VOA慢速英语--印度创企发明肥皂笔培养儿童洗手好习惯

Soap Invented by Indian Women May Save Lives

One of the easiest ways to stop the spread of disease is to simply wash your hands. Twenty seconds of handwashing with soap and water can reduce illnesses and save lives.

But, many people, especially children, do not have good handwashing habits. One problem is that children do not wash their hands often enough or long enough. Children may think that it is a tiresome¹ thing to do.

To help solve this problem, two entrepreneurs from India created a product to turn handwashing into a fun activity.

Amanat Anand and Shubham Issar created a device called the SoaPen.

"It's such a simple habit to do, and the fact that people aren't doing it, and it's resulting in actual deaths -- which is shocking. So, we decided² on coming up with a fun solution."

Issar said the SoaPen is aimed at teaching kids good handwashing habits.

"SoaPen is a soap that kids can draw with. It's a fun way to teach kids how to wash their hands."

As the name suggests, the SoaPen is a pen made out of soap. The children draw on their hands with the soap pen and then wash it off. If they do not spend enough time washing it off, the colors remain on the child’s hands.

Issar said it ensures that children take enough time to wash their hands. This may be especially helpful in a classroom. Often a teacher does not have the time to ensure that each child has washed their hands properly.

"Kids actually wash their hands for the proper amount of time because they're drawing on their hands, and under water they have to rub really hard to remove the drawing, so actually washing their hands instead of just going under water and, you know, one-second wash and off."

From an idea to an actual product

Issar and Anand studied design together in New York City. They created the soap after a visit home to India.

To get their product on the market, the two women applied³ for a spot at a business development program in Washington, D.C. called Halcyon⁴ Incubator.

Mike Malloy is the program manager at Halycon Incubator. He said turning a great idea into a product that can help others is not easy.

"Being an entrepreneur is really, really hard. There is kind of an up and down rollercoaster ride. One day things are going great; the next day things are terrible. And if you're doing that alone, it can be really, really challenging."

Halcyon connects what it calls “social entrepreneurs” with business professionals. These experts help the entrepreneurs sell their products. Anand said that with this business help, they were able to do more than they would have by themselves.

"Without an incubator like Halcyon, I don't think we would be able to make or envision social impact as greatly as we are able to right now."

Halcyon is also helping⁵ to launch SoaPen.

Anand and Issar said their goal is to donate one SoaPen to children in poverty for every three they sell at full price.

The product could have a real effect on public health. The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, reports that 1.5 million children die each year as a result of diarrhea. UNICEF says good handwashing could reduce that number by 40 percent.

Are you washing your hands properly?

Children may not be the only ones who need to improve their handwashing. If you are not soaping up your hands for at least 20 seconds, you are probably not removing all of the germs.

In celebration of World Handwashing Day, which was October 15, experts at the WHO remind us how to wash our hands properly.

Wet your hands with clean, running water. Turn off the water and apply soap.

Lather⁶ your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Be sure to lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.

Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. If you do not have a timer, simply sing the song “Happy Birthday” (to yourself or out-loud) twice.

Rinse⁷ your hands well under clean, running water.

Dry with a clean cloth or allow to air dry.

The CDC also reminds us that if soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.

However, these alcohol-based hand sanitizers do not kill some germs. And often they do not remove harmful chemicals from the skin. Also, overusing these products may increase germs’ resistance to them.

So, if available, washing with soap and water is best.

I’m Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

entrepreneur – n. one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise

habit – n. something that a person does often in a regular and repeated way

proper – adj. behaving in a way that is correct according to social or moral rules : in a complete way

rollercoaster – n. an elevated railway (as in an amusement park) constructed with sharp curves and steep inclines on which cars roll : roller-coaster – adj. something resembling a roller coaster especially : marked by numerous ups and downs : behavior, events, or experiences characterized by sudden and extreme changes

challenging – adj. difficult in a way that is usually interesting or enjoyable

envision – v. to picture to oneself

impact – n. a powerful or major influence or effect

lather – v. a foam⁸ or froth formed when a detergent⁹ (such as soap) is agitated¹⁰ in water

scrub – v. to clean with hard rubbing

rinse – v. to cleanse (as of soap) by clear water

1 tiresome   

adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的

参考例句：

• His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

4 halcyon   

n.平静的，愉快的

参考例句：

• He yearned for the halcyon day sof his childhood.他怀念儿时宁静幸福的日子。
• He saw visions of a halcyon future.他看到了将来的太平日子的幻境。

5 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。

6 lather   

n.(肥皂水的)泡沫，激动

参考例句：

• Soap will not lather in sea-water.肥皂在海水里不起泡沫。
• He always gets in a lather when he has an argument with his wife.当他与妻子发生争论时他总是很激动。

7 rinse   

v.用清水漂洗，用清水冲洗

参考例句：

• Give the cup a rinse.冲洗一下杯子。
• Don't just rinse the bottles. Wash them out carefully.别只涮涮瓶子，要仔细地洗洗里面。

8 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

9 detergent   

n.洗涤剂；adj.有洗净力的

参考例句：

• He recommended a new detergent to me.他向我推荐一种新的洗涤剂。
• This detergent can remove stubborn stains.这种去污剂能去除难洗的污渍。

10 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。