向肯尼亚贫困地区提供电力援助

AS IT IS 2015-09-07 Providing Electricity to Poor Communities in Kenya 向肯尼亚贫困地区提供电力援助

In 2013, President Barack Obama launched¹ a campaign called the Power Africa Initiative². Its goal is to increase the availability of electric power in African countries south of the Sahara Desert. Millions of people there are unable to depend on reliable power supplies. 

2013年，总统贝拉克·奥巴马发起了一个名为“电力非洲倡议”的活动。其目标是提升撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲国家电力能源的可用性。那里有数百万的人无法依靠稳定的电力供应生活。

The American-supported program is providing money for a number of projects, including one that creates electricity from human waste.

这一由美国资助的项目正在为一些计划提供资金支援，其中包括一个由人类排泄物转化为电能的计划。

“Mukuru Kwa Njenga” is the name of a community close to Nairobi where about 100,000 people live. Many of them are poor. Until recently, most did not have electricity. Those who did had illegal connections to power lines.

“奈洛比贫民区”是靠近内罗毕的一个地区，那里生活着将近10万人。这些人中大多数是很贫穷的。直到最近，大部分居民仍然过着没有电的生活。这些人为了用上电曾非法连接电力系统。

Amos Nguru had the idea for Afrisol Energy, a project that produces electricity from human waste. Two years ago, Mr. Nguru received an offer of financial support from the Power Africa initiative. The money came from General Electric and the United States African Development Foundation³.

Amos Nguru想到了建立Afrisol Energy公司，主要经营的项目是把人类排泄物转化为电能。两年前，Nguru先生收到了来自“电力非洲倡议”组织发来的经济支援通知。这笔资金来自通用电气公司和美国非洲发展基金会。

The project now produces 15 kilowatts⁴ of electricity. That is enough to power a nearby school and serve the local neighborhood. Mr. Nguru says his project meets the needs of the community.

该项目目前可以生产15千瓦的电力。这足够让附近的学校和当地居民使用。Nguru先生表示他的这个项目可以满足该地区的用电需求。

Deborah Mwandagina is deputy⁵ head teacher of the local primary school. She says in the past, there were too many illegal connections to her school’s power supply. She says this resulted in higher costs for the school, so it decided⁶ to stop using electricity.

Deborah Mwandagina是当地小学的副校长。她表示，过去有很多人非法连接学校的电力系统，导致学校的电力成本越来越高，所以不得不决定停止电力供应。

She says, “We have been having challenges from the slums⁷ and time and again they hack⁸ our power systems and they connect illegally to their homes. We have been having such kind of challenges so we just decided we cannot live with electricity. It can’t do us any good, so we decided to disconnect.”

她还表示，“我们面临着贫民和时间带来的双重挑战，再加上这些贫民非法将电力系统的电偷接到家里。面对这样的挑战，我们决定开始无电生活。既然电对我们毫无益处，那么我们决定不再用电。”

But now the school is once again using electricity from Afrisol Energy. Doreen Kemunto is a student at the school. Her mother Beatrice Onchan’ga says darkness no longer limits the time when Doreen can study.   

但现在学校通过Afrisol Energy公司再一次用上了电。Doreen Kemunto是一名在校学生。她的母亲Beatrice Onchan'ga说Doreen学习不再受时间的限制了。

She says, “Before the electricity was there our children could not be able to learn since they could not come to school that early and leave that late because the school was very dark, and they could not be able to learn.”

她还说，“没有通电之前，学校里面的光线非常暗，孩子们到校晚，离校早而无法在学校正常学习。”

The World Bank says only 23 percent of Kenyans have access to electricity.

世界银行表示，在肯尼亚只有百分之二十三的人用得上电。

Words in This Story

access – n. a way of getting near or at something or someone

reliable – adj. able to be trusted to carry out agreements; dependable

convert(ing) – v. to change (something) into a different form or so that it can be used in a different way

generate⁹ – v. to produce something

sanitation¹⁰ – n. the process of keeping places free from dirt, infection and disease¹¹ by removing waste, trash and garbage and by cleaning streets

slum(s) – n. an area of a city where poor people live and the buildings are in poor condition

hack – v. to secretly and illegally gain access to information or resources, such as power or the Internet

1 launched   

v.发射( launch的过去式和过去分词 )；[计算机]开始（应用程序）；发动；开展（活动、计划等）

参考例句：

• He launched a bitter diatribe against the younger generation. 他对年轻一代发起了猛烈的抨击。
• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide. 这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。

2 initiative   

n.主动性，首创精神，主动权（的行动），倡议

参考例句：

• He went to see the headmaster on his own initiative.他主动去看望校长。
• His employer had described him as lacking in initiative and drive.雇主说他缺乏进取心和干劲。

3 foundation   

n.[pl.]地基；基础；基金会；建立，创办

参考例句：

• The foundation of the university took place 600 years ago.这所大学是600年前创办的。
• The Foundation gives money to help artists.那家基金会捐款帮助艺术家。

4 kilowatts   

千瓦( kilowatt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's about 500 kilowatts per hour on average. 年用电量平均为每小时500千瓦。 来自商贸英语会话
• We have an emergency-standby electric generator with a capacity of 300 kilowatts. 我们有一台三百千瓦的事故备用发电机。

5 deputy   

n.代理人，代表，副职；adj.代理的，副的

参考例句：

• John will act as a deputy for me during my absence.我离开期间，约翰将代理我的职务。
• She is the deputy headmistress of the school.她是那所学校的代理校长。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 slums   

n.贫民窟，贫民区( slum的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These slums are an epitaph to the housing policy of the 1960s. 这些贫民窟是20世纪60年代住房政策的遗迹。
• the poverty and squalor of the slums 贫民窟的贫穷和肮脏

8 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

9 generate   

vt.生成，产生（光、热、电等）导致

参考例句：

• We need someone to generate new ideas.我们需要有人出新主意。
• This book will continue to generate excitement for a long time.这本书将在很长一段时间里继续使人们为之激动。

10 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

11 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。