万花筒 2012-09-09&09-11 美国监狱引进职业技能培训

 Right now on the Rikers Island, two dozens inmates² are waiting for a program that could change their life. And in just a few weeks they will join Fresh Start, in hopes of getting just that. 

They are inpired to follow the example of the 18 students inmates actually, who early this summer completed the 10-week, 40-hour a week culinary training program in the Rikers Island Jail here in New York, now the opportunity is made possible by Elizabeth Gaynes, our food soldier of the week. Liz operates under a very simple promise about the inmates her program works with. 

“They can’t take responsibility for what’s happened, make a man’s for the criminal they’ve cost and then come back and be part of community. 

As a law student in the 1970s, the shock of Attica Prison riots where 29 inmates were killed, set Liz on the career path, dedicated³ to the lives and betterment of inmates. But she also has personal connection. For 25 years, Liz drove 6 hours each way between New York city and Virginia, bringing her two children to see their incarcerated(监禁) farther. Eliza learned first-hand how we prison sentence, applies to more than just the prisoner. And when Liz joined the Osborne Association, the non-profit that runs the Fresh Start program as executive director, the organization had two employees, they served 50 prisons inmates a year. 28 years later, Osborne has 200 employees and works 7,000 prisoners and family members a year. 

Fresh Start joints⁴ participants in their culinary training, but also offers computer literacy classes, job readiness and life skills. Inmates take part in their communities, cooking and serving holiday meals. And once inmate¹ has completed the program and left Rikers Island, Fresh Start offers job and school placement assistance. Wonder if it works, since its ineption, 1,500 men have completed Fresh Start. The New York Times reports that the inmates who take part in the Fresh Start program, 90% do not return to jail within the year, cost the city $5,000 per participant. Many people come together to make Fresh Start possible but Liz gains the programs, life blood and driving force. And then she told us: “To be effective in this work you have to spend time in jail, to listen to what people need. It’s not a job you can do behind a desk.” For getting out from behind that desk and making a difference to those that so many would just soon forget. Liz Gaynes is our Foot Solider of the week.

1 inmate   

n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人

参考例句：

• I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
• The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。

2 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

4 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。