2007年VOA标准英语-Kenya's Anglican Church Launches Plan to Combat

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
22 February 2007

In Kenya, the Anglican Church has released its five-year plan to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis¹ and malaria² on the continent.  Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi.

The top priority of the $2.2 million plan will be to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa through education, leadership, and counseling, and to support those who are living with the virus.

The prevention and care of tuberculosis and malaria, diseases often associated with HIV/AIDS, are the next priorities in the plan, presented in Kenya's capital by the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA).

CAPA chairman and Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola launched the plan by citing grim statistics of the three infections, which are the leading causes of death on the continent.

CAPA chairman and Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola

"We have lost millions of young, able-bodied Africans in their prime to the scourge³ of HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis," he said.  "It has been said that these preventable and treatable diseases, though deadly, do not discriminate⁴ their victims and cut across religion and ethnic⁵ barriers.  We as a church cannot afford to be indifferent because Christ calls us to proclaim his loving and saving grace to a broken, fragmented, and diseased world, a world in which each of us is directly infected or affected⁶ by HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria."

The first plan by CAPA to combat HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria was launched in 2001 in sub-Saharan Africa's 12 Anglican Provinces.

Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly hard hit by the scourge of the three diseases.  About two-thirds of the 40 million people worldwide living with HIV are located in Africa.

In many sub-Saharan African countries, the number of people with tuberculosis has quadrupled since 1990.  TB is the leading cause of death among HIV-positive people, while malaria is responsible for one-fifth of all childhood deaths in Africa.

Archbishop Akinola said Anglican churches have come far in their responses to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

"Looking back today, we want to thank God as all our churches have not only become aware of the dangers we are in, they have actually engaged with those who suffer from these infections and offering help within the scope of available resources," he noted⁷.

The launch of the plan follows a meeting among the Anglican Communion held in Tanzania earlier in the week that attempted to address serious splits in the church over homosexuality and gender⁸ issues.

At the worldwide meeting of the 77 million member Anglican Communion, leaders called for the U.S. Episcopal Church to stop blessing⁹ same-sex unions and ordaining¹⁰ openly homosexual clergy¹¹.

African Church leaders and many parishes in the United States oppose homosexual unions and ordination¹².

1 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

2 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

3 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

4 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

9 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

10 ordaining   

v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的现在分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定

参考例句：

11 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

12 ordination   

n.授任圣职

参考例句：

• His ordination gives him the right to conduct a marriage or a funeral.他的晋升圣职使他有权主持婚礼或葬礼。
• The vatican said the ordination places the city's catholics in a "very delicate and difficult decision."教廷说，这个任命使得这个城市的天主教徒不得不做出“非常棘手和困难的决定”。