Banias is an 8-year-old kid living in Gaza. And she has a story to tell — many stories, in fact. Prologue: While on the phone with reporter Maram Hamaid in Gaza, producer Chana Joffe-Walt gets interrupted by Maram’s daughter––Banias, eight, who grabs the phone from her mother and starts telling us about her life. The narrator arrives. (8 minutes) Part One: Banias, an 8-year-old in Gaza, tells us about her life––her friends, the games she plays, the things she cares about. Everything but the war going on around her. (25 minutes) Part Two: Banias talks about the war. (20 minutes)
From WBEZ Chicago, it's this American Life.
I'm Chana Jafi Walt sitting in for Ira Glass.
This all started with a phone call,
a call that eventually led to this episode.
So that's where I'm going to start.
I was talking to a journalist in Gaza on the phone.
Hello.
Hi, this is Ana.
Hi, how are you?
This was back in April.
I'd been speaking to people in Gaza for months by then,
but nobody where.
Meram was in the middle area.
Der Bala Meram Humaid.
She's a reporter for Al Jazeera.
English.
We were chatting.
I was asking some pretty basic questions
about what she was experiencing,
what she was seeing, what the day had been like.