2007年VOA标准英语-Habitat for Humanity: Jimmy Carter Building Hom

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
03 April 2007

Since 1984, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, have helped build homes for the poor through a charitable group called Habitat for Humanity. As we hear from Mike O'Sullivan, the Carters were in Los Angeles to announce a project in that city.

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President Jimmy Carter, center, announces the 2007 'Jimmy Carter Work Project' during an official ribbon-cutting ceremony in Los Angeles, 31 Mar 2007

Habitat for Humanity builds homes year-round, but for one week every year, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter lead thousands of volunteers in sawing wood and hammering nails. The annual effort, called the Jimmy Carter Work Project, results in dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of additional housing units.

Last year, the charitable work took the Carters to  India. Earlier projects had taken them around the United States and Canada, as well as to Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, the Philippines and Hungary.

On a vacant lot in South Central Los Angeles, Mr. Carter and his wife announced their next homebuilding effort, planned for later this year, building 30 new homes and repairing 70 older ones in poor parts of this city.

"It is very important to come to Los Angeles because you have a special problem here. The average family that pays rent makes about $35,000 a year, and the price of homes in Los Angeles in the last four years has more than doubled," he said.

The average home price today in Los Angeles is $550,000, more than 15 times the income of the average renter. Habitat builds its homes at a much lower cost by using volunteer labor², then offers the new homeowners a zero-interest loan, to be repaid over 20 years.

Local officials say that with rising home costs, Los Angeles faces a crisis, so they are injecting $100 million into housing projects, in addition to $200 million committed the past two years.

Jimmy Carter, now 82, has stayed active since leaving the presidency³ in 1981, after serving one term in office. He occasionally speaks his mind on controversial political issues, but focuses much of his time on human rights, conflict resolution and international development. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts.

Among the high points of his career, Mr. Carter helped shape the 1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, which provided a framework for Middle East peace talks.

But he says his work with Habitat is among his most satisfying. The organization completes a new home for a family somewhere in the world every 26 minutes. New homeowners put in 500 hours of work themselves, making an investment of what the organization calls "sweat equity⁴".

The homes are made possible by thousands of people like the Carters who volunteer their labor. Mr. Carter says many volunteers often have modest incomes.

"They save up their money all the year so they will be able to pay their own expenses to come and join us somewhere, and work for five days as hard a human being can work to build homes side by side with homeowner families. That is their vacation," said Mr. Carter.

The former president says that owning a home can bring families self-respect and help transform their lives. He says the process is emotional for everyone involved, especially when the houses are completed and the owners take possession.

"We give the people a Bible that I sign. And we give the people the keys to their own house, and we all cry," he said.

Mr. Carter and his wife will be back in Los Angeles for five days' of construction in late October and early November.

1 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

4 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。