Ashoka Supports Social Entrepreneurs Around the World

FAITH LAPIDUS: I’m Faith Lapidus.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: And I’m Christopher Cruise with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about an organization called Ashoka. It supports people who create new ways to solve social problems.
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FAITH LAPIDUS: Entrepreneurs are people who create new businesses. They organize, build and support their individual business proposals. They may have ideas about new products that the world has never seen. Or, they may have new ways to do business.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Social entrepreneurs are similar to business entrepreneurs. However, social entrepreneurs try to improve conditions in their communities. They organize, build, and support new and creative programs. Their goal is to improve people’s lives. Their work is very important. Often, social entrepreneurs do not receive much support for their work. Yet one organization recognizes the need for social entrepreneurs and provides important support.
FAITH LAPIDUS: Ashoka is a not-for-profit organization based in the United States. The group works to develop social entrepreneurship as a profession around the world. Bill Drayton started the organization in nineteen eighty. He believes the most effective way to build social change is to invest in people who have new and creative ideas.
A worker for Ashoka-supported social enterprise, Healthpoint Services in India
Ashoka supports over three thousand social entrepreneurs in seventy countries around the world. The organization provides its members, known as fellows, with money for three years. In return, the fellows are expected to give all their time to their work.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: The total payment a fellow receives depends on the country where he or she lives. Ashoka officials say there is no set amount. Instead, it tries to make the payment equal to what a leader of a not-for-profit organization in that country would earn. The organization receives money from individuals and organizations around the world to support the fellows. It does not take money from governments.
FAITH LAPIDUS: Ashoka connects its fellows with other leading social entrepreneurs around the world. Through this network, the fellows are able to spread their ideas and build long-term support.
One of Ashoka’s programs is called Changemakers. It is an online community of action in which members work together to find answers.
Using this website, anyone can learn how to create social change in his or her community, share stories, or discuss problems and successes. Changemakers also holds competitions that provide money to groups putting their social programs into action.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Tyler Spalding works for Ashoka at its headquarters near Washington. He says several of Ashoka’s programs are aimed at young people. One of these is Ashoka U. Its goal is to help college students in the United States get their universities to support teaching about social action. Mr.Spalding says many universities teach about models and theory when discussing social action. Ashoka U aims to show students how to turn ideas about social change into action.
Ashoka’s Youth Venture program works with people between the ages of twelve and twenty. These young people identify problems in their community and find ways to solve them.
TYLER SPALDING: “Ashoka then provides those teams of young people with advisors¹, monetary² seed funding, as well as non-monetary support to transform their idea into action.”
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FAITH LAPIDUS: Ashoka does not announce its fellows at one time every year. They are announced throughout the year, as they are chosen.
Kara Andrade is a two thousand ten fellow. She was born in Guatemala. She later moved to the United States with her family to escape civil war in her native country. As a reporter, she became interested in how people in Guatemala were expressing themselves and communicating with each other.
She started an organization called Habla Guate. Its aim is to develop a citizen-based information sharing system that can provide timely and necessary news to people in Guatemala and other parts of Central America. She developed a mobile phone-based system that permits people to share important information throughout the Habla network.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Biplab Paul is another two thousand ten Ashoka fellow. His organization in India helps provide a low-cost method of collecting water for farming in the Gujarat area. It also helps empower local women. His efforts involve organizing women and their communities to harvest rainwater.
His organization has helped solve the problems of water shortages and low crop productivity.
FAITH LAPIDUS: In Egypt, Raghda El Ebrashi wanted to find a way to get educated citizens in her country to help poor and unemployed³ young people. But she wanted them to help in a more active way than just donating money to the poor. She organized college students to volunteer to help teach skills to young people from poor communities so they could find jobs. She studied companies so she could train young people to fit their hiring needs.
People who cannot hold jobs because of health or family problems are trained to make objects to sell. The organization has been so successful that it has expanded to several cities in Egypt.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Dorothy Aken’ova became an Ashoka fellow in two thousand eight. Her organization aims to improve sexual health education in Nigeria. She believes that the emotional side of sexuality is ignored in discussions about reproductive health. So sexual subjects are treated with silence and intolerance.
The aim of her organization is to support sex education to include information about safety, rights and acceptance.
FAITH LAPIDUS: Not all Ashoka fellows work in developing countries. Many are from developed areas including the United States, Canada, and Europe.
One of these is Dr. Frank Hoffman of Germany. ehHe He developed an effective and low-cost breast examination method. His method involves training blind people to use their extreme sense of touch to do breast exams. His program aims to improve early detection of cancer and help employ skilled blind people.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: American Chris Balme started an organization in California called Spark. It helps reduce the number of high school drop-outs in Los Angeles and the San Francisco area. Spark connects at-risk middle school students with special teachers. The students choose their dream jobs, and Spark finds professionals who can teach the students about their work.
The students attend these apprenticeships after school and during summer programs. Spark helps students learn skills that are important to them. And the organization helps young people see why staying in school is important in helping⁴ them meet their future professional goals.
We asked Spark’s creator Chris Balme how Ashoka has affected⁵ his work. He says becoming an Ashoka fellow was both a life and career goal. He felt that he was joining a group of “superheroes” because many of the social activists⁶ he most respects are fellows. Mr. Balme says he has gained valuable personal and professional advice from other fellows.
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FAITH LAPIDUS: Social entrepreneurs who join Ashoka must meet several requirements. First, they must have a new idea for solving a public need. The candidates must also be creative at both setting goals and solving problems. Second, they must be willing to spend years trying to make their project a success. Third, the candidate’s idea must be able to solve an important social problem at the national level, or even internationally.
And finally, an Ashoka candidate must be completely trustworthy. He or she must be concerned with serving other people in a fair and honest way.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Anyone who meets these conditions can become an Ashoka member. There are no age or education restrictions⁷. Ashoka is always looking for new members. You can nominate someone who works as a social entrepreneur in your community or country. You can find email addresses for Ashoka’s different area offices at ashoka.org/contact.
FAITH LAPIDUS: Include a short written description of the candidate’s project and why it is inventive and effective. Also include the candidate’s email address. The process to become an Ashoka fellow involves several steps. But the rewards that come from joining the group are worth the time and effort.
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CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: This program was written by Dana Demange, who was also the producer. I’m Christopher Cruise.
FAITH LAPIDUS: And I’m Faith Lapidus. Our programs are online with transcripts⁸ and MP3 files at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find us on Facebook and YouTube at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

1 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

2 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

4 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。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句