2006年VOA标准英语-World Vision Brings African AIDS Awareness to N

By Kane Farabaugh
New York City
26 June 2006
 
watch AIDS Exhibit report

Twenty-five years ago, the United States released its first report on what is now known as HIV & AIDS.  While people in the developed world are living longer with the disease thanks to the availability of medicine and treatment, it's a far different story on the African continent.  VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports how the charity group World Vision is bringing the African AIDS experience into the heart of New York City.

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Steven Reynolds, World Vision, explains the purpose of the AIDS Experience exhibit   
  
It was not by accident that World Vision picked Grand Central Station as the venue¹ for its five-day African AIDS exhibit.

"About 700,000 children, younger than the age of 15, were infected with HIV last year worldwide -- the same number of people that pass through Grand Central Terminal every day," said one speaker at the event.

That kind of traffic is the very reason the AIDS Experience is here: to spread the word to as many people as possible that AIDS is still a global pandemic.

"I don't think Americans understand how devastating² this disease is in other parts of the world," said World Vision's Steven Reynolds. He spent six years in Africa and introduced rock star and African activist³ Bono to the problems people face there. He says the current 278 square meter exhibit in Vanderbilt Hall is more than just a message about the disease.

 
Two children featured in the exhibit
  
"Literally⁴, it's bringing Africa to the U.S.," he said.  "It's an opportunity for us to give people a chance to feel, sense, hear, even smell the thatching of a thatch⁵ roof and to really give people a sense of what it's like to live in a community in Africa that is so devastated⁶ by AIDS right now."

The exhibit allows you to walk in the shoes of four people from Africa who are living with HIV and AIDS.  It's a walk that American actress Kathy Bates took the first day the exhibit opened, motivated in part by the memory of friends who lost their lives to the disease.

"I just decided⁷ to come this morning to see what the exhibit is about.  As an actor, I feel that empathy is the strongest tool we have in order to help people really understand what it's like to walk in someone else's shoes," she said. "And I feel education and awareness⁸ is what we need now."

That education and awareness is a message transmitted through pictures of despair along the corridors of the exhibit… and through personal narratives⁹ of the people profiled, spoken through an MP3 player each visitor takes through the display.

"I experienced Olivia, and her life, and what it was like when she was raped¹⁰, and what it was like when she discovered that she was HIV positive and that she had transmitted the disease to her child," said Bates. "It's just a few minutes out of your life to think about someone else who might need your help, and it's so incredibly valuable for people to do."

Princess Kasune Zulu, an educator who is infected with HIV, hopes the personal journey of those profiled in the exhibit will prompt a public outpouring of support for the plight¹¹ of Africans like her.

"Whatever you have to do, please create some time to go through someone's life in Africa, and together we can make this world a better place for our children, and our children to come.  God bless you," Ms. Zulu told the crowd

1 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

2 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

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 thatch   

vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部；n.茅草(屋)

参考例句：

• They lit a torch and set fire to the chapel's thatch.他们点着一支火把，放火烧了小教堂的茅草屋顶。
• They topped off the hut with a straw thatch. 他们给小屋盖上茅草屋顶。

6 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

7 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。

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

10 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

11 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。