VOA标准英语2010年-California Entrepreneur Offers African

KickStart sells its pumps to poor rural farmers, with the promise that they can make money with them. For a small farmer, replacing a bucket with a pump can lead to cultivating a wider variety of crops and creating work for family and neighbors.

 

A California social entrepreneur is fighting poverty in Africa. Through a program called KickStart, he sells, rather then gives, small pumps to poor farmers in an effort to encourage entrepreneurship.

This water pump -- called the Super Money Maker² -- is designed to make a  big difference in the lives of  rural Africans.

Martin Fisher -- a co-founder of the non-profit KickStart -- demonstrates the technology on the rooftop of his San Francisco office. "It's cheap, it's extremely robust³, it won't break down, it's very lightweight," he says, "You can carry it to the field."

KickStart is part of a growing trend in the development community towards social entrepreneurship.  KickStart sells its pumps to poor rural farmers, with the promise that they can make money with them. For a small farmer, replacing a bucket with a pump can lead to cultivating a wider variety of crops and creating work for family and neighbors.

 

And in sub-Saharan Africa, where only four percent of the land is irrigated⁴, buying a small pump can make a big difference.  Fisher says his experiences in Africa years ago showed him many people value the things they pay for more than the things they're given.

"I went over to Africa as a socialist⁵, and after about five or six years of hitting my head against the wall, became a small "c" capitalist," Fisher said.

In towns and cities in Kenya, KickStart has set up 450 shops that sell pumps --made inexpensively in China -- and has set up demonstration⁶ stations. The foot-operated pumps are sold for a hundred dollars --a lot of money for an African subsistence farmer.

At the University of California at Davis, Mark Bell teaches international agricultural development. He agrees with Fisher that the tradition of non profits in developed countries giving tools and equipment to poor people in third world countries -- is a poor model.

"If you go in and say, 'Here's a freebie,' then people are going to say, 'Sure, give it to me.' And when you leave, you know, who knows what happens to it. But if a farmer is given the opportunity to access and then makes a decision to buy, I think that's the real proof that this is something that's beneficial to them," Bell said.

Daniel Karanja saved for months to come up with the money for one hip¹ pump. It worked, and now he says he would like more. "I want to add for myself another pump," she says, "Now this time I get the super money maker because I want now to cultivate a large piece of area, where I can grow more crops, commercial crops."

The development community is divided over whether non-profits should give away or sell technology and services as diverse as solar lighting⁷, water filtration, healthcare and education. KickStart says the sale of its pumps has helped to move nearly half a million people out of poverty in Kenya, Tanzania, Mali and Burkina Faso.

 

1 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

2 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

3 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

4 irrigated   

[医]冲洗的

参考例句：

• They irrigated their crops with water from this river. 他们用这条小河里的水浇庄稼。
• A crop can be sown, weeded, irrigated, and fertilized uniformly. 一种作物可以均匀一致地进行播种，除草，灌溉和施肥。

5 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

6 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

7 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。