2007年VOA标准英语-Camels Carry Mobile Library Service to Isolated

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
08 March 2007
 
watch Kenyan Camel Library report

 
Kenyan camel library
Illiteracy¹ is high in Kenya's northeastern province, especially among the nomadic², largely ethnic³ Somali communities that eke⁴ out a living in the bush. Many in the province have little or no access to books in the rural areas. But the Kenya National Library Service is aiming to change all that. The provincial⁵ library in Garissa offers a mobile camel library service that brings books to children in nearby communities as a way of boosting the area's literacy rate. Cathy Majtenyi accompanied a camel caravan⁶ from Garissa and has this report.

At the Kenya National Library in Garissa, the capital of North Eastern Province, a patron flips⁷ through a wide variety of books while the staff maintains the collections and serve their clients.

But for many who live outside of Garissa, the library is a world away.

That's why the staff decided⁸ to bring the library to the people. And it Is the humble⁹ camel, the ship of the desert, who makes this possible.

The Garissa office of the Kenya National Library Service operates a mobile camel library service that brings books to children in isolated¹⁰, poor schools within a 15-kilometer radius¹¹ of the city.

 
Students check out books from the portable library
The students sign out and return books every two weeks in communities of mostly ethnic Somalis.  On this particular day, staff are loading poles, a tarp, chairs, a table, and two wooden boxes of library books onto the camels' backs.

They are heading for Maramtu Primary school, some 10 kilometers away.

Omar Dabar Ali is a camel herder who loads and offloads the cargo¹² and also cares for the library's 12 camels.

Omar explains why camels are ideal for the job. "The camel plays an important role in this process. The camel is very important in the Somali culture. Also, the camel can pass through small roads that a vehicle cannot pass through."

Once the camels are loaded, they make their way through the streets of Garissa, crossing the Tana river, going through the outskirts¹³ of the town, and eventually ending up in the bush.

Finally, the exhausted¹⁴ caravan arrives at Maramtu Primary school after a trek¹⁵ of about one hour under a blazing sun.

Staff quickly set up just as the children begin to arrive. One of those students who has been eagerly awaiting the book delivery is fifteen-year-old Ezekiel Abiyu Japhet.

An 8th grade student, he says he reads books to improve his English and to teach his younger siblings¹⁶ the meaning of English words. "I tell them to know the meaning of that word there is in the storybooks. When, for example, I saw a word like 'misfortune,' I tell about the meaning of that word, so that if they hear a European talking about that 'misfortune,' [I help] to understand what he is saying."

Most of the books are in English, with some being written in Ki'Swahili. The subjects of the books range from languages to sciences to storybooks of all types.

Most of the program's 7,000 books have been donated by organizations and individuals from around the world.

Illiteracy is a huge problem in Kenya's northeastern province, with more than 80 percent of the province's one million people being unable to read and write.

People living in the area have traditionally been nomads¹⁷, moving from place to place depending on weather and grazing conditions.  They rely on the spoken word as the main means of communication.

Sheikh Rashid Mohamed Farah, provincial librarian at the Garissa library, shares his expectations of the future. "In the next 20 or so years, we expect this society to be different from what it is. Way back in 1980 when I was here, whoever could read and write was somebody who was known by name in this community, so-and-so. Right now, we have quite (a) number of them in the universities -- a good number of young boys and girls from this province who have gone to the university as a result of library services which we are providing. We hope that in the next 30 years, things will change."

He says that Garissa's main library and the mobile camel library target children and youth -- especially girls -- to reverse the province's high illiteracy rate, adding that nomadic populations are increasingly recognizing the value of schooling¹⁸ for their children.

Staff at Maramtu Primary School say they have noticed changes in their students ever since the camel library started coming to the school nine years ago.

Eunice Haodo teaches Grades 2 and 8. She explains that her students are more fluent in English and communicate with greater confidence after reading the books. "These days they are improving. They don't feel shy. We have a debate in this school on Fridays. When we say, now it's time for a debate, at least they communicate something, they say something."

It's nearing the end of the school day. Camel herder Omar and his staff pack up the mobile library to prepare for the long trek home.

The caravan leaves the school compound, and makes its way back to home base, their shadows lengthening¹⁹ with the setting sun.

1 illiteracy   

n.文盲

参考例句：

• It is encouraging to read that illiteracy is declining.从读报中了解文盲情况正在好转，这是令人鼓舞的。
• We must do away with illiteracy.我们必须扫除文盲。

2 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 eke   

v.勉强度日，节约使用

参考例句：

• They had to eke out a livinga tiny income.他们不得不靠微薄收入勉强度日。
• We must try to eke out our water supply.我们必须尽量节约用水。

5 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

6 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

7 flips   

轻弹( flip的第三人称单数 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• Larry flips on the TV while he is on vacation in Budapest. 赖瑞在布达佩斯渡假时，打开电视收看节目。
• He flips through a book before making a decision. 他在决定买下一本书前总要先草草翻阅一下。

8 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。

9 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

10 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

11 radius   

n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限

参考例句：

• He has visited every shop within a radius of two miles.周围两英里以内的店铺他都去过。
• We are measuring the radius of the circle.我们正在测量圆的半径。

12 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

13 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

14 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

15 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

16 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

17 nomads   

n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活

参考例句：

• For ten years she dwelled among the nomads of North America. 她在北美游牧民中生活了十年。
• Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

19 lengthening   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的现在分词 )； 加长

参考例句：

• The evening shadows were lengthening. 残阳下的影子越拉越长。
• The shadows are lengthening for me. 我的影子越来越长了。 来自演讲部分