VOA文化艺术2024--Ugandan Homemade Drink Threatened by Bill, Market Changes

Ugandan Homemade Drink Threatened by Bill, Market Changes

　　Lawmakers in Uganda are considering barring people from making a popular alcoholic¹ drink at home.

　　The bill being considered would affect people like the Ndyanabo family.

　　At least once a week, Girino Ndyanabo's family gathers around a hole in the ground where bananas have been left to ripen². The family then peels the bananas and puts them into a wooden container shaped like a boat. The father steps in with his bare feet. The sweet banana juice he presses out is then filtered. To this he adds sorghum³. The juice is then left to ferment⁴ for up to a day. This process changes the juice into an alcoholic drink.

　　The result is the home-brewed drink Ugandans call tonto, or tontomera. This word describes a drinker's poor movements.

　　Tonto is famous in Uganda. Everyone drinks it – from officials to laborers⁶. Singers sing about it. Politicians seeking office drink it with voters. And traditional ceremonies end at sunset with tonto parties.

　　However, there are threats to the way tonto is currently produced. More people are now drinking low-cost bottled beer. Health officials want rules to limit the risks from contaminated home brews⁷. And officials want to get tax income from the production and sale of the drink.

　　The bill in the national assembly seeks to set rules for the production and sale of alcohol. It would make the activities of home brewers of tonto a crime. It would also make the production of other traditional home brews in the East African country a crime.

　　But farmers have a more urgent concern: Not enough new banana juice cultivars are being planted to produce the drink.

　　Instead, more farmers are planting a different sort of banana. This kind is boiled and eaten as a popular dish called matooke.

　　Girino Ndyanabo farms in the western district of Mbarara. His first experience with tonto was as a little boy in the 1970s. He said he has only a few plants left of the cultivars he uses to make tonto.

　　He gets his bananas from farmers near him until he can fill the small pit on his farm. The natural underground heat ripens⁸ the bananas within days as he prepares for the weekly pressing. The event is important in the family's daily life because they sell tonto.

　　Ndyanabo said his weekly brew⁵ has regular buyers. But in recent years, he has seen both demand and supply slow. This is partly because the sale price of tonto has been largely unchanged for many years.

　　However, the process of brewing⁹ it has become more difficult. Tonto brewers must travel farther for their bananas. Also, the price of sorghum has gone up.

　　"You take a lot of time doing this work. It's not as easy as someone who cuts matooke, puts it on a bicycle and sells it for cash immediately," Ndyanabo said of the green bananas that are eaten raw by most Ugandans. The bananas used for alcohol come from very far, he added.

　　To help this situation, he has been trying to plant more of the banana juice cultivars. They grow faster. And his son, Mathias Kamukama, helps.

　　The family makes five or six 20-liter jerricans for each brewing. A jerrican's worth sells for about $8. A half-liter of tonto sells for about 27 cents, compared to 67 cents for the cheapest bottled beer.

　　Benson Muhereza is an electrician who regularly visits a small drinking place in a poor neighborhood of Mbarara.

　　"It (is) like a favorite drink when you have your lunch. It (is) like a juice. When you don't want to take beer, you come and have your tonto," Muhereza said.

　　He said it does not make him feel bad or cause his head to hurt.

　　Christine Kyomuhangi sells tonto. She said she receives two jerricans of the brew every day. She knows her business is at risk because of the bill. But she smiled, saying buyers come from all over the city.

　　"Tonto will never get finished," she added, meaning tonto will survive all of these challenges.

　　Words in This Story

　　ripen –v. when a fruit becomes ready to eat

　　filter –v. to take solid things out of a liquid using a filter

　　peel –v. to remove the skin from a fruit or vegetable

　　ferment –v. to process certain foods such as fruit or grains so that yeast¹⁰ breaks down the starch¹¹ in the plant to make alcohol; to change the quality of a food by adding bacteria

　　brew –v. to add microorganisms to food to change its nature and preserve it for a future time

　　contaminated –adj. containing something that should not be there

　　cultivar - n a sort of plant that is one of several versions of closely related plants which gardeners or farmers grow

　　jerrican –n. a kind of container that has flat sides and is usually used to carry liquids

1 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

2 ripen   

vt.使成熟；vi.成熟

参考例句：

• I'm waiting for the apples to ripen.我正在等待苹果成熟。
• You can ripen the tomatoes on a sunny windowsill.把西红柿放在有阳光的窗台上可以让它们成熟。

3 sorghum   

n.高粱属的植物，高粱糖浆，甜得发腻的东西

参考例句：

• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。
• They made sorghum into pig feed.他们把高粱做成了猪饲料。

4 ferment   

vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱

参考例句：

• Fruit juices ferment if they are kept a long time.果汁若是放置很久，就会发酵。
• The sixties were a time of theological ferment.六十年代是神学上骚动的时代。

5 brew   

v.酿造，调制

参考例句：

• Let's brew up some more tea.咱们沏些茶吧。
• The policeman dispelled the crowd lest they should brew trouble.警察驱散人群，因恐他们酿祸。

6 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

7 brews   

n.（尤指某地酿造的）啤酒( brew的名词复数 )；酿造物的种类；（茶）一次的冲泡量；（不同思想、环境、事件的）交融v.调制( brew的第三人称单数 )；酝酿；沏（茶）；煮（咖啡）

参考例句：

• He brews beer at home. 他在家里酿造啤酒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They produce the country's best brews of beer. 他们生产该国的佳酿啤酒。 来自辞典例句

8 ripens   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The sun ripens the crops. 太阳使庄稼成熟。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then their seed ripens, and soon they turn brown and shrivel up. 随后，它们的种子熟了，不久就变枯萎。 来自辞典例句

9 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

10 yeast   

n.酵母；酵母片；泡沫；v.发酵；起泡沫

参考例句：

• Yeast can be used in making beer and bread.酵母可用于酿啤酒和发面包。
• The yeast began to work.酵母开始发酵。

11 starch   

n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆

参考例句：

• Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews.玉米淀粉在炖煮菜肴中被用作增稠剂。
• I think there's too much starch in their diet.我看是他们的饮食里淀粉太多了。