2006年VOA标准英语-African Urban Life No Guarantee of Good Life

By Efam Dovi
Accra
12 December 2006

Africans escaping rural poverty, in search of better lives in urban areas, are being forced to live in very difficult conditions. As cities struggle to cope with the influx¹, the majority are left without water, sanitation² or decent shelter. In this VOA story, Efam Dovi looks at the situation in one urban slum in Ghana's capital, Accra, where rural migrants are making the best out of a difficult situation.

 
Abiba, a resident in one of the huts she shares with her husband and baby
Ghana's fastest growing slum, Old Fadama, is known to the Ghanaian public as Sodom and Gomorrah. Many children are running around, teenage boys are gambling³, girls are braiding their hair, plastic waste flying all over, litter everywhere, and music exploding from loudspeakers.

This slum serves as home to thousands of rural migrants to Accra. The majority of them, like Vida, came from Northern Ghana, the most deprived part of the country.

She came to the city after dropping out of school a year ago. Now 20, she sells cooked peanuts and hopes to save enough money so she can start proper trading. But she has difficulties raising the deposit.

She says there are frequent fire outbreaks in the area and, whenever that happens, they lose everything and start all over again.

Jennifer could not find a job in her village, after completing junior secondary school. She moved to Accra hoping for a better life.

 
Jennifer working in a slum salon⁴
Jennifer, 22, says she did petty trading for two years to pay for training as hairdresser.

She says she is now able to sustain herself by working in a small salon in the slum. But says she needs capital to start her own salon.

There is hardly any decent basic facility here. Residents buy water, pay to use the toilet, as well as the shower. And, it cost about $3 a month, to share a wooden shack⁵ with three others.

Thomas, one of the oldest residents here said, "Our property is our kiosk, now as I'm standing⁶ now, I don't have anything, my property is where I am living."

At 27, this is his third slum. He owns three wooden huts, two of which he rents out. Thomas also works as a laborer⁷ in the nearby market, off-loading food stuffs from trucks.

 
Thomas wrapping Indian herm 
But he also sells Indian Herm, an illicit⁸ drug, under Ghana's narcotic⁹ laws.

Thomas is shredding¹⁰ and wrapping the dried leafs, which he says he smokes as well. He knows he can get caught, but says he has no choice.

He says he has to take care of his two children and says he wants better lives for them. He spoke¹¹ in pidgin English.

He said, "If I haven't had any business to do there is no way for the children to go to school. If they went to school, I don't have any money to buy. And, all this one, [drugs] while you are asking me about this one, to arrest, it is true, because when you are doing this and somebody came they can arrest you."

"But we know that there is no work for Ghana here that is why we are doing this small, small to look our children," he added.

Ghana, like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, is experiencing rapid urbanization. Lack of planning is turning even proper settlements into slums.

The West African nation's urban population is predicted to grow to about half the national total by 2025. And, the capital, Accra, is sprawling¹² everywhere.

Experts say it is time the authorities start consolidating¹³ the settlements before they get out of hand.

 
Wooden huts being rebuilt after recent fire outbreak
At a recent conference on ways to house West African's urban poor, Anna Tibaijuka, who heads United Nations Habitat - an agency working to secure decent shelter for people - told VOA Africa is experiencing what she calls "premature¹⁴ urbanization."

"When people are pushed out of the land too early into the process of economic transformation¹⁵, so that you find for example conflicts, civil strife¹⁶, wars -- this has been a source, actually one of the most singly important source pushing people prematurely¹⁷ out of their rural livelihoods¹⁸," she commented.

"But also your find failed rural development, really. You find, for example, the African Continent has not been able to put up the infrastructure¹⁹ you need to push agriculture development," she said.

Tibiajuka says Africa needs domestic capital and savings²⁰ to improve the housing sector²¹. However, she says the continent needs international finance to kick-start the process.

She talks about what she thinks African governments should do.

She said, "We have to build up appropriate institutions, at all levels, to be able to put up mortgage systems, and the most important institution - may be even the most challenging in Africa - will be housing cooperatives, because the people's, their incomes are very low, which means one person on their own they are very weak financially, but once they put their energies together they should be able to move."

"And, I think micro credit has shown how it could stimulate²² livelihoods, now to move it a step further and go into long term mortgages, mortgages of preferable 30, 40, 50 years," she added.

Tibiajuka also says sorting out Africa's housing and urban infrastructure is key to building a strong economy and reducing poverty.

Sub-Saharan Africa has both the world's highest annual urban and slum growth rates. An estimated 72 percent of urban dwellers²³ live in very difficult conditions.

1 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

2 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

3 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

4 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。

5 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 laborer   

n.劳动者，劳工

参考例句：

• Her husband had been a farm laborer.她丈夫以前是个农场雇工。
• He worked as a casual laborer and did not earn much.他当临时工，没有赚多少钱。

8 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

9 narcotic   

n.麻醉药，镇静剂；adj.麻醉的，催眠的

参考例句：

• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。
• No medical worker is allowed to prescribe any narcotic drug for herself.医务人员不得为自己开处方使用麻醉药品。

10 shredding   

v.撕碎，切碎( shred的现在分词 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件）

参考例句：

• Like the Tehran experience, the shredding may be all for naught. 如同德黑兰事件中的情况一样，切碎文件可能是徒劳的。 来自时文部分
• How shredding began is subject to some guesswork. 粉碎处理行业的起源是个有争议的问题。 来自时文部分

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

13 consolidating   

v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并

参考例句：

• These measures are meant for consolidating the system of basic medical care. 这些举措旨在夯实基层医疗体系，让老百姓看大病不必出远门。 来自互联网
• We are consolidating the Chinese and English versions of our homepage. 我们将为您提供中英文版本一起的主页。 来自互联网

14 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

15 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

16 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

17 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

18 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

19 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

20 savings   

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。

21 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。

22 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

23 dwellers   

n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》