VOA标准英语2013--Baby Bins Give Abandoned Children A Second Chance

 

Baby Bins² Give Abandoned Children A Second Chance

In a small street in Berea, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Johannesburg, a trap door in a wall could be mistaken for a mailbox. But it's actually a place where mothers can safely leave their babies.

"Usually when they put the baby here, the mother who put the baby here, we have staff on duty there, we check in the camera, we see there is a baby, a staff member would come and fetch the baby," explained Francina Mphago.

Francina Mphago says the bin¹ has a mini-camera and a sensor³. When a baby is put inside, a ringtone echoes in the organization's nursery, just a few meters behind the wall. Staff members can check the box on a computer screen.

The baby bin opened in 1999. At the time, desperate mothers were abandoning their babies in garbage cans, parks and in the streets of Johannesburg. Often it was too late to save them.

"I thought about it and wondered that if a woman wants to be anonymous⁴, how can I help her? And so I thought that if I put a box in that wall, that they could put it in there instead of putting it in another rubbish bin," said Cheryl Allen, Door of Hope's director.

Since it opened, the baby bin has received 148 infants. Some have been adopted locally or by families abroad.

Godwill and Nkhangwe Kekana have adopted two sisters from Door Of Hope. While in their case, they know the mother's name, they say the stigma⁵ around anonymously⁶ abandoned children needs to be addressed, for the children's sake.

"I would prefer when the child grows, he knows his or her roots," Godwill stated. "But like I said, sometimes you don't know what really pushes the parents at that time to take that action.

"I think the society must start teaching the children who are adopted, you know sometimes to not concentrate much on the roots. They might say 'ok I'm grown up, I'm 18 years old, I don't even know where I come from.' But they must appreciate that they had life," Nkhangwe added. "At least somebody took them in, and gave them life.

Baby bins exist in other parts of the world but have often been surrounded by controversy⁷. While some critics say they encourage women to abandon their babies.

Allen disagrees. She said, "I think that it doesn't encourage abandonment because they are going to abandon it anyway. Because I think it's quite a decision to make to abandon your baby. I don't think it's an easy decision. 

Over the years, other NGOs have followed Door of Hope and opened baby bins in other cities across South Africa.

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 bins   

n.大储藏箱( bin的名词复数 )；宽口箱（如面包箱，垃圾箱等）v.扔掉，丢弃( bin的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Garbage from all sources was deposited in bins on trolleys. 来自各方的垃圾是装在手推车上的垃圾箱里的。 来自辞典例句
• Would you be pleased at the prospect of its being on sale in dump bins? 对于它将被陈列在倾销箱中抛售这件事，你能欣然接受吗？ 来自辞典例句

3 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

4 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

5 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

6 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

7 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。