VOA标准英语2009年-In Mombasa, A Unique Program Helps People

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
17 September 2009

Low-income Kenyans living with HIV/AIDS face a range of challenges. In the Catholic Diocese of Mombasa on Kenya's coast, people affected¹ by AIDS have formed groups that enable members to increase their incomes and improve their nutrition.

 
Susan Mumba
Officials of Jipe Moyo Savings² and Lending Group count money contributed by their fellow members.

At each meeting, members put a minimum of 62 cents into a savings pot, plus 12 cents for a fund to help members cover emergency costs.

The members are then able to take out loans typically ranging from $20 to $40.

Group chairwoman Susan Mumba says, "Through this group," we can pay for school fees for our children. It also gives us food from the farm - we are able to farm through this group. It has brought us great benefit."

Caroline Kache was able to construct a borehole on her two-acre farm with her loan, enabling her to irrigate³ her crops.

She also gave a piece of her land to her 20-member savings and loan group, enabling her colleagues to grow food for themselves and their families.

 
Caroline Kache
Kache says the group has transformed her from the days that she was bedridden and receiving treatment at St. Luke's Hospital. "It has really changed my life," she explains, "First, I secured a job at St. Luke's Hospital - I am now working as a patient attendant. It has made me to be famous. The whole of Kayafungo Location - they can see I am different. They thought that one day, one time I will die, but it has improved my life."

Jipe Moyo is one of more than 360 Savings and Internal Lending Communities, or SILC, groups operating within the Catholic Diocese of Mombasa. Most of these groups consist of members who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS.

Catholic Relief Services and the Diocese of Mombasa administer the program, providing training and support through funding from USAID and other donors⁴.

Stanley Masamo is social development coordinator⁵ with the Diocese of Mombasa. He explains that the goal of the SILC program is to encourage low-income communities to become self-sufficient. "It is their own money. What we are doing is just building the capacity, showing them that you can save, showing them that you can actually start a business, showing them that you can actually do loaning amongst yourselves," he said.

With the $25 loan she received, group member Constance Kagombe was able to expand what she sells in her shop.

Kagombe says that she has more customers and income to support her, her three children and two grandchildren. She explains that she can now eat a nutritious⁶, balanced diet.

"I can get sukuma wiki, cabbage, some tomato soup, bananas, and even some milk and other small things," Kagombe said.

 
Group members
For Kagombe and the others, Jipe Moyo Savings and Lending Group is more than just about the money.

"The good thing about this (group) is that we who are suffering, those of us who know our (HIV) status, we can encourage ourselves," Kagombe adds, "When we are together, and when we part, even if it is at the farm, we leave with hope that we can survive."

In the national language Ki'Swahili, "Jipe Moyo" means "encourage yourself." For Kagombe and her colleagues, being a member of a savings and loan group can enable them to do just that.

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 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。

3 irrigate   

vt.灌溉，修水利，冲洗伤口，使潮湿

参考例句：

• The farmer dug several trenches to irrigate the rice fields.这个农民挖了好几条沟以灌溉稻田。
• They have built canals to irrigate the desert.他们建造成水渠以灌溉沙漠。

4 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

6 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。