VOA慢速英语--肯尼亚野生动物园经营者养活24000个家庭

Kenyan Safari¹ Operator² Feeds 24,000 Families

Safari operator Pankaj Shah would usually be showing tourists around the beautiful areas in his native Kenya. Instead, he is leading a volunteer effort to feed thousands of families.

Many Kenyans found themselves with little money when the new coronavirus attacked the country's economy.

"One old woman told us she hadn't eaten for days," Shah said as he walked along a line of men putting food into containers.

Kenya reported its first case of the coronavirus on March 12. The following week, schools closed. So did many businesses. Some families left the capital, Nairobi. The work that paid most people in populated areas came to a halt³.

As the area went into "total lockdown," the forgotten families in poor neighborhoods began to starve.

"People were getting hungry and angry," Shah said. He knew someone had to act.

Shah asked a few friends to help. A school closed by the virus offered its building as a headquarters⁴.

Kenya's Asian community answered the call. They brought money or truckloads of fresh food that could no longer be exported.

Shah's volunteers call themselves Team Pankaj. They have sent out 24,000 hampers⁵ of food since March 22. Each container has enough food to feed a family of five people for two weeks.

He is asking wealthy Kenyans to donate about $40 each to support the program.

"I just need half the rich people here to care enough" to pay for a container, he says.

His telephone rings with community leaders, clergymen and others asking for help. Shah tests each possible partner with a small number of boxes to see how well they distribute the food. If the small distribution⁶ is successful, he gives them more.

Recently, he sent two truckloads of food to the Deep Sea slum⁷, where many poor people live. People waited in line and put their fingers in ink before walking away with the containers of vegetables. Volunteers helped pregnant⁸ women and those with babies.

Mary Wangui said she had been desperate. Her children were hungry.

Pankaj Shah has never operated any kind of aid program before the coronavirus arrived in his country. He says he is guided by a memory. He met Mother Teresa over 30 years ago in Nairobi when the two were involved in a traffic accident.

The incident brought an unlikely⁹ friendship between a "young, wild" businessman and the Catholic¹⁰ religious worker, he said. The world-famous missionary¹¹ cared for the poor. Shah said he volunteered with Mother Teresa for three months.

"I think about what she would do," he says.

Words in This Story

safari – n. a trip in Africa to see wild animals

tourist – n. one who visits a place for pleasure

lockdown – n. shutting down a place totally

distribute – v. to give out to people

ink – n. a dye¹² used for writing

desperate – adj. needing something

missionary – n. one who travels to spread religion

1 safari   

n.远征旅行(探险、考察)；探险队，狩猎队

参考例句：

• When we go on safari we like to cook on an open fire.我们远行狩猎时，喜欢露天生火做饭。
• They went on safari searching for the rare black rhinoceros.他们进行探险旅行，搜寻那稀有的黑犀牛。

2 operator   

n.（机器、设备等的）操作员；电话接线员

参考例句：

• He is a computer operator.他是个电脑操作员。
• The telephone operator connected us.话务员给我们接通了电话。

3 halt   

n.停住，停止，暂停；v.(使)停住，(使)停止

参考例句：

• When the children's play got too noisy, their mother called a halt.当孩子们的游戏过于吵闹时，他们的母亲叫他们停下来。
• No one can halt the advance of history.没人能阻挡历史的前进。

4 headquarters   

n.司令部，指挥部；总部，总店

参考例句：

• Several great guns from the headquarters are coming to see us today.总部的几个大人物今天要来看我们。
• The bank has its headquarters in Pairs.这家银行的总行在巴黎。

5 hampers   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Prejudice sometimes hampers a person from doing the right thing. 有时候，偏见会妨碍人正确行事。
• This behavior is the opposite of modeless feedback, and it hampers flow. 这个行为有悖于非模态的反馈，它阻碍了流。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 distribution   

n.运送；分发，分配；分布，分布状态

参考例句：

• The conference discussed the fair distribution of income and wealth.会议讨论了公平分配收入和财富的问题。
• Unequal distribution of wealth may cause division in society.财富分配不均会引起社会分裂。

7 slum   

n.贫民窟，贫民区；vi.（因好奇而）逛贫民区

参考例句：

• These children came from a slum area.这些孩子来自贫民窟区。
• What a wretched existence the people in the slum lead!这个贫民窟里的人们过着多么令人悲惨的生活啊！

8 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

9 unlikely   

adj.未必的，多半不可能的；不大可能发生的

参考例句：

• It was very unlikely that he would do that.他不见得会做那种事。
• It is unlikely that she will come. 她不大可能来了。

10 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

11 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

12 dye   

n.染料，染色；v.染，染色

参考例句：

• Black will dye over other colours.黑色能把大多数其他颜色盖住。
• This material does not dye well.这料子染不好。