2006年VOA标准英语-Florida Benefit Concert Raises Money, Awareness

By Lisa Ferdinando
Miami
24 July 2006
 
 
Haitian artwork on display at the concert benefiting development in Haiti
  
The Rotary¹ Club has partnered with the Fort Lauderdale sister cities program for a concert that raised money for sustainable development projects in Cap Haitien, a coastal² town in northern Haiti that is a sister city to Fort Lauderdale.

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Haitian drummers joined the orchestra for two songs at the concert.

The proceeds from the event are to fund a portable water project for Cap Haitien, a computer learning center for students, and a robotics program to get junior high school students interested in math and science.

Those at the benefit were hopeful about making a difference in Haiti.

Enceau Fatal, one of the Haitian drummers, told VOA he hopes his country will soon see positive results. "As a Haitian, I know Haiti right now got a lot of problems right now, so what is important to me is to be in there to participate...I hope new projects come out after this tonight to bring a change for Haiti in the future," he said.

Steve Zarchin  
  
Nineteen-year-old Steve Zarchin is from Cap Haitien studying business in the United States on a scholarship from the sister cities program. He would like to put the skills he acquires to good use back home. "I want to do something for my country because Haiti is in a critical condition. This is my dream, to go back to Haiti and help Haiti," he said.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is plagued with violence in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and problems with infrastructure³, electricity and clean water.

Louis Noisin, who founded a university in Cap Haitien, told VOA about efforts he is involved in to create jobs outside the capital city. "What we try to do is to deconcentrate Port-au-Prince and put jobs out and help people back to their own birthplace. You have a lot of people from the north in Port-au-Prince. Port-au-Prince now is a city of almost two-million inhabitants, and it was a city built for 800,000 people," he said.

Haitian musician and poet Kiki Wainwright says Haiti needs all the help it can get. "The infrastructure in Haiti it doesn't exist anymore because we need some more institutions, solid institutions, so the country can go ahead," he says.

He also says he believes first that the violence in Port-au-Prince must be contained and then perhaps investors⁴ and tourists will return.

1 rotary   

adj.(运动等)旋转的；轮转的；转动的

参考例句：

• The central unit is a rotary drum.核心设备是一个旋转的滚筒。
• A rotary table helps to optimize the beam incidence angle.一张旋转的桌子有助于将光线影响之方式角最佳化。

2 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

3 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会