2007年VOA标准英语-Micro Loans Help Immigrants Achieve American Dr

By June Soh
Washington
16 April 2007
 
Watch video report on Micro Loans

Many new immigrants and refugees in the United States find out that they have a hard time landing well-paying jobs. Even with business ambitions, they can face difficulties. VOA's June Soh looks at a non-profit organization that helps newcomers get started.   Amy Katz narrates¹ the story.

 
Zakaria Mancini
Zakaria Mancini is happy with where he is in his life.  He came to the United States 20 years ago from Morocco pursuing a dream.  "My life is beautiful and it is great.  I have been always thinking about American dream.  The American dream has come true in right time. I worked hard for it."

Mancini is a hair designer and an entrepreneur.  He owns two hair salons³ called Mancini de Paris in the Washington D.C. metropolitan⁴ area.  He says his salons generate more than a half million dollars in annual revenue.

The beauty industry was not what he had in mind, though, when he arrived in the U.S.  But it did not take him long to realize that his bachelor's degree in electrical mechanics from Morocco would not help him get a job in America.  "But I found another field that was going to make me successful and I just got into it.  I put all my time into it. A lot of my family (members) were in the beauty industry and I just, like, switched into it."

But the path to success was not always smooth.  Mancini says he encountered a stumbling block four years ago when he planned to expand his business. "It was the first experience building your dream salon² from scratch and I ran into a lot of financial problems. I tried different banks and no one was ready to help me with that."

That was when Mancini turned to the Enterprise Development Group. It is a non-profit organization that offers micro-loans mostly to refugees and immigrants in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.

 
Tsehaye Teferra
Tsehaye Teferra is the president of Ethiopian Community Development Council or ECDC. It is the parent organization of the development group. He initiated⁵ the group's micro-enterprise program in 1992. "In order to be qualified⁶ for regular banks, number one, you must have had some credit history in this country, which many of our clients don't have.  Therefore (because) these clients do not have prior credit history, they are automatically disqualified."

In the past 14 years, Teferra says, the Enterprise Development Group has helped about 1,000 small start-ups with loans totaling close to nine million dollars.  The minimum loan is $500; the maximum is $35,000. The group receives support largely from the federal government's Small Business Administration and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. 

Local governments and private banks also provide backing. Under federal regulations, the Enterprise Development Group cannot lend money to illegal immigrants. "Our mission is to help people to become self-sufficient and contributing members of the society," says Teferra. "You must have the desire, energy and interest to be a successful businessperson in this country."

 
Ana Lopez
Ana Lopez used to be an art teacher in the Philippines. She thinks she has what it takes to be successful. She says she received a $20,000 loan from the group to buy equipment and supplies when she opened a custom framing shop five years ago. "I (also) buy artwork from starving artists who are gifted in third world countries such as Philippines, India, Bangladesh. Africa is also where I have an artist. So I would like to be an outlet⁷ for people who are very gifted and talented but do not have opportunities to show their art, to exhibit their art.  That is what Hope Gallery is all about." 

Like Mancini, Lopez expects eventually to outgrow⁸ the need for micro-loans, and be able to qualify for conventional loans. They also believe that while they try to reach their goals of opening a chain of shops, they will help create employment opportunities for low-income people in the region.

1 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

2 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

3 salons   

n.（营业性质的）店( salon的名词复数 )；厅；沙龙（旧时在上流社会女主人家的例行聚会或聚会场所）；（大宅中的）客厅

参考例句：

• He used to attend to his literary salons. 他过去常常去参加他的文学沙龙。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Conspiracy theories about Jewish financiers were the talk of Paris salons. 犹太金融家阴谋论成为巴黎沙龙的话题。 来自互联网

4 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

5 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

6 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

7 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

8 outgrow   

vt.长大得使…不再适用；成长得不再要

参考例句：

• The little girl will outgrow her fear of pet animals.小女孩慢慢长大后就不会在怕宠物了。
• Children who walk in their sleep usually outgrow the habit.梦游的孩子通常在长大后这个习惯自然消失。