美国国家公共电台 NPR Mexico And U.S. Team Up To Create Low-Cost Wheelchairs

 

We hear a lot about political tension between the United States and Mexico, including, of course, controversial deportations and that still unfunded, unbuilt proposed border wall. But examples of binational amity¹ still exist. Reporter Monica Ortiz Uribe traveled to Nogales, Sonora to visit a workshop where Mexicans and Americans work together to transform the lives of people with disabilities.

MONICA ORTIZ URIBE, BYLINE²: At a workshop in Nogales, Sonora, Antonio Garcia is preparing to walk again for the first time in three years. He's limped around on crutches³ ever since a motorcycle accident that resulted in the amputation⁴ of his right leg below the knee. Now a technician is fitting Garcia with a new artificial leg - something he's never been able to afford on his mechanic's salary. The workshop is home to the binational nonprofit ARSOBO, an acronym⁵ that stands for Arizona/Sonora border. ARSOBO provides low-cost prosthetics, specialized⁶ wheelchairs and hearing aids to low-income Mexicans.

DUKE DUNCAN: It's changing people's lives.

URIBE: Duke Duncan is an American pediatrician who grew impatient with retirement⁷ after three days. He co-founded ARSOBO seven years ago.

DUNCAN: It's really an emotional experience to see someone who's been sitting in a chair for 10 years get up. And you see them begin to take a few steps. And they go out to the waiting room. The crowd breaks into cheers and claps.

URIBE: ARSOBO provides disabled people who were once isolated⁸, depressed⁹ or begging on the streets the possibility of getting a job or going to school. Their signature product is an all-terrain wheelchair that can navigate¹⁰ uneven¹¹ sidewalks and rough roads.

At ARSOBO's workshop, making these wheelchairs has become something of a fine art for 47-year-old Gabriel Zepeda. He's been in a wheelchair himself since age 18 when a drunk driver smashed into his truck and left him paralyzed from the chest down.

GABRIEL ZEPEDA: (Through interpreter) The concept behind the design is to use locally available materials like steel tubing and mountain bike wheels. That way the chair can easily be repaired in Mexico, including at a neighborhood bike shop.

URIBE: Zepeda was trained by the chairs inventor, an American engineer who won a MacArthur Genius award for his design which has since spread to dozens of developing countries worldwide. Dr. Duncan, ARSOBO's co-founder, says that's just one example of the binational symbiosis¹² that propels the organization.

DUNCAN: From the very beginning, this has been a cross-border project. So it's been crossborder with university, with government and with private enterprise.

URIBE: Some examples - ARSOBO makes its own prosthetics thanks to training and material donations from Hanger¹³ Incorporated, a major American prosthetics company. In Mexico, engineering students at a Nogales University are helping¹⁴ design rechargeable solar batteries for hearing aids. And the city of Nogales recently donated land so ARSOBO can build a larger workshop.

PAUL MCKEAN: What we want to do is build confidence between our nations.

URIBE: Paul McKean coordinates¹⁵ humanitarian¹⁶ aid for the U.S. Northern Command, which oversees¹⁷ military operations in North America. His team has donated roughly $75,000 worth of equipment, including a steel bending machine that's helped ARSOBO become more self-sufficient.

MCKEAN: There's a tremendous amount of goodwill¹⁸ on the border. I think we have positive and healthy engagements that aren't really newsmakers.

URIBE: McKean says the U.S. benefits from empowering its southern neighbor. ARSOBO, for example, is addressing a need that goes mostly unmet by Mexico's public health system. The organization not only makes its own gear, it employs people with disabilities to make it. Kiko Trujillo is ARSOBO's co-founder in Mexico.

KIKO TRUJILLO: We don't have Americans coming and doing everything for us. We're working together. That makes a huge difference.

URIBE: Still, ARSOBO's wish list is long. And there's a waiting list for most of its products, including 300 people in need of a hearing aid. As for Antonio Garcia, the amputee we heard from earlier, his patience will soon pay off.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Speaking Spanish).

URIBE: Wearing his new prosthetic leg, Garcia watches himself take baby steps in a full length mirror. A technician gently guides his movements. Once he can finally ditch his crutches, Garcia knows exactly what he wants to do.

ANTONIO GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).

URIBE: "I want to walk beside my 5-year-old son," he says, "and hold his hand." For NPR News, I'm Monica Ortiz Uribe in Nogales, Mexico.

SIMON: And that story was produced with support from the International Women's Media Foundation.

1 amity   

n.友好关系

参考例句：

• He lives in amity with his neighbours.他和他的邻居相处得很和睦。
• They parted in amity.他们很友好地分别了。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 crutches   

n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑

参考例句：

• After the accident I spent six months on crutches . 事故后我用了六个月的腋杖。
• When he broke his leg he had to walk on crutches. 他腿摔断了以后，不得不靠拐杖走路。

4 amputation   

n.截肢

参考例句：

• In ancient India,adultery was punished by amputation of the nose.在古代印度，通奸要受到剖鼻的处罚。
• He lived only hours after the amputation.截肢后，他只活了几个小时。

5 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

6 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

7 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

8 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

9 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

10 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

11 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

12 symbiosis   

n.共生（关系），共栖

参考例句：

• They live in a symbiosis with governments that they are financing.他们与他们服务的政府互利共存。
• The symbiosis between social values and political structure has produced extraordinary achievement.社会价值观念和政治结构的共生现象带来了非凡的成就。

13 hanger   

n.吊架，吊轴承；挂钩

参考例句：

• I hung my coat up on a hanger.我把外衣挂在挂钩上。
• The ship is fitted with a large helicopter hanger and flight deck.这艘船配备有一个较大的直升飞机悬挂装置和飞行甲板。

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 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。

17 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

18 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。