VOA慢速英语2009-Development Report - 'Gone Rural' Project in Swa

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Every three weeks, a truck drives to a rural¹ community in the Kingdom of Swaziland. The purpose of the trip is to buy the hand-made products of local women and place new orders.

The Swazi women make and sell woven baskets, placemats for dinner tables and other objects for the home. The women gained their weaving skills long ago. Traditionally, women in the African nation work with long grasses to make the thatched roofs that cover houses.

The manufacture² of goods is important for the women because they can do this at home. Many care for a number of children, including those whose parents died of AIDS. Swaziland is said to have the highest known rate of infection for the virus that causes the disease³.
　
Lomtandaso Hlope weaves part of a grass basket

But life is brighter for the women weavers⁴ today than it was seventeen years ago. That is when a business project called Gone Rural was launched⁵. Today, more than seven hundred women take their goods to Gone Rural for sale. One of their main materials is Lutindzi grass, which grows only in mountain areas. Gone Rural also has some products available in other materials.

The project now has sales of five hundred thousand dollars worth of goods each year. The goods are sold in more than thirty countries around the world.

Three years ago, Gone Rural started a nonprofit organization called Gone Rural boMake. Its purpose is to provide for the educational, health and social needs of the women and their communities. The parent organization gives Gone Rural boMake at least twenty percent of its profits and helps with administrative⁶ costs. The non-profit organization's projects include working to provide communities with clean drinking water.

Lomtandaso Hlope was one of the first seven hundred women to weave for Gone Rural. Years ago, she and other women from her community went to the Gone Rural office in the town of Malkerns. They showed their goods to Jenny Thorne, who established Gone Rural. Miz Thorne happily accepted what they made.

Lomtandaso Hlope and her friends have been selling to Gone Rural ever since. Their community is among thirteen that sell to the group. She has educated her own children and grandchildren with the money earned from her work.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Steve Ember.

1 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

2 manufacture   

n.产品，制造，制造业；vt.制造，加工；vi.参与制造

参考例句：

• The equipment is of our own manufacture.这设备是我们自己制造的。
• Plastic is an important manufacture.塑料是种重要产品。

3 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

4 weavers   

织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Navajo are noted as stockbreeders and skilled weavers, potters, and silversmiths. 纳瓦霍人以豢养家禽，技术熟练的纺织者，制陶者和银匠而著名。
• They made out they were weavers. 他们假装是织布工人。

5 launched   

v.发射( launch的过去式和过去分词 )；[计算机]开始（应用程序）；发动；开展（活动、计划等）

参考例句：

• He launched a bitter diatribe against the younger generation. 他对年轻一代发起了猛烈的抨击。
• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide. 这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。

6 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。