VOA标准英语2012--US Bead Parties Boost Ugandan Women

 

US Bead¹ Parties Boost Ugandan Women

It’s party time for Madison Blandford and three dozen of her girlfriends. The 11-year-old invited her classmates and neighbors to see - and buy - beaded jewelry² made by women in Uganda.

“My grandma got me a bracelet," she says, "and that’s when I got interested.”

So she started to learn about how the jewelry pieces are created. The colorful beads³ on vibrant⁴ necklaces, earrings⁵ and bracelets⁶, are made out of paper.

“It takes 30 seconds for each bead to be made, but the whole process takes two weeks,” Madison says.

When she wanted to share the story with her friends, her mother, Sharon Blandford, thought it was a great idea.

“I really felt like this was something that she could learn and grow with and she could also lead her friends into wanting to do something that’s really important and special,” Blanford says.

They visited the Bead for Life website and signed up to host a jewelry party.

“It was very easy," Blanford says. "They e-mail you very often to tell you what to do.”

Bead for Life

Bead for Life was launched in 2004 after founder⁷ Torkin Wakefield, her daughter, Devin Hibbard, and a friend visited Uganda. There, they met a bead maker⁸.

“We saw a woman sitting in the dust. She was rolling beads out of recycled paper," Wakefield says. "We stopped to talk to her and ask what she was doing. She told us that she loves making beads, but that she had no market for her beads. So we started thinking, 'Why does she think there is no market?' We love these beads and our friends like these beads. Surely, we could find a market.”

That led the three women to establish a non-profit group to combat poverty. Bead for Life helps Ugandan women find markets for their jewelry, hone their entrepreneurial skills and change their lives.

Thousands of women in the U.S. and around the world have joined the effort by throwing Bead for Life parties where they sell the Ugandan beads.

“We came up with this idea of a bead party," Hibbard says, "which is a woman taking beads to her community, to her house, to her children’s school and sharing the beads and the story of the women who make them.”

Making a difference

Last year, 3,000 bead parties worldwide raised $3 million. First, the Ugandan women are paid. The rest of the earnings⁹ are reinvested in education and community development projects in Uganda that help women break out of poverty.

“One woman started a sweater business, she put a solar panel on top of her shop to charge cell phones," says Wakefield. "She has chickens out back. She started a training business to train people how to make sweaters.”

Stories like that inspired guests at Madison’s party.

“I love things that are full of color and bright, and really I think it’s great to have a story behind what I wear,” says guest Jacqueline Romanelli. 

Emily Rodrigurz agrees. “It’s good how every penny that we spend is going to Ugandan people to help fight a lot of diseases."

Madison Blandford’s jewelry party raised about $1,000 - and her guests' awareness¹⁰ of the plight¹¹ of people in a far-away country.

1 bead   

n.念珠；(pl.)珠子项链；水珠

参考例句：

• She accidentally swallowed a glass bead.她不小心吞下了一颗玻璃珠。
• She has a beautiful glass bead and a bracelet in the box.盒子里有一颗美丽的玻璃珠和手镯。

2 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

3 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

4 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

5 earrings   

n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子

参考例句：

• a pair of earrings 一对耳环
• These earrings snap on with special fastener. 这付耳环是用特制的按扣扣上去的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 bracelets   

n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The lamplight struck a gleam from her bracelets. 她的手镯在灯光的照射下闪闪发亮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On display are earrings, necklaces and bracelets made from jade, amber and amethyst. 展出的有用玉石、琥珀和紫水晶做的耳环、项链和手镯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

8 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

10 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。

11 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。