VOA标准英语2008年-Fellowship Program Aims to Open Doors for Afric

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
22 January 2008
 
An international agricultural research group recently announced a fellowship program to help African women who work in agricultural sciences to advance their careers. The program is based on two earlier pilot projects and aims to address the obstacles that African women face as they pursue post-graduate studies and subsequent academic and research careers. Cathy Majtenyi visited the program's head office in Nairobi and files this report for VOA.

In Africa, women do the bulk of the planting, harvesting, selling and other work in agriculture. Yet, on average, only one in five agricultural researchers in Africa are women. In Ethiopia and Malawi, it is only one in 10.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, or CGIAR, in Nairobi, Kenya wants to change that. It has launched a four-year, $13 million fellowship program that aims to help 360 women scientists in several African countries to overcome obstacles in their careers.

"Between 60 and 80 percent of women actually do the work in agriculture -- they do the farming -- and yet their voices are not necessarily being heard," says Helga Recke, who is senior adviser¹ of CGIAR's Women in Science program.

Recke says women tend to attract money for research in areas necessary for development, areas not often popular among men -- food production, urban vegetable production and the use of indigenous² vegetables.

She explains that the fellowship program has three core components³ -- mentoring⁵ by senior scientists, leadership training and participation⁶ in research internships and scientific conferences.

This is good news for Mabel Imbuga, deputy vice⁷ chancellor⁸ of academic affairs at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.

She says she remembers a time when it was rare -- even unacceptable -- to see women in science classes and laboratories.

"A woman's place is in the kitchen to begin with. A woman has a certain cause that they should do, and the way your parents also bring you up -- if your parents bring you up in a certain way, then you, for example, go in for home science, you go in for teaching, you go in for those less challenging jobs," Imbuga recalls of former cultual norms.

Imbuga mentors⁹ women researchers in the pilot projects that form the base of the fellowship program.

Food scientist Charity Mutegi is one such researcher. She says, "I got an opportunity to go to India and spent some time in the lab learning the Eliza technique, which is what we usually use for aflatoxin testing. Since I plan to build my career in that area, that was an opportunity for me in a lifetime."

Mutegi's mentor⁴ is Richard Jones, an assistant director in the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Nairobi. He says, "I think female students need more continuous encouragement because I think they do suffer from setbacks whereas probably that is not the case with the male students."

Organizers of the fellowship program say that with more networking opportunities, confidence and skills development, African women researchers will continue to grow in numbers and impact.

1 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

2 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

3 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

4 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

5 mentoring   

n.mentoring是一种工作关系。mentor通常是处在比mentee更高工作职位上的有影响力的人。他/她有比‘mentee’更丰富的工作经验和知识，并用心支持mentee的职业（发展）。v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• One of the most effective instruments for coaching and mentoring is the "role rehearsal" . 辅导和教学的最有效的手段之一是“角色排练。” 来自辞典例句
• Bell Canada called their mentoring system a buddy-buddy system. 加拿大贝尔公司称他们的训导系统是伙伴—伙伴系统。 来自互联网

6 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

9 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