VOA标准英语2008年-NGO Works to Change Lives of India's 'Untouchab

In India, half a million women work as scavengers removing human waste from the streets with only bowls and brooms. Born into the lowest caste in society, these women face discrimination, but one non-governmental organization is helping² them to create better lives while solving the problem of poor sanitation³. VOA U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer has the story written by intern⁴ Maha Saad.
　
Laxmi and Lalta are two of the women the center has helped

Continuing an ancient tradition in India, most lower caste women work as scavengers after marriage. They simply follow in the footsteps of their female relatives.

Laxmi Nanda, a 27-year-old woman from the northwest Indian state of Rajasthan, worked as a scavenger¹ for nine years. Every day she removed the waste, transporting it in a bowl carried on her head. "It was a very dirty job. We never liked it. We were always suffering from some kind of diseases and things like that-no respect in the society. And it was very degrading. We never wanted to do that," she said, describing her past life

With the help of Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder⁵ of the Sulabh International Social Service Organization, one of India's largest NGOs, women like Laxmi no longer do this work. Sulabh retrains the women so they can find other work doing embroidery⁶ or making noodles and pickles⁷.

A lack of infrastructure⁸ forces many people, particularly in rural areas, to defecate in public. This continues the need for women to clean up. But Pathak has developed affordable⁹ and environmentally friendly toilets, distributing more than a million of them across India and freeing many women from scavenging.
　
Indian scavenger women at UN, 1 Jul 08

"Because of the technologies, now they are not required to clean human excreta manually and they have [been] relieved from this occupation. These two technologies have brought tremendous change in the Indian society. Now they have become self-employed, empowered, [and] they earn their own livelihood," Pathak said.

He says that these women are now a part of mainstream¹⁰ society holding dignified¹¹ jobs.

At Sulabh's center, the women are given clean, new blue saris. Lalta Nanda, a 32-year-old woman from Alwar, says her sari has given her and other women status. "This blue sari gives us respect in our society. This is the uniform of the center, but it brings on respect in the eyes of the people. This gives off our identity, that we are someone," she said.

Pathak says Sulabh has improved sanitation and decreased some diseases, installing toilets in homes and public places. "The toilets are being built both in urban areas, rural areas, and in public places, tourist places, religious places. When we started, millions of children used to die due to diarrhea, dehydration¹², cholera¹³. Now the number has gone down to half a million."

In addition to its work in India, Sulabh currently has projects in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.

 

1 scavenger   

n.以腐尸为食的动物，清扫工

参考例句：

• He's just fit for a job as scavenger.他只配当个清道夫。
• He is not a scavenger nor just a moving appetite as some sharks are.它不是食腐动物，也不像有些鲨鱼那样，只知道游来游去满足食欲。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 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。

4 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

5 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。

6 embroidery   

n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品

参考例句：

• This exquisite embroidery won people's great admiration.这件精美的绣品，使人惊叹不已。
• This is Jane's first attempt at embroidery.这是简第一次试着绣花。

7 pickles   

n.腌菜( pickle的名词复数 )；处于困境；遇到麻烦；菜酱

参考例句：

• Most people eat pickles at breakfast. 大多数人早餐吃腌菜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I want their pickles and wines, and that.' 我要他们的泡菜、美酒和所有其他东西。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

8 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

9 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

10 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

11 dignified   

a.可敬的，高贵的

参考例句：

• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。
• He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。

12 dehydration   

n.脱水，干燥

参考例句：

• He died from severe dehydration.他死于严重脱水。
• The eyes are often retracted from dehydration.眼睛常因脱水而凹陷。

13 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。