VOA慢速英语2017 乌干达议会为女议员开设母乳哺育中心

Breastfeeding Center Helps Ugandan Lawmakers with Work, Motherhood

The World Health Organization (WHO) says breastfeeding is very important for the health of babies.

世界卫生组织(WHO)表示，母乳哺育对于婴儿的健康非常重要。

WHO officials say mother’s milk should be the only food given to babies during the first six months of life. They advise that breastfeeding should continue in children up to two years of age. But that can be difficult for working mothers around the world.

世卫组织表示，婴儿出生后的前六个月都应该母乳哺育。该组织还建议，母乳哺育可以延续到孩子两岁再停。但这一点对于全世界有工作的母亲来说太过困难。

In Uganda, parliament¹ is supporting the act of breastfeeding by providing a free day care center for female² lawmakers and the women who work for them.

乌干达议会正在支持一项母乳哺育法案的通过，为女性议员和为她们服务的女性提供一个免费的托儿所。

Uganda’s parliament has more than 150 women legislators. Many of them are at the age when they can give birth. Because of this, parliament members, including male legislators, have taken steps to help female members deal with their full-time³ job and motherhood.

乌干达议会有150多名女性议员。她们中的很多人都到了生育的年龄。鉴于此，包括男性议员在内的议会成员已经采取措施，帮助女性议员解决全职工作与母亲身份平衡的问题。

Legislator Taaka Agnes Wejuli sends her four-month-old son to the parliamentary day care center.

议员艾格尼丝将自己4个月大的儿子送往议会设立的托儿所。

“When I am coming very early, I don’t even have to bathe my baby. I just get him out of sleep, put him in his car seat, lock the vehicle⁴ and we run up to here…I attend committee⁵ meetings. I attend (the) plenary in the afternoon, so I am always there, all the time.”

我上班很早的时候，也不用给我的宝贝洗澡。我只要把他叫醒，然后把他放进他的小车里，锁上，然后小跑着带到这里……参加委员会的会议。下午的时候参加全会，所以我一直都在工作。

The Speaker of Uganda’s Parliament, Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, opened the parliamentary center almost two years ago.

乌干达议会发言人丽贝卡大概于两年前开办了议会中心。

The center has a room with cooking equipment, areas for babies to sleep and play, and a room for breastfeeding mothers. This room, Kadaga says, has helped female lawmakers stay active in parliament and solved many problems for them.

这个中心的房间里有护具、婴儿休息娱乐区，还有母婴室。丽贝卡表示，这样的房间让女性议员能够在议会上保持活跃，为他们解决了很多问题。

“In the past, one would either have to leave parliament and go back home, depending on where she lives, that would take time,” said Kadaga. “Either she would have to do part of the work, or abandon⁶ the work altogether and come back tomorrow because the traffic alone, if you are traveling back and forth⁷ between the city and your home, it takes time.”

过去，女议员要么就迫不得已离开议会回家，而且这也要取决于她住在哪里，可能会很费时间，丽贝卡如是说道。要么就完成部分工作，或者一点工作都不管，明天再回来做，因为光是路上一来一回的时间就很多了。

Two women supervise⁸ the center, which is open to both parliamentarians and the women who work for them. Sheeba Namara takes her three-month-old baby to the center. She says it is good to know her child is so near.

由两名女性来监管该中心，该中心对议会成员和为其服务的工作人员都开放。纳马拉也把自己3个月大的孩子带来了中心。她表示，知道自己的孩子离自己这么近的感觉真好。

“Just the comfort of being at work yet at the same time knowing that your child is safe and you can walk in anytime, is really the best service that could ever do.”

The World Health Organization rates countries on policies⁹ that support breastfeeding in its Global¹⁰ Breastfeeding Scorecard. It says Uganda is among 23 countries where more than 60 percent of babies are fed only their mother’s milk during the first six months.

工作的同时知道自己的孩子很安全，这感觉美滋滋，让女议员可以随时安心工作。这真的可以说是议会最好的服务了。世卫组织以各国支持母乳哺育的政策来评估其全球母乳哺育计分情况。乌干达是23个国家之一，这23个国家60%多的婴儿在出生后的前六个月都仅以母乳为食。

Ugandan health officials say there are still many things that can be done to help mothers. These include enacting¹¹ policies aimed at supporting breastfeeding and babies’ health.

乌干达卫生官员表示，还有很多事情能为母亲们做。其中包括，颁布政策，旨在支持母乳哺育和婴儿健康。

Officials also say policies to let women more easily balance work and family responsibilities¹² are also needed.

一些官员表示，还需要一些政策让女性能更容易地平衡工作与家庭责任。

I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

bathe – v. to wash (someone) in a container filled with water : to give a bath to (someone)?

plenary – adj. describing a full meeting of all members of a group

abandon – v. to leave suddenly or without notice

afternoon – n. the middle part of the day?

back and forth – adv. between two places or people?

comfort – n. a state or feeling of being less worried, upset, frightened, etc., during a time of trouble or emotional pain

1 Parliament   

n.议会，国会

参考例句：

• She won a seat in Parliament at the election.她在选举中赢得了议会中的席位。
• The drug was banned by an act of parliament.议会的法案明令禁止该药品。

2 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

3 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

4 vehicle   

n.车辆，交通工具，运载工具；媒介，表现手段

参考例句：

• Air is the vehicle of sound.空气是声音传播的媒介。
• The power plant burns used vehicle tyres as fuel.这家电厂用废弃轮胎作燃料。

5 committee   

n.委员会，全体委员

参考例句：

• We referred the matter back to the Finance Committee.我们把这事转回给财政委员会处理。
• I am going to speak out against the committee's decision.我打算直言反对委员会的决定。

6 abandon   

vt.抛弃，离弃，遗弃；放弃

参考例句：

• We had no option but to abandon the meeting.我们别无选择，只有放弃这次会面。
• They abandon themselves to drinking.他们沉湎于饮酒。

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 supervise   

v.监督，管理，指导

参考例句：

• We must supervise and speed up the fulfilment of assigned tasks.已经布置了的工作，应当认真督促检查。
• Tomorrow he will supervise all the pupils taking the English examination.明天全体学生考英语，他将担任监考。

9 policies   

n.政策( policy的名词复数 )；策略；政府；策略性

参考例句：

• The Chancellor was forced into a humiliating climbdown on his economic policies. 财政大臣被迫狼狈地承认他的经济政策存在失误。
• an angry denunciation of the government's policies 愤怒谴责政府的政策

10 global   

adj.全球的；球形的；世界的

参考例句：

• A global environmental meeting is going to be held here.一个全球环境会议将在这里举行。
• The report takes a global view of the company's problems.这份报告对公司的问题作了综合性的论述。

11 enacting   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Generally these statutes apply only to wastes from reactors outside the enacting state. 总之，这些法令只适宜用在对付那些来自外州的核废料。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• In addition, the complexion of enacting standards for live working is described. 另外，介绍了带电作业标准的制订情况。

12 responsibilities   

责任( responsibility的名词复数 )； 职责； 责任感； 责任心

参考例句：

• the disproportion between the extra responsibilities and the small salary increase 额外的责任与小幅增加的薪金之间的不相称
• The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. 这项工作涉及的职责范围很广。