环球英语 — 428：Fistula: Sharing the Knowledge

　　Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Ruby² Jones.
Voice 2
And I'm Mike Procter. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Today's Spotlight is on the power of shared knowledge. We hear about a project that helps common people to tell their stories. It is giving a voice to stories that no one usually hears. Yet sometimes these stories contain important truth. They may contain information that could help other people. We will tell of how a group of women shared their stories. Their experience told other women how to get rid of an unpleasant health condition.
Voice 2
CDS is an organisation³ that collects people's stories. CDS stands for the Centre for Digital Storytelling. The ‘digital' part means that CDS stores the stories on computers. It then makes the stories available to everyone.
Voice 1
One of CDS's projects is called Silence Speaks. There are some subjects that people do not like to talk about. One example is women's health problems. So people remain silent. But ‘Silence Speaks' helps them to speak about such problems. For example, Silence Speaks worked with two health groups in Uganda - The Acquire project and St. Joseph's hospital. Together, they helped a group of women who have suffered with a medical condition called obstetric fistula. The women learned⁴ how to create stories on the computer! We will hear one of their stories later in the programme. But first, here is some information about obstetric fistula:
Voice 2
Obstetric fistula is a medical condition that can affect women after giving birth. The condition can be prevented or cured. Yet it often affects women in situations where health care is lacking. A fistula is a hole. An obstetric fistula is a hole that lets body waste leak into the vagina, her birth passage. A woman may develop an obstetric fistula when her body is too small to give birth without help. She can be in labour for many days. And this puts great pressure on her small body. In such cases, without medical care, both the mother and the baby could die. If the mother survives, she may well develop a fistula. The fistula causes body fluids⁶ to leak from the woman's body. She does not have time to get to a toilet. The fluids leak without her control. This causes the woman to smell. Fistulas cause much shame to women. And in many cases, husbands reject their wives.
Voice 1
One of the main causes of fistula is when girls give birth at a young age. Betty Naluyima Walakira works⁷ for the Acquire health project in Uganda. She told about a health study:
Voice 3
‘The study said that girls have to marry around the age of sixteen and a half. Most girls of that age are not fully⁸ developed to give birth. And many of these girls live in country areas.'
Voice 2
The World Health Organisation explained another related⁹ cause of fistula. There is often a need to ease¹⁰ the baby out of the mother's body. So, unskilled birth attendants¹² sometimes cut the mother before or during labour. They use sharp instruments such as knives or broken glass. This damages the woman. In parts of Africa around fifteen percent of fistulas are caused this way.
Voice 1
Many women live with fistula for the rest of their lives. They live in shame, trying to hide their condition. They do not know that there is a cure for it! But treatment can fix the hole and to give the woman a normal and full life again.
Voice 2
The Silence Speaks project worked with St Joseph's hospital in Uganda. The hospital provided¹³ a safe place for women with fistula to tell their stories - and CDS recorded them. The women also drew pictures to help tell their stories. The result was a series of short films. People can watch these films on the Internet. From these stories, other women can learn that they do not have to live with fistula forever. They can get treatment.
Here is Frederise's story. Frederise lives in an area in, Central Uganda.
Voice 4
‘I got pregnant¹⁴ in 1990. When the time came to give birth I pushed for two days. The birth attendant¹¹ told me I had failed to push the baby out. She sent me to the big hospital. Doctors operated - but the baby was already dead. In the hospital they put a tube in me. When the tube came out, I started leaking urine. Body fluids were just coming out freely¹⁵. After two months in the hospital I could go home. But the body fluid⁵ continued to come out freely.
‘When I went back to my husband, he did not know what had happened. But he saw that whenever I sat down, it was wet where urine had come out. I decided¹⁶ to separate our beds because of my leaking. My husband started tearing up small pieces of blankets so I could try and stop the urine leaking. He tried to get me some traditional medicine. But it failed to work. I tried my best to hide the problem.
‘People used to tell me of different hospitals where I could get help for this problem. But I could not believe that I could be cured. Finally, I agreed to go to the hospital. And the operation was successful! Women should not get frightened. I lived with this problem for fifteen years. But now I am okay. I thank God. He alone does all things.'
Voice 1
The World Health Organisation estimates¹⁷ that more than two million young women live with untreated obstetric fistula. The majority of these women live in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The group also says that no one should have to live with the condition at all. Projects like Silence Speaks are encouraging women to share their stories. It is not easy for women to do this. But in sharing their stories, they can change their lives and the lives of other women in the future. Knowledge sharing could stop any woman having to suffer with fistula again.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

3 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 fluid   

n.流体，液体；adj.流体的，流动的

参考例句：

• Fluid includes both gasses and liquids.流体包括气体和液体。
• The weather is fluid in summer.夏天天气多变。

6 fluids   

n.液体，流体( fluid的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He is taking cold fluids. 他正在喝冷饮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• You can contract Aids if your bodily fluids come into contact with the bodily fluids of someone else who is infected with HIV. 如果你的体液与染有HIV者的体液接触，你就会染上艾滋病。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

10 ease   

n. 安乐,安逸,悠闲; v. 使...安乐,使...安心,减轻,放松

参考例句：

• His mind was at ease and he felt confident in the future. 他心情舒畅,对前途很有信心。
• You should ease up on the child and stop scolding her. 你应该对那个孩子宽松些,不要再骂她了。

11 attendant   

n.随从，跟班，出席者，服务员；adj.伴随的，出席的，注意的，在场的

参考例句：

• She was interrupted by the entrance of an attendant.服务员进来，打断了她的话。
• We met the officer attendant on the general.我们见到了随从将军的副官。

12 attendants   

n.服务人员( attendant的名词复数 )；侍者；随从；伴随物

参考例句：

• Other flight attendants and passengers are believed to have fought. 我们相信其他服务人员及乘客也都进行了斗争。 来自时文部分
• Psyche gave ear to the admonitions of her vocal attendants. 普绪喀听从这些有声无形的外人的意见。 来自辞典例句

13 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

14 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

15 freely   

adv.自由地，随便地，无拘无束地

参考例句：

• She was unable to keep back her tears,and wept freely.她抑制不住泪水，痛痛快快地哭了起来。
• A liquid flows freely and has no fixed shape.液体能自由流动，无固定形态。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 estimates   

估计

参考例句：

• Unofficial estimates put the figure at over two million. 非官方的估计数字为200万以上。
• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》