VOA标准英语2011--To Overcome High Unemployment, Haitians Develop Handicraft Businesses

To Overcome High Unemployment, Haitians Develop Handicraft Businesses

Unemployment in Haiti is 40% - the rate of underemployment is even higher. But as high as that sounds, it's actually much lower than 10 years ago. One reason for that is the resourcefulness of the Haitian people.

Gladys Louissaint lives at the end of a street called "Deadend River." Doors lead to homes built into steep rocky corridors. Here, people and vegetables thrive where they can.

Louissaint runs a jewelry¹ business. She designs one-of-a-kind pieces with discarded glass bottles, random² beads³ and wire.

"I've been making jewelry my whole life," she explains. "And all my kids work with jewelry. That's what I raised them with."

Two out of three Haitians don’t have formal jobs. So they end up creating their own businesses. Between two families, they make eight different handicrafts.

One family builds stools out of wooden crates⁴. A man makes a dollhouse from paper and cardboard. Another man paints on the dried husks from a Haitian "kalbas" tree. It's a matter of survival.

"After January 12th [the earthquake] the country collapsed⁵. If a person didn't have a trade, they wouldn't be good at all," notes artist Leonel Scylla.

The earthquake made it tougher for Gladys Louissant too - the house collapsed on her inventory⁶. Nothing to sell. No one to buy. It's still bad.

“No, production is not the same. We’re at half,” she says regretfully.

Louissaint's eight employees have worked one month for this moment. Today she and her daughter meet with the owner of the gift store at an upscale hotel in Petionville.

Alexandra Buteau Staco examines Louissant's offerings. She buys more than planned.

"She’s very creative, every time she comes, there is something new and I cannot stop buying you know?" explains Buteau Staco.

Her boutique at the Karibe hotel features Louissant's jewelry and other handmade Haitian art. Beads made from cereal boxes. Rings from bull horns. "Fer decoupe" - Cut metal.

“My goal was to have every person that goes to the boutique buying a little piece of Haiti to bring back in their suitcases,” explains Buteau Staco.

So while tourists leave a little piece of their wallet in the boutique, they are helping⁷ artists like Louissant simply survive.

1 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

2 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

3 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

4 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 inventory   

n.详细目录，存货清单

参考例句：

• Some stores inventory their stock once a week.有些商店每周清点存货一次。
• We will need to call on our supplier to get more inventory.我们必须请供应商送来更多存货。

7 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。