VOA慢速英语2013 AS IT IS 2013-10-06 Soccer Players in Africa Get a Buzz

 

AS IT IS 2013-10-06 Soccer Players in Africa Get a Buzz¹

Hi. Thanks for joining us again on “As It Is.” I’m your host, Kelly  Jean Kelly.

Today Christopher Cruise² and I are talking about young entrepreneurs³ …  and one of the most popular sports in the world.

“Soccer is the international language of the world. People play soccer  everywhere and they get a lot of joy out of it. And it  brings  communities together.”

That was Dave Stahl. He played soccer in college, at Chico State  University in Northern California.

One of Dave’s teammates was Michael Mitchell. Michael joined the Peace  Corps after graduation and worked for two years in Niger, in West  Africa. When Michael returned, he and Dave developed an idea. It was  called “Project Play Africa.” They believed that soccer could improve  the lives of African children.

Dave and Michael spent 15 years organizing Project Play Africa. They  raised thirty thousand dollars in donations. Then they ordered two  thousand soccer balls from China.

Dave and Michael flew to Niger, rented a car, and drove into the  countryside. They gave soccer balls and air pumps to the people they  met.

“We’re driving down the road and going by this little village and we  see about a dozen kids trying to play soccer and they were literally⁴  kicking around a sock filled with sand.”

Dave and Michael say the children were very happy to get the soccer  balls. But the two friends realized that they needed to focus their  efforts. So in 2011, Dave and Michael started a soccer league in  Libore, outside Niger’s capital city of Niamy. They asked local clubs  and schools to help.

“It engaged boys and girls, which is very unusual for a Muslim  country, you know that the parents were letting their girls participate  in an activity because usually the girls are doing housework, fetching  water and wood and so on.”

Dave says the tribal⁵ and political leaders of Libore supported the  league. And, the village and school were proud of their teams.

Dave says one of the best parts of the trip was watching the boys’ and  girls’ championship soccer games.

“The field was totally lined with spectators⁶ and they had a lean-to  tent at the center of the field where the mayor and the chief and the  dignitaries were sitting.”

Dave says Project Play Africa’s next challenge is to find a soccer  ball that is not too expensive and easy to transport. And, one that can  survive for more than a few weeks on Niger’s rocky playing fields.

I’m Christopher Cruise.

Two young women in New York City are also trying to bring soccer balls  to Africa. But their soccer ball has a generator⁷ inside it. They call  their invention the Soccket. 

The Soccket collects energy when you play with it. Then, you can use  the Soccket for electricity. For example, you could plug a light or a  cell phone into the Soccket. The Soccket can store up to 24 hours of  power.

Jessica Matthews and Julia Silverman developed the Soccket when they  were college students at Harvard. Jessica’s family is from Nigeria.  Julia is from Chicago, but she had spent time in Africa. They both knew  that the lack of energy in Africa was a problem. So, they tried to use  soccer to improve energy poverty.

In 2011, Jessica and Julia started an organization to distribute the  Soccket. The organization is called Uncharted Play, and it is based in  New York City. Uncharted Play does not sell the Soccket directly.  Instead, it partners with companies and NGOs to give the Soccket to  communities that need it. 

“We don’t make any profit right now. Just kidding, we do.”

Alison Dalton Smith is the communications director at Uncharted Play.  She explains that Uncharted Play is not exactly a business…and not  exactly an NGO. She calls it a “social enterprise⁸.” In other words,  the organization is a business designed to solve a social problem. 

Alison says starting or working for a social enterprise is increasingly  common among people born in the 1980s or later.  

“We want to dedicate⁹ our lives and our education to making the world a  better place for everyone, not just for ourselves.”

In fact, Alison is so dedicated¹⁰ to making sure people in Africa get the  Soccket that she worked for free. Now, she is one of seven paid staff  at Uncharted Play. At 30, she is the oldest person who works there.  None of the employees receives health insurance or retirement¹¹ savings¹².  But Alison says money is not as important to her right now as  connecting to others.

“I know that my peers¹³ in this age group, in the millennials, we … I  notice that we have a very different engagement¹⁴ with the global  community, and we grew up with the Internet. I think we feel much  closer to each other, and we identify more as global citizens than an  American, or a New Yorker, or a female, or whatever. There’s a real  bond that I find amongst my peers here in the US and also from my  experiences traveling and living outside of the US, where we’re driven  by more than just making it. There’s something more.” 

But, she adds that she is lucky. She can work in a job she loves  because she already has some money saved. And, she says helping¹⁵  distribute the Soccket is one way she can make the world better for  everyone, not just for herself.

That’s our show for today. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

1 buzz   

v.充满了激动或活动的声音，发出低沉的声音

参考例句：

• My brain was in buzz.我的脑袋嗡嗡响。
• A buzz went through the crowded courtroom.拥挤的法庭里响起了一片乱哄哄的说话声。

2 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

3 entrepreneurs   

企业家( entrepreneur的名词复数 )； 主办人

参考例句：

• He is one of the entrepreneurs of the concert. 他是这场音乐会的主办人之一。
• Entrepreneurs are free to develop their businesses. 企业家们可以任意发展自己的企业。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

6 spectators   

n.观众，旁观者( spectator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The spectators were wilting visibly in the hot sun. 看得出观众在炎热的阳光下快支撑不住了。
• The policemen asked the spectators to stand well back. 警察要求旁观者靠后站。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

8 enterprise   

n.企业单位，商业公司，事业，计划

参考例句：

• They are determined to carry forward the enterprise.他们决心把事业进行下去。
• The enterprise has excellent prospects.这家企业的远景极其美好。

9 dedicate   

vt.献身，致力于，把（时间、精力等）用于

参考例句：

• She vowed to herself that she would dedicate her life to scientific studies.她默默地发誓要献身于科学研究。
• To my father I dedicate this volume in token of affection and gratitude.我谨以此书献给我的父亲，以表示对他的爱戴和感激之情。

10 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

11 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

12 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

13 peers   

n.同等的人，贵族vi.凝视，窥视vt.与…同等，封为贵族v.凝视( peer的第三人称单数 )；盯着看；同等；比得上

参考例句：

• She enjoys the respect of her peers. 她受到同侪的尊敬。
• She peers into my eyes. 她盯着我的眼睛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 engagement   

n.订婚，婚约，约定，约会

参考例句：

• I can't see you on Monday because I have a previous engagement.星期一我不能见你，因为我有约在先。
• It was my mother's very own engagement ring.这正是我母亲自己的订婚戒指。

15 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。