VOA标准英语2008年-Group Battles Child, Female Exploitation in Tan

By Cathy Majtenyi
Dar Es Salaam¹, Tanzania
09 January 2008
 

Child trafficking, prostitution and the abuse of child domestic workers are growing concerns in Tanzania. It is primarily girls and young women who fall prey² to unscrupulous employers and pimps. But there is hope for these girls and young women thanks to the Kiota Women Health and Development Organization, which provides skills training, counseling and other services in centers across the country. Cathy Majtenyi recently visited two of those centers and files this report for VOA.

Fifteen-year-old Hasinati Bakari says she cooked, cleaned and washed the clothing of her first employer's family  for three months, and was paid only $10 for her labor³. And at her second job, she worked from 4 a.m. until almost midnight cooking and selling food.

She says she was supposed make $8 a month, but was never paid.

Even worse, she says her employer tried to sell her to male customers for sex.

"One day, two men came to where I was selling food. They started touching⁴ me," she described. "I was afraid and I started to cry. They said, 'Ah, this is a little girl, she does not know anything, let us get our money back."

Halima Mohamed is another 15-year-old former domestic worker. She tells of a similar experience following the death of her employer. "One week after she died, her husband's sisters decided⁵ that I should marry the man [of the house]. The man agreed to marry me," she said. "They called me and told me what they had planned. I just kept quiet. I told a lady about the situation, and she rescued me from the house."

Halima and Hasinati are two of about 36,000 vulnerable girls and young women who the Kiota Women Health and Development Organization, or KIWOHEDE, has helped since 1998.

Twenty-two centers across the country offer health care, counseling and skills training in tailoring, batik making and food processing, among other activities.

The organization sends some girls back to school. Ten of the 22 centers have residential⁶ facilities.

Justa Mwaituka is KIWOHEDE's founder⁷ and executive director. She says a major goal of the organization is to help former child prostitutes and domestic workers to become economically self-sufficient.

The products that they make are sold at the various KIWOHEDE centers.

Mwaituka describes the early days of KIWOHEDE, when she and her colleagues reached out to child prostitutes. "We used to go on the street. We used to go in local brew⁸ shops. We used to go in brothels. We used to go in casinos and bars just to make some interpersonal relationships with them and tell them what we want to do with them," she explained.

Tanzania has signed international conventions outlawing⁹ child labor and has established 14 years old as the minimum age of employment. Workers under 18 years are supposed to do light, non-hazardous work only.

Mwaituka says that, although Tanzania has a minimum wage, people who employ domestic workers can legally deduct¹⁰ expenses such as food and rent, thus reducing or even eliminating the pay.

Poverty drives many girls to leave their homes, typically in rural areas, and they come to Dar es Salaam and other cities with promises of a better life.

Mwaituka says parents of these children are involved. "The parents are the perpetuators, actually," she says. "They are dealing¹¹ with the pimps and the traffickers who come from the city. It is because of their ignorance, they do not know what will happen."

Instead of viable¹² employment, the girls often find themselves much worse off than before.

But with the skills and counseling they get from KIWOHEDE centers, the girls and their mentors¹³ are confident of a bright future ahead.

1 salaam   

n.额手之礼，问安，敬礼；v.行额手礼

参考例句：

• And the people were so very friendly:full of huge beaming smiles,calling out "hello" and "salaam".这里的人民都很友好，灿然微笑着和我打招呼，说“哈罗”和“萨拉姆”。
• Salaam is a Muslim form of salutation.额手礼是穆斯林的问候方式。

2 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

5 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。

6 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

7 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

8 brew   

v.酿造，调制

参考例句：

• Let's brew up some more tea.咱们沏些茶吧。
• The policeman dispelled the crowd lest they should brew trouble.警察驱散人群，因恐他们酿祸。

9 outlawing   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Regulations are outlawing certain refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons, which contain ozone-depleting chemicals. 随后出台的政策禁用了部分制冷剂，如破坏臭氧层的氟氯碳化合物。
• An amendment outlawing sale of intoxicating liquors(1920)was repealed in 1933. 规定售卖酒类为非法的一个宪法修正案（一九二○年）在一九三三年被废止。

10 deduct   

vt.扣除，减去

参考例句：

• You can deduct the twenty - five cents out of my allowance.你可在我的零用钱里扣去二角五分钱。
• On condition of your signing this contract,I will deduct a percentage.如果你在这份合同上签字，我就会给你减免一个百分比。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

13 mentors   

n.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的名词复数 )v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Beacham and McNamara, my two mentors, had both warned me. 我的两位忠实朋友，比彻姆和麦克纳马拉都曾经警告过我。 来自辞典例句
• These are the kinds of contacts that could evolve into mentors. 这些人是可能会成为你导师。 来自互联网