VOA标准英语2014--In Rwanda, Reform Progressing on Many Fronts 卢旺达多方面改革进行中

 

In Rwanda, Reform Progressing on Many Fronts 卢旺达多方面改革进行中

KIGALI — In a checkout¹ line at Kigali's Nakumatt shopping center, employees pack groceries in paper bags.

After non-biodegradable polythene bags were banned in 2008, owners found that stocking plastic in their stores carried a risk of going to jail.

The ban is part of an environmental campaign that has earned Rwanda the reputation as the cleanest country in Africa.

Another hallmark initiative is "Umuganda," a mandatory² day of community service held on the last Saturday of every month.    

Adan Ramata, the store manager, comes from neighboring Kenya.

"When Kenyans will visit Rwanda, and you tell them tomorrow is national cleaning day and that you have to clean, they will ask you how much do they pay?" he said. "No, no, no. This is just a national cleaning day, you have to sacrifice it. You have to clean."

Twenty years after a genocide that killed an estimated 800,000 people, Rwanda is often cited as a model country when it comes to improvements in the environment and economic development.

Rwanda’s government has also made sweeping³ reforms in the healthcare sector⁴. Facing a healthcare system that, like those in many African nations, was heavily centralized in urban areas, Rwanda's Ministry⁵ of Health has recently pushed to establish district hospitals for its rural citizens, around 80 percent of the population.

The country is also widely recognized for a national health insurance plan that covers nearly all Rwandans.

"When patients are insured, they consult earlier," said Dr. Bwiza Muhire Hippolyte, a general practitioner⁶ at Butaro Hospital in northern Rwanda. "They don’t come when they are severely⁷ ill. Many times ago people were delivering at home, and if the delivery is not attended there is a very high risk of complication. Even some mothers can die."

Dr. Hippolyte says that nearly all deliveries today are attended to by healthcare professionals. Universal health insurance, he believes, has brought down infant and maternal⁸ mortality rates.

Rwanda’s healthcare successes were largely made possible by foreign aid money, which covers half the cost of the national health insurance program.  

Rwanda's rapid development is not without its critics, who say the government is heavy-handed and does not stand for opposition⁹.

But there is no denying Rwanda’s economic growth stands out in the region. GDP growth has averaged 8 percent per year over the past decade.

Poverty reduction has been a top priority of President Paul Kagame, who says he wants to push Rwanda to middle-income status by 2020.

"In the past there is always a term used, we called it 'reducing poverty,' as if the aim is to remain with some poverty," he said.

 

At the time of the genocide, 78 percent of Rwandans lived in poverty. Today, that figure has fallen to less than 50 percent.

1 checkout   

n.（超市等）收银台，付款处

参考例句：

• Could you pay at the checkout.你能在结帐处付款吗。
• A man was wheeling his shopping trolley to the checkout.一个男人正推着购物车向付款台走去。

2 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

3 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 practitioner   

n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者

参考例句：

• He is an unqualified practitioner of law.他是个无资格的律师。
• She was a medical practitioner before she entered politics.从政前她是个开业医生。

7 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

8 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。