99岁老妇每天为非洲贫困儿童做衣服

 　　Lillian Weber makes a dress from scratch every single day so that a child in need will have something beautiful to wear.

　　莉莉安·韦伯为了贫困地区的孩子有漂亮衣服穿，坚持每天为他们做一件新衣服。

　　Throughout the last few years, Weber has made more than 840 dresses for Little Dresses for Africa, a Christian¹ nonprofit that distributes dresses to impoverished² young girls in Africa and beyond. Weber says she hopes to hit the 1,000 dress mark before too long.

　　在过去的几年里，韦伯已经通过名为“非洲小礼服”的基督徒非盈利组织向非洲及周边国家的贫困小女孩送去了840件自己做的漂亮裙子。韦伯说她希望能尽快做够1000件裙子。

　　All this would certainly be extraordinary enough, but there's something else that makes Weber's story particularly astounding³: She's 99.

　　单是这样的行为已足够让人感到不可思议了，可更令人敬佩的是，莉莉安·韦伯是一位已经99岁的老人了。

　　99岁老妇每天为非洲贫困儿童做衣服

　　Weber, who lives in Iowa, reportedly starts on a new dress every single morning, and after a midday break, finishes the garment in the afternoon. "It is just what I like to do," Weber told the Quad-City Times earlier this year.

　　据报道，家住美国爱荷华州的韦伯，每天早晨开始制作衣服，中午稍作休息后继续，并在下午完成制作。“这是我喜欢做的事情。”韦伯今年年初告诉记者。

　　Even though she's speedy, Weber still finds the time and takes the effort to make each dress extra special.

　　尽管韦伯做衣服的速度很快，但是为了保证每件衣服都是精心制作的，所以她坚持每天只做一件。

　　“She personalizes them all,” Weber's daughter, Linda, told WQAD-TV of her mom's creations⁴ (pictured below). “It’s not like good enough that she makes the dresses, she has to put something on the front to make it look special, to give it her touch.”

　　“她做的裙子每件都是独一无二的。”韦伯的女儿琳达告诉WQAD-TV的记者。“这些裙子可能看起来没有那么好，但她尽量把每件做的都很特别，每件裙子都带有她的风格。”

　　Weber, who was nominated⁵ for WQAD-TV's "Pay It Forward" award, has been sewing the garments for Little Dresses for Africa since 2011, when she and a group of women -- most of whom are over the age of 80 -- decided⁶ to come together to support the organization.

　　2011年韦伯召集了一群年过八旬的老人一起支持“非洲小礼服”这个组织，从那时每天开始做衣服。韦伯还因此获得了WQAD-TV“把爱传下去”的奖项的提名。

　　“I was watching a documentary⁷ about the [nonprofit], and thought it would be a great idea for some of us to get together to help some people who live so far away,” one of the group's members, Judy Noel, told the Quad-City Times.

　　其中一位名叫朱迪·诺尔的老人告诉记者：“我看了有关这个非盈利组织的一个纪录片，觉得我们大家聚集起来一起帮助那些远方的人真是一个很好的主意。”

　　Little Dresses for Africa distributes dresses to orphanages⁸, churches and schools in Africa. According to the organization's website, the goal of the nonprofit is to provide clothing to some of the world's most vulnerable⁹ children and "to plant in the hearts of little girls that they are worthy¹⁰."

　　“非洲小礼服”组织为非洲的教堂、学校以及孤儿院里的孩子们捐赠衣服。该组织的网站上称，其目的就是为世界上那些最容易受到伤害的孩子们提供衣服，以此来让“小女孩们意识到自己是优秀的、有价值的”。

　　So far, the organization says it's collected more than 2.5 million dresses, which have been distributed to 47 countries in Africa, as well as to children in need in countries like Haiti, Honduras, Thailand, Mexico and even parts of the United States.

　　目前为止，这个组织已经收到超过250万条裙子，并已经捐给非洲的47个国家，以及海地、洪都拉斯、泰国、墨西哥及美国部分地区的需要帮助的孩子。

　　Next May, Weber will celebrate her 100th birthday, but she says she has no intention of slowing down.

　　明年五月，韦伯将迎来百岁生日，但她并不打算放慢做衣服的速度。

　　“When I get to that thousand[th dress], if I’m able to. I won’t quit," she told WQAD-TV. "I’ll go at it again."

　　“我希望到那时我能做够1000件衣服，只要我可以，我不会放弃的。”她告诉WQAD-TV，“我会继续做下去的。”

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 astounding   

adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)

参考例句：

• There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
• The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊，所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 creations   

创造( creation的名词复数 )； 创造物； （尤指所述由上帝）创造天地； 宇宙

参考例句：

• This artist's creations are worth collecting. 这个艺术家的作品值得收藏。
• The intellectual creations of individual nations become common property. 各民族的精神产品成了公共的财产。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

5 nominated   

adj.被提名的，被任命的 动词nominate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She has been nominated for the presidency. 她已经获得了董事长职位的提名。
• The movie was nominated for an Oscar. 这部电影获奥斯卡金像奖提名。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 documentary   

adj.文献的；n.纪录片

参考例句：

• This case lacked documentary proof.本案缺少书面证据。
• I watched a documentary on the Civil War.我看了一部关于内战的纪录片。

8 orphanages   

孤儿院( orphanage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It is Rotarians running orphanages for children who have no homes. 扶轮社员们为没有家的孩子办孤儿院。
• Through the years, she built churches, hospitals and orphanages. 许多年来，她盖了一间间的教堂、医院、育幼院。

9 vulnerable   

adj.易受伤的，脆弱的，易受攻击的

参考例句：

• He volunteered to protect her as she looked so vulnerable.她看上去很脆弱，他就主动去保护她。
• The company is in an economically vulnerable position.该公司目前经济状况不稳定。

10 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。