DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Pot-in-Pot Cooling Device

DEVELOPMENT REPORT
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March 18, 2002: Pot-in-Pot Cooling Device

By Jill Moss¹

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

In many developing countries, it is difficult to keep food cool. Most areas do not have electricity to operate
devices to keep food cold, called refrigerators. Food often spoils, or becomes unsafe to eat within days. This can
cause diseases and loss of money for farmers. However, in Nigeria, one man is working to change this.

Mohammed Bah Abba, a teacher, invented a cooling device using two round containers made of clay. Mister
Abba ’s invention is called a Pot -in -Pot Preservation² Cooling System. A small pot is placed inside a larger one.
The space between the two pots is filled with wet sand. The inner pot can be filled with fruit, vegetables or
drinks. A wet cloth covers the whole cooling system. The device keeps some foods fresh for several weeks.

Food stored in the small pot is kept from spoiling through a simple evaporation³ process.
Water in the sand between the two pots evaporates through the surface of the larger pot
where drier outside air is moving. The evaporation process creates a drop in temperature of
several degrees. This cools the inner container and helps destroy harmful bacteria found in
food.

Mister Abba started producing his cooling device in nineteen-ninety-seven. Since then, he
has given more than twelve-thousand devices to people in villages in Nigeria. He estimates
that within five years, people all over the country will be using his invention. Mister Abba
also hopes to export his Pot-in -Pot cooling system to other hot, dry nations facing similar
problems.

The Rolex Watch Company of Switzerland has also recognized the
value of this cooling system. Two years ago, Mister Abba received the Rolex Award for
Enterprise. This award is given every two years. It awards people trying to develop
projects aimed at improving human knowledge and well-being⁴. Winners receive financial
assistance to help develop and extend their projects. An international committee considers
projects in science and medicine, technology, exploration and discovery, the environment
and cultural history.

You can learn more about the Rolex Awards for Enterprise on the Internet Web site, w-ww-
dot-rolexawards-dot-com. Or you can write to the Rolex awards committee at P-O-Box
one-three-one-one, one-two-one-one Geneva, twenty-six, Switzerland.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss.

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Mohammed Bah Abba
(Pictures -
rolexawards.com

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

3 evaporation   

n.蒸发，消失

参考例句：

• Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。
• Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗，由此可以蒸发散热。

4 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。