DEVELOPMENT REPORT – Riecken Foundation Libraries in Centra

DEVELOPMENT REPORT – Riecken Foundation¹ Libraries in Central America
By Gary Garriott

Broadcast: Monday, January 31, 2005

I'm Phoebe Zimmermann with the VOA Special English Development Report.

Andrew Carnegie became rich in the American steel industry. But he spent much of his life giving away his money. One of his main interests was developing libraries in small towns. Andrew Carnegie died in nineteen nineteen.

Now a non-profit group in the United States has taken some of his ideas to Central America, especially Guatemala and Honduras. The Riecken Foundation has opened fifteen libraries in the past five years. Seven more are being built.

The goal is to help people explore new worlds. Not just through books, but also through computers connected to the Internet. The hope is to build as many as one thousand libraries throughout Central America.

The Riecken Foundation provides much of the cost of building the structures as well as paying for the books and computers. The group also trains committees to make the policies that govern how a library operates. Members of these library committees are not paid. They provide land for the building and pay for a full-time² librarian. They also pay for water and electricity for the library.

Some of the people who work for the Riecken Foundation are former members of the Peace Corps³. This government program sends Americans to help communities in Asia, Africa and Latin⁴ America. They work for two years or more with very little pay.

The foundation was created in two thousand by Allen Andersson, a businessman. He served in the Peace Corps in Honduras in the nineteen sixties. The very first employee, Meredith Bellows⁵, served in Guatemala several years ago. Now she is a director of the foundation.

Miz Bellows worked in the small community of San Juan la Laguna. A story in G.W. Magazine in two thousand two described her work. Miz Bellows trained poor women who received small business loans⁶. She told how she taught one woman to bake bread in ovens⁷ built from simple materials.

The library in the town is extremely small. But things are about to change. Meredith Bellows tells us that this week a bigger library will be completed in San Juan la Laguna.

Internet users⁸ can learn more about the Riecken Foundation at riecken.org.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Gary Garriott. I'm Phoebe Zimmermann.

1 foundation   

n.[pl.]地基；基础；基金会；建立，创办

参考例句：

• The foundation of the university took place 600 years ago.这所大学是600年前创办的。
• The Foundation gives money to help artists.那家基金会捐款帮助艺术家。

2 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。

3 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

5 bellows   

n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫

参考例句：

• His job is to blow the bellows for the blacksmith. 他的工作是给铁匠拉风箱。 来自辞典例句
• You could, I suppose, compare me to a blacksmith's bellows. 我想，你可能把我比作铁匠的风箱。 来自辞典例句

6 loans   

n.借出物，借款( loan的名词复数 )v.借出，贷与（尤指钱）( loan的第三人称单数 )；出借（贵重物品给博物馆等）

参考例句：

• They are offering loans at extortionate rates of interest. 他们在放高利贷。
• Government loans have been the salvation of several shaky business companies. 政府的贷款救活了几家濒临倒闭的公司。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 ovens   

n.烤箱，炉( oven的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Bakers bake in huge ovens. 面包师用大烤炉烤面包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cleaning ovens is a real fag. 清洗烤箱是一件累人的活。 来自辞典例句

8 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。