Education Report - Women Inmates Train to Start Businesses After Prison
教育报道 - 美慈组织帮助服刑妇女出狱后开创自己的事业
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
Getting a job can be especially difficult for someone with a prison record. So a prison training program in the American Northwest prepares women to start their own businesses.
对有着入狱经历的人来说，找到一份工作异常艰难。因此美国西北部的一个监狱培训项目帮助妇女开办自己的生意。
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The program is called Lifelong Information for Entrepreneurs, or LIFE. The training combines business and social skills. The women learn how to manage their time, set goals and settle conflicts peacefully.
这个项目被称为创业者终生资讯，简称LIFE。该培训将商业和社交技能结合到一起，妇女们学习如何管理自己的时间，设定目标以及和平解决冲突。
Saresa Whitley is serving five years for assault at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, a women's prison in Oregon. She has a job waiting for her when she is released in January. But she also plans to start a small business with the knowledge gained from the months of class.
索雷萨·惠特利（Saresa Whitley）由于打架在俄勒冈州一个名为科菲克里克惩教所的女子监狱服刑5年。当她一月份释放时已经有一份工作在等着她。但她也计划利用在几个月的培训中学到的知识去开创一份小生意。
SARESA WHITLEY: "When I was talking about knowing if my business is viable or not, through a profit-and-loss model, I was like ‘Wow, I didn’t even know the word viable before, and now I do.’ I’ve learned a lot, I’ve learned a lot about how to write a business plan, about effective communications skills, how to listen, something I didn’t know how to do before.”
惠特利：“当我谈到通过盈利和亏损模型来分辨我的生意是否可行时，我在想‘哇，之前我甚至都不知道“可行”这个词，但现在我知道了。’我学到了很多东西，我学会了如何撰写商业计划书，学到了很多有效的沟通技巧，如何倾听，以及一些我以前不知道怎么做的事情。”
Cynthia Thompson is serving time for stealing someone's identity. She says the lessons learned in the program are important not just for the inmates, but also the communities they will re-enter.
辛西娅·汤普森（Cynthia Thompson）由于盗用他人身份正在服刑。她表示，该项目中学到的课程不仅对犯人来说非常重要，对她们即将重新进入的社区来说也非常重要。
CYNTHIA THOMPSON: “I think the goal of it is to produce people that are being part of the community, paying their taxes and being volunteers. Not just necessarily successful small businesses, but just successful, accountable people in the community.”
汤普森：“我认为该项目的目标是使（从监狱释放的）人们成为社区的一份子，缴纳税款，做志愿者。不只是成功的小生意，还是社区中成功的、负责任的人。”
MercyCorps Northwest started the training program four years ago. MercyCorps is an international development organization. Doug Cooper is assistant director of MercyCorps Northwest.
美慈组织美国西北办公室（MercyCorps Northwest）四年前开设了这个培训项目。美慈组织是一个国际性开发组织。道格·库珀（Doug Cooper）是美慈组织美国西北办公室副主任。
DOUG COOPER: "We were looking for ways that we could apply our expertise around economic development and small business management to populations that could use it. It's identical to what we do internationally, except we apply it here in Oregon and Washington."
库珀：“我们正在寻找途径，把我们在经济开发和小型企业管理方面的专业知识运用到对此有需要人群。除了在俄勒冈州和华盛顿监狱中做的，我们在国际上都在做这类事情。”
MercyCorps Northwest has just started a LIFE program at a women’s prison in Washington state. Doug Cooper says he hopes the idea will spread to prisons throughout the country.
美慈西北办公室刚在华盛顿女子监狱开设了一个LIFE项目。库珀称，他希望这一想法能够扩展到全美国所有监狱。
The group says just three of the one hundred graduates of its training program have returned to prison. Graduates of the LIFE program have started businesses like cutting hair and selling goods at farmers markets.
该组织称，该培训项目中，仅有3%的毕业生重回监狱。LIFE项目毕业生已经开办了类似理发、在农贸市场销售产品一类的生意。
One woman who served time for theft now runs an automobile repair business. Lori does not want her last name used. She says she worries what people might think if they knew she had been in prison. Lori stayed in contact with a MercyCorps mentor after she left prison. Together they found answers to questions about running a small business.
因偷窃入过狱的一位妇女开办了一项汽车维修生意。洛瑞不希望公布她的姓氏。她很担心如果人们知道她入过狱会有什么想法。洛瑞离开监狱后还和美慈组织的一位导师保持联系，她们就有关经营小生意的问题共同寻求答案。
LORI: “What works, what doesn’t? And is it worth having a website of your own, and what avenues of advertising can you exploit for free? Those are the type of things that I found invaluable.”
洛瑞：“什么是有效的，什么是无效的？是否值得拥有一个自己的网站，什么样的广告渠道可以免费开发？这些是我们发现的一些宝贵的东西。”
And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report. I'm Christopher Cruise. |