VOA标准英语2015--内罗毕居民社区货币

Nairobi Residents Turn to Community Currency 内罗毕居民社区货币

KAWANGWARE, NAIROBI—

Several low-income settlements outside Nairobi are using a new community-based currency called "pesas," which are equal in value to the Kenyan shilling and can be spent in the community just like cash.

In Kawangware, an informal settlement on the outskirts¹ of Kenya’s capital, students make their way to Sifa Primary School and pay their tuition with Gatina pesas. The school is one of several institutions that accepts the community currency.

Teacher Josephine Ouma said the currency has made life easier.

"This currency works in a way that it circulates, so as a teacher I get it from the parents and I still take the same currency back to the parents to buy their goods," she explained. "So it is a circulation process that I do not think there can be any scarcity²."

The NGO Grassroots Economics rolled out the currency last year. Pesas are only valid³ in the Gatina Village part of the settlement.

“Community currency is a legal tender that works as a promissory note and works hand in hand with the national currency," said Ruth Mwangi, with Grassroots Economics. "So in the event a member has less of the national currency, they are free to supplement it with the community currency, so as to get access to the goods and services they may need.”

Testing with 500 locals

The NGO gave pesa’s to about 500 locals.

Each member must be vouched⁴ for by four business owners. The member then receives a maximum of 400 pesas, of which 200 are saved and pooled for community improvement projects. The rest they can spend like cash.

But those 500 members are a fraction of the approximately 10,000 people living in Gatina Village.

“There are some challenges with the currency," Francis Njuguna said. "Since there are a lot of people here who have not accepted its use, but I believe that once we educate them on it, they will accept it, since many more are joining as we continue to enlighten them.”

The NGO said it started with a small number of members to make monitoring easier, but experts note that community currencies do have limitations.

"It prevents you from getting goods and services from outside the economy, the local economy, and that means that the exchange networks are often quite small," stated Radha Upadhyaya, with University of Nairobi, Institute for Development Studies.

"A second weakness is the organization. At the moment, a lot of community currencies are organized in a voluntary form and after a certain amount of time the impetus⁵ runs out," Upadhyaya said.

Grassroots Economics plans to expand the initiative to communities in Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania in 2016. Participants say the currency provides a cushion against hard times.

1 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。

2 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

3 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

4 vouched   

v.保证( vouch的过去式和过去分词 )；担保；确定；确定地说

参考例句：

• He vouched his words by his deeds. 他用自己的行动证明了自己的言辞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Have all those present been vouched for? 那些到场的人都有担保吗？ 来自互联网

5 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。