VOA标准英语2010年-American Obstetrician Offers Solar Sol

Standard medical supplies might seem like an important donation in developing countries but American obstetrician Laura Stachel saw the need for something even more basic: reliable power.

Basic need

Stachel is crouching¹ on the floor of her Berkeley kitchen, which is cluttered² with spools³ of wire, small solar panels and assorted⁴ tools. She lifts the cover of a black carry-on suitcase. There are no clothes inside, just a sheet of plywood mounted with four electrical components⁵.

Stachel quizzes aid volunteer Paul Lacourciere, who is leaving for earthquake-ravaged Haiti in a few days. He'll take the solar suitcase with him, and plans to deliver it by donkey to a remote medical clinic that currently depends on candles for light.

Stachel's husband, Hal Aronson, suggested a sun-powered solution to the power outages that hamper⁶ medical care in developing nations.

"We have a charge controller that's regulating the energy that's coming in from the panel," says Stachel. "It's allowing us to store energy in the battery and not either overcharge the battery or else not overly discharge."

Solar solution

Stachel may sound like a solar engineer, but she's not.

The idea for the suitcase grew out of her work on maternal-child health in Nigeria. While observing a hospital there in 2008, she learned power was rationed⁷ for several hours each day.

"One of the first cases that I watched, a C-section, the lights completely went out during a C-section and the physicians had to finish by flashlight," she says. "There were other situations where midwives were taking care of women who were bleeding to death and they needed emergency surgery and there was no phone system to call a doctor."

Dr. Laura Stachel helped develop the 'solar suitcases' that are now used in nine countries.
Stachel described the problems in emails to her husband, Hal Aronson, who promotes solar energy. He suggested a sun-powered solution. When she got home, they designed a large permanent solar installation for the hospital. But Stachel wanted a smaller version, first.

"I asked him to create something I could bring in my suitcase that I could take through customs without having to declare any special equipment, and that would allow me to show workers in the hospital what LED lights were like, how walkie talkies worked, how we could recharge rechargeable batteries for the headlamps."

Sought-after suitcase

Stachel says no one at the Nigerian hospital would let her take the trial suitcase away and she was suddenly getting requests for the power units from medical clinics all over Nigeria. Now she gets them from all over the world. That's how their organization, WE CARE Solar, was born.

This solar-powered LED spotlight⁸ is tested in labor⁹ and delivery by a midwife.
"We didn't mean to turn our house into the solar suitcase factory," says Aronson, "but it happened. It's been fun."

The solar suitcases don't just provide light and communication. They can be expanded to power ultrasound and suction machines and other basic medical equipment. Stachel estimates that each suitcase costs about $1,000.

There are about 20 units now working in Nigeria, Tanzania, Mexico, Haiti, and on the Thai-Burmese border.

Going global

Stachel says she and her husband are trying to keep up with demand and funding.

"One of our dreams is to be increasing the capacity locally by increasing training by getting shipments of equipments into countries and to teach people how to make solar suitcases where they live so they can have their own industries and can supply these for their hospitals and health care centers."

In the meantime, there's a steady stream of visitors to their house. Before Lecourciere leaves, Stachel brings him a big bag of accessories to add to the suitcase. It includes items such as extension cords and batteries.

"Multiple light bulbs, headlamps, anything you'd want to include and we have an instruction manual. We have it so far in English and French and Paul's team is working on making a translation into Creole for Haiti," says Stachel.

Once Lacourciere leaves their home for his trip to Haiti, Stachel and Aronson remain at their kitchen table, working over another set of solar panels.

An African doctor headed to Zimbabwe is coming by for his suitcase within the hour. 
 
 
 

1 crouching   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
• A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

2 cluttered   

v.杂物，零乱的东西零乱vt.( clutter的过去式和过去分词 )；乱糟糟地堆满，把…弄得很乱；（以…） 塞满…

参考例句：

• The room is cluttered up with all kinds of things. 零七八碎的东西放满了一屋子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The desk is cluttered with books and papers. 桌上乱糟糟地堆满了书报。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 spools   

n.（绕线、铁线、照相软片等的）管( spool的名词复数 )；络纱；纺纱机；绕圈轴工人v.把…绕到线轴上（或从线轴上绕下来）( spool的第三人称单数 )；假脱机（输出或输入）

参考例句：

• I bought three spools of thread at the store. 我在这个店里买了三轴线。 来自辞典例句
• How many spools of thread did you use? 你用了几轴线？ 来自辞典例句

4 assorted   

adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的

参考例句：

• There's a bag of assorted sweets on the table.桌子上有一袋什锦糖果。
• He has always assorted with men of his age.他总是与和他年令相仿的人交往。

5 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

6 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

7 rationed   

限量供应，配给供应( ration的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We were rationed to two eggs a day. 每天配给我们两个鸡蛋。
• The army is well rationed. 部队给养良好。

8 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

9 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。