2007年VOA标准英语-Novel Development Concept Spreads Beyond Nepal

By Brent Hurd
Washington
27 March 2007
 
watch Rural Community Library  

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has granted one million dollars to the group "Rural Education and Development" or “READ,” a non-government organization that establishes village libraries in rural areas around the world that are managed and funded by local communities. For producer Brent Hurd, VOA's Jim Bertel reports these library community centers often provide a central location for educational and economic development.

Nepalese child reading materials provided by READ

High in the Himalayan Mountains, scores of small community libraries are cropping up in some of the most remote villages in Nepal. 

However, these libraries provide more than just books; they also play a vital role in their communities.  Basudev Dhungana is chairman of the Jhuwani Community Library, located in South central Nepal.

"This is not just an educational organization; it is also a center of development activities,” he says. “The library helps us clarify our vision and implement¹ programs efficiently².  It is the demands of the people that direct the kind of community development we implement."

More than 30 libraries like the one in Jhuwani provide the space and resources for social services including health awareness³ seminars, savings⁴ and credit programs, women’s group meetings and a public area for discussions of village projects.

In the early 1990s, Rural Education and Development, or READ, began to build such libraries with what the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation calls a pioneering approach to international aid.  Toni Neubauer is the chairperson of READ. 

"READ is a rural community empowerment program that uses libraries as a nexus⁵ for educational development through books and literacy training, for economic development, because each READ library has a sustaining project that supports not only the library but generates extra community funds, and as a social development program."

Host communities are involved in all stages of planning and implementing⁶ the libraries and they contribute at least 20 percent of the start-up costs.  Then READ helps launch an income-generating enterprise in each community to help pay for the libraries. 

Located in North Central Nepal's mountain district of Mustang, the library of Tukuche village is supported by a local sawmill that READ built. 

Profits from the mill have enabled villagers, not only to sustain and improve the library, but also to build a childcare center and offer scholarships to poor children. Community businesses in other villages include an ambulance service, a printing press and storefront rentals⁷.

Dina Bangdel, a READ board member, says these libraries reach people who have the least opportunity for education. “READ brings in a new idea, a new culture and that is the culture of reading, especially in a country like Nepal where education is still not in the mainstream,” she says. “[The] illiteracy⁸ rate is very high.”

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently awarded READ one million dollars to expand the community library to rural areas of other countries including: India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bhutan, Nicaragua, Ecuador and other locations.

1 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

2 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

3 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

4 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

5 nexus   

n.联系；关系

参考例句：

• Shared ambition is the vital nexus between them.共同的志向是把他们联结在一起的重要纽带。
• Either way,the nexus between the consumer and consumer prices is important.无论那个方面，消费者与消费价格之间的关系是至关重要的。

6 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

7 rentals   

n.租费，租金额( rental的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In some large hotels, the income derived from this source actually exceeds income from room rentals. 有些大旅馆中，这方面的盈利实际上要超过出租客房的盈利。 来自辞典例句
• Clerk: Well, Canadian Gifts is on the lower level. It's across from Prime Time Video Rentals. 噢，礼品店在楼下，在黄金时刻录像出租屋的对面。 来自口语例句

8 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。