Trick or Treat
for UNICEF

Title: Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF: Mali

A spinning globe zooms out from the United States, rotates to the east, and lands on the west African country of Mali. Souleymane Traore, Mali UNICEF representative, in a blue UNICEF t-shirt, stands in a rural village and speaks to the camera.

Souleymane: Hello and Happy Halloween. My name is Souleymane and I work for UNICEF in Mali. Mali is a beautiful country, and I’m excited for you to meet people and see what UNICEF does here.

Aerial scenes appear of green vistas in Mali, and young school girls happily clapping and waving.

Souleymane: Let’s have a look.

A 12-year-old girl, dressed in a headwrap and lace dress, waves hello.

Safiatou: My name is Safiatou Samaké. I'm from N'Djila, and I go to school in Foulaboula. I'm 12 years old, and I am in 6th grade.

Her rural village has cement-block buildings and mud huts, surrounded by farm fields. She does chores, reads a book and dances with friends, all outdoors.

Safiatou: I've lived with my grandparents since I was a child. When I wake up in the morning, I wash up, fetch water and sweep the courtyard at the house.

Inside a clay-brick home, Safiatou watches her grandmother cook over a fire.

Safiatou: My grandmother makes breakfast for me to take to school.

She walks through the fields with her friends, all carrying UNICEF backpacks.

Safiatou: We walk to school. The distance between my home and the school is three kilometers. My friends and I would like to have a means of transportation to get to school. Even better, it would be wonderful to have a school where we live.

In the school compound, the girls enter the classroom and begin their studies.

Safiatou: Once we're there, if it's our turn to sweep the classroom, we do it. Then we start lessons. I like the quick learning methods, because students learn while having fun. That's why I sought to get into this school.

She listens intently in class, asks questions, and reads from the blackboard.

Safiatou: I really love grammar and conjugations, biology... When it comes time to read our compositions, I learn a lot, which is a pleasure for me. At recess, we buy sweets and play ball.

She poses with her friends from school, sweeps, then studies on her own at home.

Safiatou: On the way home, we have fun. When we get home in the evening, we light a fire to heat the water, and we help with the housework. I like studying to leave ignorance behind and take part in my country's development. After my studies, I'm planning to become a doctor so that I can care for people.

Safiatou smiles and waves goodbye: Goodbye, thank you! Happy Halloween!

Cut back to Souleymane in the village.

Souleymane: Thanks for visiting Mali and getting to know us. You can help UNICEF do good things here in Mali and around the world. From everyone at UNICEF and here in my country, we are excited to make new friends. Bye!

Cut to an animated end sequence, where a Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF box appears on screen. The words next to the box read: Complete all 5 Trick-or-Treat activities and unlock a donation to help children. Click the button below!

Title: Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF: Romania

A spinning globe zooms out from the United States, rotates to the east, and lands on the country of Romania. Galina Ambrono, Romania UNICEF representative, in a blue UNICEF t-shirt stands on a tree-lined European street and greets us in Romanian and speaks to the camera.

Galina: Hello or “Buna ziua” as we say in Romania! I’m Galina Ambrono and I work for UNICEF. UNICEF works here to help all children live better lives. One of those children is Andrei and I am excited for you to meet him.

A door opens and a young red-headed boy greets the camera, arms wide.

Andrei: Welcome to visit us!

Andrei sits on a purple couch with his stuffed animals. An on-screen title says the Andrei is a Ukrainian refugee.

Andrei: Hello, everyone. My name is Andrei, and I am six years old. I am living in Romania. I really like Romania.

Andrei sits at a kitchen table with his extended family, smiling and having fun.

Andrei, speaking to the interviewer: I came here with my grandma, aunt and two cousins.

Andrei is at a kitchen table having breakfast with his family. He walks down a hallway to a room where other children play.

Andrei: This room is where I play with my friends. These are my friends. This friend is from Romania, and this is Alisa.

He continues playing with stuffed toys in bedroom.

He goes to school and enters his classroom, wearing a blue porkpie hat. He embraces a friend warmly.

Andrei: I met Alex at a Romanian school, where I learn the Romanian language, and he helps me a lot. He's a cool friend.

He plays in the playground at recess with other schoolchildren.

Andrei: I go to the upper school class. Oh, not the upper school, but the upper pre-school. In the kindergarten, I like to play with friends – LEGOs, drawing, writing and playing sports.

In the classroom, he rides on the shoulders of his teacher as she teaches.

Andrei: And there are very good teachers, Mrs. Tanya and Mrs. Larisa.

Back at home, in his room, Andrei speaks to his mother back in Ukraine on a cellphone. Due to her job, she was unable to leave with Andrei.

Andrei: Mommy, how are you doing?

Olya: My boy, I'm fine. - And how are you doing?

Andrei: I came back from kindergarten.

Olya: So, what did you do in kindergarten?

Andrei: Played and went to a Romanian school.

Olya: Son, do you like it?

Andrei: Yes. I miss you very much.

Olya: And I miss you very much. I love you very much.

Andrei: I love you, too.

He shows her on video that his friends are visiting.

Andrei: I have friends visiting.

Andrei’s friends wave to the phone: Hello, Olya!

Olya: You are playing, right?

Andrei: Yes, we are playing! They are from the Romanian school.

Olya: I understand.

Andrei blows her a kiss: Bye

Olya: Are you playing with them, son?

Andrei, blowing kisses again: Yes. Bye.

Olya: Bye-bye.

Cut to Andrei riding on the shoulders of his school teacher, while wearing his hat.

A super appears on-screen. It reads: UNICEF works to help two million children from Ukraine adapt to new lives far away from war.

Cut back to the UNICEF staffer, Galina, again on the tree-lined Romanian street.

Galina: Thank you for watching, and do you know what? You can help UNICEF do good things here in Romania and around the world. Thank you for visiting Romania. See you soon, or as we say, “Pe curand!”

Cut to an animated end sequence, where a Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF box appears on screen. The words next to the box read: Complete all 5 Trick-or-Treat activities and unlock a donation to help children. Click the button below!

Title: Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF: Cambodia

A spinning globe zooms out from the United States, rotates to the east, and lands on the Southeast Asian Kingdom of Cambodia. There is a quick aerial montage of cities, palaces and temples. Cut to a UNICEF Cambodia representative in a blue UNICEF t-shirt, standing on the bow of a wooden boat in a wide river. He speaks to the camera and greets people in Khmer.

Sidh: Hello! And Happy Halloween! Welcome to the Kingdom of Cambodia. I’m Sidh. I work at UNICEF Cambodia office. Today, I’m very excited to show you around the country, introduce you to the people who live here, and share some of the amazing work that UNICEF is doing to help children and families adapt to and mitigate climate change through education and life skills. Come on, let’s go!

Cut to the yard of a single-floor high school with students in white shirts and black pants school uniforms standing in rows in front. Then, cut to a teenage student sitting outside at a table. He presses his hands together in greeting.

Khemarak: Hello! My name is Khemarak. I’m a Grade 9 student Thmor Ta Prom High School.

Cut to a teenage girl classmate, wearing her school uniform, in front of a riverbank.

Seanglen: My name is Seanglen. I’m a Grade 9 student Thmor Ta Prom High School. I am very interested in the topic of the impact of plastic waste.

Members of the class discuss the impacts of plastic using visual aids and flash cards.

Seanglen: Our teacher assigned our class to gather information from the community about this issue, so we went out and brought back real insights to discuss.

The students visit a nearby community, walking into the village.

Khemarak: When I went to the community, our teacher supported us.

Cut to their schoolteacher, speaking to camera.

Pen Sokountheary: Hello, my name is Pen Sokountheary. I am the School Director of Thmor Ta Prom High School. The local Life Skills subject, which is supported by UNICEF through the Ministry of Education, is essential for our students.

Cut to an aerial shot of plastic waste in a river, clogging up the waterway.

Seanglen: We discovered that plastic waste was definitely having a big impact on our community.

Khemarak: Many residents did not understand waste management. They used to throw garbage bags into the Mekong River, which is their water source.

Cut to the students in the village, greeting community members and giving a presentation.

Khemarak: We conducted presentations to educate and raise awareness about the impacts of waste and proper waste disposal methods.

Cut to the village chief, outdoors in front of several dwellings, speaking to camera.

Sai Sa: I am Sai Sa, village chief of Ko Chruem village, Ou Mreas commune, Siembouk district, Stung Treng province. Recently, students came to raise awareness among people in our community about plastic waste issues and to clean up along roads and around houses. It’s made a big difference.

Sai Sa disposes of a bucket of waste in a proper waste bin.

Seanglen: After these awareness raising activities, Khemarak, my team members and I feel truly proud. I, a young girl, can help spread this information in the village, encouraging residents to support our proposed project.

Seanglen smiles, a bit sheepishly, but proudly.

Cut back to Sidh.

Sidh: These skills are crucial for our students. They help them take climate action and become changemakers in their communities.

Do you know that as part of Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, you can help them, too? If you complete the activity after this video, you will unlock resources to help children like Seanglen and Khemarak and access quality education they deserve, so they can fight climate change, protect their environment and build a brighter future.

I hope you will join us. Thanks for visiting Cambodia, and Happy Halloween!

Cut to an animated end sequence, where a Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF box appears on screen. The words next to the box read:

Title: Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF: Jamaica

A spinning globe zooms out from the United States, rotates to the south, and lands on the island country of Jamaica. Rebecca Tortello, Jamaica UNICEF representative, in a black UNICEF t-shirt speaks to the camera.

Rebecca: Hello, Happy Halloween. My name is Rebecca Tortello, and I work with UNICEF in Jamaica.

Coastal scenes of Jamaica appear on the screen, followed by two school girls watching a tablet, and other school scenes of young students working with computers and in classrooms.

Rebecca: Jamaica is a beautiful country filled with wonderful people, and we’re so excited to show you some of the work we do every day across the island for every child.

Cut to Rebecca speaking to camera with school students playing behind her.

Rebecca: Welcome to Jamaica!

Cut to a young Jamaican boy, sitting in a classroom, dressed in a school uniform, speaking to the camera in sign language.

Ari (in sign language): My name is Ari Jones. I am six years old. And I go to Danny Williams School for the Deaf.

Cut to Rebecca in her office, speaking to the camera. Interspersed are scenes of young students in school, watching digital books on tablets and laptops.

Rebecca: The Accessible Digital Textbook Project, which is a partnership between UNICEF, the Ministry of Education, specifically the Special Education Unit and Book Fusion, aims to harness the power of technology, innovations in technology that can increase the inclusivity, the ways in which learners with and without disabilities are able to engage meaningfully with content at home, at school and in their communities.

Ari’s teacher, Patrice Matthison, stands in front of the classroom and signs to the children.

Patrice: The title of this story is “My Brain is My Boss.”

Back in his interview, Ari signs proudly: I read all about my brain being my boss!

Patrice sits with Ari in the classroom as Ari looks at his digital book.

Patrice: So, you like the activities? Is that your favorite part?

Ari: Yes!

Patrice speaks to camera in an interview.

Patrice: All of the concepts and the content of the book, all of the concepts are there, and everything that he needs to know that's in the story is actually done in his language. So, it's definitely a plus for Ari.

Ari: This is my first time reading a book that has sign language. I was able to hear the speech on the tablet! I am happy that I can share this book with my friend Ma’Kayla, and she's able to hear. Interspersed with scenes of students signing to teachers in a classroom.

Footage of Ari playing at home, riding a bicycle and sitting with his family.

In an interview, Stacy-Ann, who is Ari’s mother speaks:

Stacy-Ann: With Ari, that's when I realized that we do not include a lot of our society. They are left to the side and we just, I guess, live our lives not even thinking about them, because I did not know a deaf person or a hard of hearing person before Ari. It made me realize that I should try my best to include more people in the things that I'm doing.

With scenes of Ari smiling and dancing with his classmates, Stacy-Ann continues:

Being left behind is total sadness. You don't want to be left behind. Even as hearing groups, even if all of us here we are hearing and somebody is leaving you behind, you're going to feel sad. So, everybody wants happiness. Everybody wants to move forward and be happy together!

Scenes of children playing in school with Ari during statement.

Cut Ari smiling while riding his bicycle.

Rebecca appears again, speaking to camera.

Rebecca: Thanks for visiting us virtually in Jamaica. With your help, we can continue to do our great work here and all around the world. Take care, bye bye.

Cut to an animated end sequence, where a Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF box appears on screen. The words next to the box read: Complete all 5 Trick-or-Treat activities and unlock a donation to help children. Click the button below!

Title: Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF: Guatemala

A spinning globe zooms out from the United States, rotates to the south, and lands on the Central American country of Guatemala. There are cities and lakes and mountains and green jungles.

A UNICEF Guatemala staffer in blue UNICEF vest, Ana Lucia Morales, speaks to camera in front of a lush, forested garden.

Ana: Hola! You’ve come to Guatemala.

Interspersed are shots of UNICEF staffers talking with people and very young Guatemalan children being weighed and measured to check their health.

Ana: Welcome! I’m Ana Lucia Morales, a UNICEF staff person here. I’m so glad that you’ve come on a Halloween visit. I’m excited to show you some amazing work UNICEF is doing here for and with children in our country. Here we go!

Cut to a small rural village in a jungle high in the mountains.

Ludvin: Hi, I’m Ludvin. I’m 12 years old and I’m from Guatemala. I live in Chajxucub, Coban, Alta Verapaz. Every morning, I get up at five a.m. and I wash my face, I go to the bathroom, eat breakfast and brush my teeth. My mom gets my backpack ready. I have beans and little tortillas for breakfast.

Ludvin get out of bed, brushes his teeth in an outdoor wash basin. At breakfast, with his mother next to him by the open-fire stove, Ludvin sits at breakfast with his little sister and eats beans and tortillas. He hugs mother before school while wearing a blue UNICEF backpack.

Ludvin: I go to school, I say goodbye to my mom.

Ludvin walks through the forest to school.

Ludvin: I live near the school. Thanks to God I only walk for 20 minutes. Other friends of mine walk for about two hours.

Ludvin enters school and says hello to his classmates before sitting at his desk in the classroom.

Ludvin: When I arrive at school, I greet my classmates, my teacher. And I leave my backpack on the desk. My favorite class is Science and Technology because there are many assignments.

Ludvin works at his desk during class, working on math problems in his notebook.

Cut to Ludvin standing in the forest talking to camera: I play soccer with my friends at school and we play chess. When we go out for recess, we play chess, soccer.

Students play a game of soccer outside in a light rain. Ludvin heads the ball away from the goal.

Cut to a sheet-metal-built outhouse latrine with a UNICEF sign on it. Ludvin opens door and shows off the inside view.

Ana’s voiceover: Since students spend most of their time at school, safe WASH services can improve their healthy by preventing diseases. It is important for boys and girls to have clean bathrooms in their house and in their school. That is why UNICEF is working with families to help them build clean and dignified bathrooms in their communities.

Cut to several students washing their hands at a wash station at their school.

Ludvin: At school we have learned that it is very important to wash our hands before eating and after going to the bathroom. It used to be difficult to do, because we only had one dirty sink, but now we have several sinks and a bathroom. And that makes me very happy because it helps us to avoid getting sick.

Ana to camera: Thanks for visiting Guatemala and getting to know us. You can help UNICEF do good things here in Guatemala and around the world. From everyone in UNICEF and here in my country, we are excited to make new friends. Bye!

Ludvin smiles and waves to the camera: Happy Halloween!

Cut to an animated end sequence, where a Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF box appears on screen. The words next to the box read: Complete all 5 Trick-or-Treat activities and unlock a donation to help children. Click the button below!