2006年VOA标准英语-University in Ghana Prepares Students for

By Nico Colombant
Accra, Ghana
23 March 2006
 
watch Ghana College report
 

Ghana HiTech College training  
  
In Ghana, a small private university is helping¹ with entrepreneurial efforts to turn the aid-dependent West African country into a high-tech² hub.  VOA's Nico Colombant reports from the campus in north Labone, in the capital Accra.

------------------------------------------

Very eager and disciplined students are taking part in a management class. 

Ashesi University (the name means "Beginning" in the Akan native Ghanaian language) is modeled after small, four-year, liberal arts colleges.

But students here are mostly interested in computer science and business management.

The university's president and founder³ is Patrick Awuah. He studied in the United States and worked for software giant Microsoft. But when he had a child, he decided⁴ it was time to give something back to his native Ghana.

Patrick Awuah  
  
"Mostly, I think this is a very rewarding project to be engaged in. Students are doing well. The first ones graduated last year and they are placed in industry and are doing very well, getting very good reports back and that's very important.  Frustration⁵ has to do with (the fact that) working in Ghana is not always easy.  Infrastructures⁶ are not where they need to be and we have to struggle with that."

Araba Amuasi and Sarah Mills are Class of 2007. Like most students, some of their schooling⁷ is paid by their parents, but they also get a school loan to cover the several-thousand dollar tuition.

Araba Amuasi   
  
Araba Amuasi says her dream is to become, in her words, "a great African computer programmer."  "I want to get a couple of friends together and set up a company that would develop software that is cheaper and would fit into our context better," she says. "Because, almost everything we use here is developed outside the country, outside the continent.  There are certain scenarios⁸ that don't quite work when you implement⁹ the programs here. So I want to do something that is more centered on Africa."

One of the companies that need such future talent is nearby Rancard Solutions, which develops business application software.

Its chief technology strategist is Ehigozie Binitie, who was also educated abroad, and came back to help the local economy.

Ehigozie Binitie   
  
"We are an ambitious young company, forward looking with every intention of going global. Now it's a little hard to capture that culture and mindset," he says. "There are lots of graduates who don't really believe in it. They haven't experienced first-hand what it is to work at the cutting edge, so they struggled to see how and why it can be done in Ghana by Ghanaians like themselves. There is just a bit of a mind gap.  But I think it's an exposure thing. So I think it is definitely a breath of fresh air to meet kids coming out of school with a mindset with which you can really accomplish a lot."

Some of the company's new recruits are recent Ashesi graduates, like the two 23-year-old programmers.

The man behind some of these new high-tech prospects¹⁰ in Ghana, Awuah, says it was nice to succeed for himself in the United States, but he feels he is doing much more now for others.

"When I was working at Microsoft that was also very exciting.  Those were heady times when I was there in the late 80s and early 90s. There are times when I am back in Seattle and I visit my old colleagues there and they are working on some pretty cool technology, certainly there's a part of me that misses that sometimes.  But what I am doing now is equally challenging -- even more challenging I think -- than what I was doing at Microsoft. I think that the impact on the world is going to be greater than what I was doing at Microsoft."

All the students here seem to be full of ideas and business plans, trying to design profitable and useful technological¹¹ improvements.

Many want to develop software in local languages for Ghanaians who cannot read or write in French or English.

Rather than adding to the brain drain that afflicts¹² so many sectors¹³ of Africa's economy, these students now say they have enough opportunity to stay here. 

1 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。

2 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 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。

5 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

6 infrastructures   

n.基础设施( infrastructure的名词复数 )；基础结构；行政机构；秘密机构

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。 来自互联网
• The increasingly fast urbanization process requires more and more infrastructures. 我国城市化进程不断加快，对城市基础设施的需求也越来越大。 来自互联网

7 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

8 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

9 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

10 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

11 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

12 afflicts   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Level 3-Afflicts a target with the Curse of the Silent. 三级-用静默诅咒折磨一个目标。
• Level 1-Afflicts a target with the Curse of the Silent. 一级-用静默诅咒折磨一个目标。

13 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》