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VOA慢速英语2013 AS IT IS 2013-06-07 Presence of Female Peacekeepers in Lebanon Continues to Grow

时间:2013-06-13 09:15:00

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AS IT IS 2013-06-07 Presence of Female Peacekeepers in Lebanon Continues to Grow

From VOA Learning English, this is As It Is.

I’m Caty Weaver1.

Women are half the world’s population. But they can face barriers to economic independence and security. Today we hear about a program aimed at providing low cost loans to women in India. We also examine the Roman Catholic debate about efforts to permit women clergy2. But first, we learn about women peacekeepers in the Middle East.

Along the border of Israel and Lebanon, female peacekeeping troops are active in the United Nations force that guards the area. Avi Arditti tells us more.

“I think there is a little sprain3 of the knee.”

Captain Annie is examining Gomo, a working security dog that lives at a base of the United Nations Interim4 Force in Lebanon.

The captain is a medical specialist and one of about 30 women who live on this French base of 700 peacekeepers. They help to keep the border secure and assist the Lebanese government.

Captain Annie, French soldiers don’t use their last names, says she does not consider herself a ‘female’ peacekeeper, but a member of the UN force. But she says being a woman does sometimes help.

“The secret is to keep the smile and never raise the voice and with a little bit of softness and communication and patience is always good.”

UNIFIL has a peacekeeping force of more than 11,000 troops in southern Lebanon. They come from 37 countries. In recent years, the United Nations has begun deploying5 women in greater numbers.

Major Akriti Sharma is from Jammu and Kashmir.

“As we all know, women are known for their compassion6 for their warmth, for their understanding. Being women in uniform it adds on to these factors obviously, and apart from this, we can have better access to the women and they feel more comfortable with us, we act as a role model.”

Women in UNIFIL serve on both the civilian7 and military forces, from helping8 with military planning to teaching French to Lebanese school children. Male and female peacekeepers live together, work together and play sports together. Force commander Eric of the French battalion9 says women help to bring security to an insecure area.

In southern Lebanon, many people hold conservative ideas about the roles of the sexes. But, UNIFIL’s female peacekeepers say they get along well with the local community -- men and women alike.

I’m Avi Arditti.

India has struggled with microfinance, small business loans aimed at fighting poverty. In 2010, a number of Indian borrowers took their own life in the state. The suicides led to protests against microlenders and the government. Now, Faith Lapidus tells us about a microfinance program that has good results for Indian women.

It all started eight years ago, with a 1,000 dollar loan to buy buffaloes10. Shahnaz Begum of Haryana state had never been employed. But with buffaloes, she suddenly had a source of earnings11. It gave her a way to educate her children and a sense of power.

“I have confidence now that, being a woman, I can do something.”

In India, only 26 percent of women are employed. In the area where Shahnaz Begum lives most women do not start businesses. In fact, they rarely leave their homes.

T.K. Matthew established Deepalaya in 1971. At first the aim was to help educated children in extremely poor neighborhoods of New Delhi. He says years of work made him realize that the community’s economic health is strongly tied to women.

“And we realize they are a great strength.”

Deepalaya means “House of Light.” It only provides loans to groups of women who must first combine their savings12 to add to the loan. Mr. Matthew says Deepalaya’s borrowers are charged lower interest rates and given 20 months to repay the loan. He says, so far, there have been no payment failures among the nine-hundred borrowing groups in three states.

In 10 years, 13,000 women have started 7,000 businesses. The payments add to a $2 million dollar fund that provides new loans.

One woman was able to provide her husband with continuous employment after buying a horse-pulled vehicle with a microfinance loan. She now sees a difference in the way she is treated at home.

“He used to fight with me, now he respects me. Now he talks nicely to me and keeps me happy.”

The Indian women say they also see a different future for their daughters. It involves education and employment.

I’m Faith Lapidus.

Worldwide more than 120 women have been ordained13 as Roman Catholic priests. Vatican officials do not recognize the ordinations14. The ordinations, in fact, violate Church rules. But some Roman Catholics are demanding a change in rules.

Katherine Cole takes a look at the debate.

Time can appear to move slowly at the Vatican, the headquarters of the Catholic Church. But Giuseppe Visotto, a Vatican visitor, thinks the time has come for change.

“The Church has to adapt to modern society. The world is changing rapidly and the church has to follow in each and every respect.” 

Half a world away, one Catholic congregation recently met at a Protestant church in Baltimore, Maryland. This group has already rejected the Vatican’s ban on female clergy. Its members are part of a movement that started in 2002 in Germany, where Pope Benedict was born.

Worldwide, about 150 women claim to be Catholic clergy members. Gloria Carpeneto is one of them. 

“Women represent half the experience in the world.”

She says women have experiences that men do not have. And if only men are in the clergy, women’s voices are not represented.

About one-third of people raised as Catholics in America are said to have left the church. Some join Protestant groups that do accept women priests.

But public opinion has had little influence on Catholic Church officials. The Vatican has ruled that any official who ordains15 a woman priest should be expelled from the church.

Still, Italian priest Romulo Fenu says women are respected and cared for in Roman Catholicism. He notes the importance of Mary, the mother of Jesus, to Catholics. He says barring women from the priesthood is not evidence of discrimination.

I’m Katherine Cole.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 weaver LgWwd     
n.织布工;编织者
参考例句:
  • She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快,而且布的质量很好。
  • The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。
2 clergy SnZy2     
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。
3 sprain CvGwN     
n.扭伤,扭筋
参考例句:
  • He got a foot sprain in his ankle. 他脚踝受了严重的扭伤。
  • The sprain made my ankle swell up. 我的脚踝扭伤肿了起来。
4 interim z5wxB     
adj.暂时的,临时的;n.间歇,过渡期间
参考例句:
  • The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
  • It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。
5 deploying 79c9e662a7f3c3d49ecc43f559de9424     
(尤指军事行动)使展开( deploy的现在分词 ); 施展; 部署; 有效地利用
参考例句:
  • Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
  • Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。
6 compassion 3q2zZ     
n.同情,怜悯
参考例句:
  • He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
  • Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。
7 civilian uqbzl     
adj.平民的,民用的,民众的
参考例句:
  • There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
  • He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。
8 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
9 battalion hu0zN     
n.营;部队;大队(的人)
参考例句:
  • The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
  • At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后,队伍解散了。
10 buffaloes 8b8e10891f373d8a329c9bd0a66d9514     
n.水牛(分非洲水牛和亚洲水牛两种)( buffalo的名词复数 );(南非或北美的)野牛;威胁;恐吓
参考例句:
  • Some medieval towns raced donkeys or buffaloes. 有些中世纪的城市用驴子或水牛竞赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Water buffaloes supply Egypt with more meat than any other domestic animal. 水牛提供给埃及的肉比任何其它动物都要多。 来自辞典例句
11 earnings rrWxJ     
n.工资收人;利润,利益,所得
参考例句:
  • That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
  • Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。
12 savings ZjbzGu     
n.存款,储蓄
参考例句:
  • I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假,那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
  • By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时,他的存款已全部用完。
13 ordained 629f6c8a1f6bf34be2caf3a3959a61f1     
v.任命(某人)为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 );授予(某人)圣职;(上帝、法律等)命令;判定
参考例句:
  • He was ordained in 1984. 他在一九八四年被任命为牧师。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He was ordained priest. 他被任命为牧师。 来自辞典例句
14 ordinations 5cd6fb27c6f3453077602f6cec0f1470     
n.授予神职( ordination的名词复数 );授圣职
参考例句:
  • Earlier this week, Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen said that the ordinations were illegitimate and coerced. 本星期早些时候,香港枢机主教陈日君表示,中国的主教祝圣不合法,是在胁迫之下。 来自互联网
  • It'says that under Canon Law, excommunication is automatic for ordinations without papal approval. 声明说,根据教廷法规,凡是未经教皇批准的祝圣主教都会被自动革除教籍。 来自互联网
15 ordains 0c697c8c5cf7980223b68eec66ca6a14     
v.任命(某人)为牧师( ordain的第三人称单数 );授予(某人)圣职;(上帝、法律等)命令;判定
参考例句:
  • The festival ordains the Jains to observe the ten universal supreme virtues in daily practical life. 盛典命令耆那教徒日常遵守十大美德。 来自互联网

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