EXPLORATIONS - Four Companies Working for the Common Good In

EXPLORATIONS - Four Companies Working for the Common Good Instead of Profit
By Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Wednesday, June 08, 2005

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember with Explorations in VOA Special English. Today, we tell about four organizations that work for the common good instead of for profit.

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VOICE ONE:

There is an expression in the business world today: "Money makes the world go around." The cost of doing business and the profits that result are two main concerns for most companies. But, not all companies share these concerns. Some companies are working for the common good. They are trying to help poor people around the world. They care about people who suffer from health problems or live without electricity. Among these companies are Nutriset, the Institute for One World Health, the Smile Train and the Solar Electric Light Fund.

VOICE TWO:

 
Plumpy'nut can help fight hunger during food crises².
Nutriset is a food company in France that makes all its products for humanitarian³ aid programs. One of its most popular products used in emergency situations is made with peanuts, sugar, fats, minerals and vitamins. It is called Plumpy'nut.

The American group Save the Children is using Plumpy'nut to help fight hunger among refugees⁴ in the Darfur area of Sudan. The French product is also being used to feed children in Malawi, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. And, Plumpy'nut was used to help feed victims of tsunami⁵ waves in the Indian Ocean in December, two thousand four.

VOICE ONE:

The substance can be given to families without the need to go to feeding centers. It comes ready to eat. It does not have to be mixed with water, the way dry milk does. Clean drinking water is often in short supply in crisis⁶ situations. Nutriset says Plumpy'nut can stay fresh for two years. Individual servings are ninety-two grams.

Michel Lescanne started Nutriset in nineteen eighty-six to make food for humanitarian aid. The company has a small factory in Malaunay, France. It says it reinvests its profits into research and development. Nutriset also makes products like dry milk that are traditionally used to fight hunger. In times of crisis, the company will set up emergency operations twenty-four hours a day.

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VOICE TWO:

The Institute for One World Health is the first not-for-profit drug company in the United States. It is working to improve the health of the world's poorest people. Victoria Hale started the company in two thousand. The institute develops safe and low-cost medicines for people with infectious⁷ diseases in the developing world.

The Institute for One World Health identifies possible new drugs that have been developed but not fully⁸ tested. Often, drug companies will research and develop medicines to treat diseases that affect poor people. However, such projects often end because of a lack of money.

VOICE ONE:

This is when Doctor Hale's company steps in. The institute gains the rights to promising⁹ drugs and develops them into safe, effective medicines. The institute works with local organizations to manufacture and provide the drugs after they receive government approval.

One of the company's biggest successes was the drug paromomycin. It is used to treat infections caused by organisms called parasites¹⁰.

The Institute for One World Health believes paromomycin can effectively treat the most dangerous form of leishmaniasis. This disease is spread by the bite of a sand fly insect.

Visceral leishmaniasis is the worst form of the disease. One and one-half million people around the world are infected with the disease. Victims will die if they are not treated. Most victims of visceral leishmaniasis are in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal and Sudan.

VOICE TWO:

The World Health Organization started testing paromomycin as a treatment for visceral leishmaniasis in two thousand one. Small studies proved the drug was safe and effective. However, larger tests comparing the drug with existing treatments were suspended because of a lack of money.

The Institute for One World Health then took action. The company gained legal rights to paromomycin. It completed a full scientific study of the drug in India. It did so with financial support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Tests proved that paromomycin works as well as a more costly¹¹ drug currently¹² used against visceral leishmaniasis. The institute plans to seek approval for paromomycin in India.

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VOICE ONE:

Millions of children around the world suffer from an easily corrected medical condition called cleft¹³ lip. A cleft is a separation in the lip of the mouth. Children can also suffer from cleft palate. That is a separation in the top of the mouth or the soft tissue in the back of the mouth.

Cleft lip or palate normally develops in the early weeks of pregnancy¹⁴. Researchers believe that genetic¹⁵ material passed on to children from their parents may cause cleft lip or palate. Environmental influences like sickness, drugs, smoking and alcohol use during pregnancy may also cause the condition.

VOICE TWO:

A simple operation performed on children between nine and eighteen months old can repair this condition. Doctors say that without the operation children in developing countries are more likely to suffer a life of poor nutrition. They also may suffer condemnation¹⁶ and separation from their communities.

The Smile Train is an American organization working to end this problem. It provides local doctors in developing countries with training and equipment needed to perform cleft operations. The Smile Train has services and programs in more than fifty countries.

VOICE ONE:

Pakistan is one example. The Smile Train has provided money, equipment and training to the Allied¹⁷ Hospital at the Punjab Medical College. The organization has also provided equipment and training to Malaysia's medical community. And in Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Smile Train has given the University Clinic Center in Sarajevo aid to improve its cleft care for poor children.

The organization was started in nineteen ninety-nine. Every year since then, it has provided free cleft operations to more than thirty-five thousand children around the world. Local doctors do the operations, which take as little as forty-five minutes. The Smile Train pays for the operations with money it collects. It says the average cost for the operation is about two hundred fifty dollars.

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VOICE TWO:

Some places in the world still do not have electric power. In fact, a group called SELF estimates that about two thousand million people, or one in three, do not have electricity. This American organization is working to change the situation.

SELF is short for the Solar Electric Light Fund. It provides communities and governments with solar electric systems. These systems use what is called photovoltaic technology to change sunlight into electricity. The group says solar electric systems can be set up quickly in any village anywhere in the world. And they are safe for the environment.

VOICE ONE:

A small solar electric system can provide a home, school or health center with several hours of electricity each day. Collectors placed on top of a building take in heat from the sun. This energy is then sent to a storage battery used to power equipment. A special charge controller is also needed to help direct the flow of electricity.

SELF has solar electric programs in many developing countries. In South Africa, two schools along the country's east coast use solar electric systems for lighting¹⁸, televisions and computer centers. And in Brazil, scientists working in the Amazon rainforest use a solar electric system to power satellite communications equipment. Researchers communicate with other teams working in the rainforest.

VOICE TWO:

SELF says energy from the sun is the only dependable way to meet the electricity needs of poor villages. Many communities still use candles, batteries and fuel-powered lights at night. Health centers do not have power to keep medicines cold. Schools have no electricity for copy machines or computers.

The group says solar energy, combined with wireless¹⁹ communications technology, can help bring less developed parts of the world into the twenty-first century.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Jill Moss. It was produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another Explorations in VOA Special English.

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 crises   

n. 危机；危险期

参考例句：

• Economic crises recur periodically. 经济危机周期性地发生。
• Great crises often call forth gifted leaders. 危急存亡之际常能产生天才的领袖。

3 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

4 refugees   

n.避难者，难民( refugee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
• They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。

5 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

6 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

7 infectious   

adj.传染的，有传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
• What an infectious laugh she has!她的笑声多么具有感染力啊！

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

10 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。

11 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

12 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

13 cleft   

n.裂缝；adj.裂开的

参考例句：

• I hid the message in a cleft in the rock.我把情报藏在石块的裂缝里。
• He was cleft from his brother during the war.在战争期间，他与他的哥哥分离。

14 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

15 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

16 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

17 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

18 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

19 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。