself an experience. You drive and you drive and you come to villages but there are no people.Just.. no people, no people. And then, a burned house. Two houses. Ten houses burnt.”
16. Med shot, women and children sitting on the floor.
17. Close up, kid
18. Close up, Mia’s hand, writing
19. Med shot, Mia talking to a kid
20. SOUNDBTE (Songa) 13-year-old Oumarou Bouba, 13 year old:
“They took my father, and killed him because they said he was the Seleka chief. They burnt our house and then they threw the body of my father into the fire. They also killed my older brother.”
21. Close up, kids dancing and singing
22. Med shot, Mia dancing with kids
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow travelled to one of the ‘ghost’ villages in the north west region of the Central African Republic to advocate for the over 40,000 people who have been displaced by recent violence.
Over forty thousand people fled armed groups and came to the town of Bossangoa. And now they are all just huddled in make-shift camps.
Twenty-nine year-old displaced mother, Feikeram Pulcherie, told Farrow about how she fled with her five children. She is eight months pregnant and worried about how she will look after her family.
“When we fled, my husband also fled to the bush. I took the little children, but we went in a different direction. I don’t have any news of my husband, whether he is alive or dead. I don’t know what we should do. We are living only with the help from people.”
On the way to Bossangoa, Farrow drove trough scores of destroyed and abandoned villages, which left a deep impression on her: “The road to Bossangoa was really in itself an experience, you drive, and you drive, and you drive. And then you come to villages, but no people, just no people. And then burned house, two houses, ten houses burnt.”
Plagued by decades of instability and fighting, the CAR witnessed a resumption of violence last December when the Séléka rebel coalition launched a series of attacks. A peace agreement was reached in January, but the rebels again seized the capital, Bangui, in March, forcing President François Bozizé to flee.
There is now a transitional government, headed by Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye, entrusted with restoring law and order and paving the way for democratic elections. But armed clashes in the north-east have increased since the beginning of August, and the country is facing a dire humanitarian situation that affects the entire population of some 4.6 million.
In addition, there are continued reports of gross human rights violations since the Séléka coalition seized power in March 2013, including the deliberate killing of civilians, acts of sexual violence against women and children, and the destruction and looting of property, including hospitals, schools and churches.
Thirteen-year-old Oumarou Bouba telling Mia Farrow how he fled the village with his younger brother and mother. “They took my father, and killed him because they said he was the Seleka chief. They burnt our house and then they threw the body of my father into the fire. They also killed my older brother,” said Oumarou.
A recent study conducted jointly by the UN, non-governmental organizations and the Government shows that more than one million people in the country are at risk of hunger, and warns that the situation could worsen because of poor harvests and drastic slowdown in economic activity following months of violence.
Since conflict erupted last year, many farmers fled their farms, leaving crops untended. The majority of households said that their livestock had been stolen. Some families sold livestock and seeds to survive, while others sold herds for fear of displacement or looting.
The UN agency urgently needs $3 million in additional funds for emergency relief items like blankets, mosquito nets, jerry cans and soap for 55,000 internally displaced persons (IDP) in the country over the next six months.
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