VOA标准英语2010年-Leaving a High-Tech Job to Empower Afr

Not too long ago, Justin Silbaugh worked in California's high-tech¹ industry. Today, the 40-year-old lives, works and volunteers in the East African nation of Uganda. 

For the last two years, he has been the country director of an arts education project in Kansanga, on the outskirts² of the capital of Kampala.

The after-school program is devoted³ to community service, and Silbaugh's goal is to create an empowering environment for youngsters⁴ who would otherwise have little hope for a better life.

Switching gears⁵

Up until his early thirties, Silbaugh led a typical American life.

He attended public schools in the state of Maryland where he was born and grew up, went to college, and got a job in the high-tech industry in California. 

Then, he changed careers and became a teacher and also helped set up an organization to teach computer skills to senior citizens. But he'd never lived overseas like so many of his friends had done through the Peace Corps⁶ and other organizations. He wanted that experience.

"And I felt that Africa was calling to me," says Silbaugh. "In the West, we have so many misconceptions about what Africa is and what it isn't, and I felt like I wanted to go and really experience it for myself."

A friend who worked in international development suggested he go to Uganda. While planning to leave for East Africa, Silbaugh was introduced to Laban Movement Analysis, a system for describing dance movements developed by Rudolph Laban, one of the founders⁷ of European modern dance in the early twentieth century.

"It's a way of categorizing movement, actually into a language that can be transcribed⁸ in the same way that musical notes can be," he says. "So, you could create a dance and actually write out that dance in a language that someone else could look at and then reproduce⁹ that dance or that movement."

Bukenya Joseph
Justin Silbaugh with students in Uganda

Learning about life through art

In Uganda, Silbaugh's interest in Laban, teaching skills and his experience in business came together with In Movement: Art for Social Change. Started by Spanish dancer and actress Begonia Caparros, the program uses Laban Movement Analysis as a form of therapy for orphaned¹⁰ and abused children.  Silbaugh - who'd met Caparros in California - has been its director since 2008. 

"We work with about 300 disadvantaged children and youth from the surrounding area here in Kampala.  And we use the arts as a tool of empowerment for the kids," he says. "To build their self-confidence, their self-esteem, to help them develop a belief in purpose-driven living, develop their communication skills, leadership skills, give them opportunities to really develop in life through the arts."

The children come to the program after school and on weekends, to learn music, dance, drama, creative writing, the visual arts and circus performing.  Silbaugh says all the teachers - or facilitators as they are called - are talented Ugandan artists with a passion for working with young people.

"When they become a part of the In Movement team, which we refer to affectionately as 'The Dream Team,' we train them in our methodology of working with the kids which is really about doing something very different than the education system here in Uganda is doing which is very much about 'chalk and talk' memorization, but doesn't really focus on creativity, imagination, independent thinking."

Bukenya Joseph
Students in the after-school arts program work on a project.

Transformational times

When kids first come to the three-year program, Silbaugh says they are shy, quiet, and unable to express themselves.

As they work with the Dream Team, he watches them transform into happy, confident youngsters, with a positive outlook for their own futures¹¹. 

But then, there's the question of what happens next. The Ugandan government offers free education only through primary school.  Silbaugh says that's where schooling¹² stops for 80 percent of the nation's young people, because they can't pay the tuition¹³ for higher education.

"A lot of our kids they finish our program and they have so much energy and enthusiasm for their future, but they don't have the resources to go onto good secondary schools. That can be frustrating," says Silbaugh. "We want the kids to succeed but there's not really free public education here in Uganda, at least not in the way we know it in the U.S.."

So, In Movement has begun to try to help students connect with organizations that could sponsor their education costs.

Silbaugh, who has fallen in love with Uganda and its people, plans to stay in the country for several more years. Despite the challenges, he says he would like to see the arts program expand, and reach children in other parts of Uganda and the rest of Africa.

 

1 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

2 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。

3 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

4 youngsters   

n.孩子( youngster的名词复数 )；少年；青年；年轻人

参考例句：

• We followed the youngsters at a more sedate pace. 我们跟在年轻人后面，步子稍慢一点。
• The camp is for youngsters aged 8 to 14. 这次夏令营是为8至14岁的少年儿童安排的。

5 gears   

n.齿轮( gear的名词复数 )；装备；挡；（做某事的）速度

参考例句：

• Careless use of the clutch may damage the gears. 离合器使用不慎可能会损坏传动装置。
• A car has five gears. 汽车有五挡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

8 transcribed   

（用不同的录音手段）转录( transcribe的过去式和过去分词 )； 改编（乐曲）（以适应他种乐器或声部）； 抄写； 用音标标出（声音）

参考例句：

• He transcribed two paragraphs from the book into his notebook. 他把书中的两段抄在笔记本上。
• Every telephone conversation will be recorded and transcribed. 所有电话交谈都将被录音并作全文转写。

9 reproduce   

v.生育，繁殖，复制，重做

参考例句：

• The machine can reproduce a key in two minutes.这机器能在两分钟内复制一把钥匙。
• The picture will reproduce well.这照片会印得很清楚。

10 orphaned   

[计][修]孤立

参考例句：

• Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。
• He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。

11 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

12 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。

13 tuition   

n.（某一学科的）教学，讲授，指导，学费

参考例句：

• Students can apply for individual tuition.学生可以申请个别指导。
• Is this money enough for the tuition fee?这些钱交学费够吗？