VOA标准英语2010-Roots of Peace Turns Mines to Vines in Af

Founder¹, CEO Heidi Kuhn inspires with her passion of hope and change

Eric Bersh | San Rafael, CA 23 April 2010
 

Heidi Kuhn, founder, CEO of Roots of Peace

Grapevines are now flourishing where landmines² once poisoned the soil of war-torn countries.

That's thanks to the efforts of Heidi Kuhn, a mother of four and cancer survivor³, who is in the business of hope and change.  

Roots of Peace

"Anybody who has been through cancer understands that moment you go under the knife, you make a special pledge in your heart, wherever your heart may be coming from, but mine was: 'Dear God, grant me the gift of life and I will do something special with it,'" says Kuhn.

 

And she has. Inspired by Britain's Princess Diana, who walked the minefields of Angola and Bosnia in 1997, Kuhn vowed⁴ to continue the effort to rid the world of landmines.

"I lifted my glass and said, 'May the world go from mines to vines.'" 

So Kuhn founded Roots of Peace, an international humanitarian⁵ organization that helps to clear landmines and restores the soil to agricultural use.

"It's taking that first step," she says. "And, just as a child takes their first step, can you imagine the horrors of mothers who have their children tethered to poles because they know that there's a certain radius⁶ that they know that their children can play."

Afghans face that fear each day. There are an estimated 10 million unexploded land mines hidden in the landscape.

"When people ask me, 'How can we be working with the military?' I say, 'How can we not?' Because we are working with the Agricultural Development Teams, to teach them how to go into the villages to train the farmers how to grow what they have lost."

Roots of Peace is a family affair. Kuhn's husband Gary oversees⁷ operations in Afghanistan.

"It's made a huge impact on their life and now they can share it with everyone else which is our intent. They don't need handouts," says Gary Kuhn. "They just need to restore their livelihood⁸ and learn what's the best way to run their crops."

The Kuhn children are also planting the roots of peace. 

Brooks⁹, a doctor, is proud of his younger sister, Kyleigh, whose penny campaign raised enough money to build a school in Afghanistan. Christian¹⁰, the youngest, motivates other American school children to chip in. Tucker works with Vietnamese cacao farmers to turn mines to chocolates.

Heidi Kuhn says removing the seeds of hatred¹¹ and terror from the ground – planting agricultural alternatives instead – is allowing Afghanistan to move from mines to vines.

"Being a cancer survivor – there's no real cure to cancer. There's no real cure to AIDS but there is a cure to the land mine issue and that is removal," she says.

 

1 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。

2 landmines   

潜在的冲突； 地雷，投伞水雷( landmine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The treaty bans the use production and trade of landmines. 该条约规定，禁止使用地雷相关产品及贸易。
• One of the weapon's of special concern was landmines. 在引起人们特别关注的武器中就有地雷。

3 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

4 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 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。

7 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

8 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

9 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

11 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。