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1.VOA常速
【More Greeks Use Soup Kitchens as Economy Worsens】
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TEXT:It's just before lunchtime. Bowls of hot pasta are being made up for more than a hundred children. But this is not a school. It's a facility run by the municipality of Athens to feed those who can no longer afford to feed themselves. More and more Athenians are coming here - especially pensioners, and families with children.
It's run by George Apostolopolos and a team of volunteers. And though money from the city government has been sufficient so far, he's not sure how long that will continue.
"We are afraid about the future because we don't know about the next day - that is the biggest problem we have, it is a little unknown the future, we try to do the best," Apostolopolos said.
Earlier, before the television cameras showed up, the courtyard was full of adults of all ages lining up for food. But filming the event was not allowed. Many people don't want their families to know they are here.
But, two soup kitchen users agreed to speak about their situations.
Christos says he had a good life until a few years ago. He lost both his parents, then had a serious car crash. He took drugs to ease the pain from the injuries, and lost his job.
"I am 48 years old. I remember 44 years of my life, maybe 43," he said. "This is the most difficult situation that I have ever seen here in Greece"
His friend Maria says she used to run a clothes shop, but then she lost her job when the crisis hit.
"So after that, I lost my home because every month i had to pay month 450 euro," she said. "So 20 days now I am homeless and I am eating here every morning 12 o'clock and 5 o'clock in the afternoon."
The offerings from facilities like these don't seem to be enough though. Hundreds of Greeks lined up in a Central Athens park for free vegetables this week. Farmers from Crete handed out 27 tons of egpplant, peppers, tomatoes and other produce, with the help of the local government.
"We won't solve any feeding problems, but we're starting solidarity, a display of Greek solidarity, that shows that during these times we Greeks are united," said Nikos Saprovalakis, a food company executive who was helping out.
Spiros Kalamantis was one of those lining up for a food rescue package.
"Because I have been unemployed for some years, I thought I'd get one [box] too," he said. "Because I'm unemployed. Nothing more."
More and more Greeks need a helping hand. As unemployment rises, alongside taxes, even feeding oneself is proving hard for many. Yet another challenge for the new Greek government in its first few days in office.
2.VOA慢速
【Language Has Risks for Health Translators】
TEXT:This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
Translators Without Borders is an American nonprofit group. It provides language services to nongove
rnmental organizations such as, yes, Doctors Without Borders. The group recently trained some new translators in Nairobi in how to put health information into local languages for Kenyans.
For health translators, finding the rights words is not just about language but also culture.
Muthoni Gichohi is a manager for Family Health Options Kenya, the group that organized the training. She says she has no problem expressing the names of body parts in English. But as a Kikuyu she says there are some words in her first language that may be "provocative" if she said them in public.
MUTHONI GICHOHI: "So I have got to really put it in another way that it is still delivering the same message, but the words will be different."
Trainer Paul Warambo says the same issue arises with Kenya's national language.
PAUL WARAMBO: "Sometimes you are also forced to use euphemisms -- use a language that is more acceptable to the people. For example, in Swahili, we will not call a body part -- the vagina, for example -- we will not call it by its name. We use kitu chake --- her thing. You do not just mention it by the name, you say 'her thing.'"
The culture of a community will largely decide how words and expressions are translated into socially acceptable language.
In some cases, the way people in a culture think about an activity or object becomes the translated name for that activity or object.
Paul Warambo explains how the term "sexual intercourse" is commonly translated from English into Ki'Swahili.
PAUL WARAMBO: "We always say, in Ki'Swahili, 'kutenda kitendo kibaya' -- to do something bad. So, imagine sex was associated with something bad, emanating from the African cultural context."
Whether or not a community will accept or even listen to a message is especially important in health care.
Lori Thicke co-founded Translators Without Borders in nineteen ninety-three. She says, in general, a lot of development organizations have often overlooked the importance of language in changing health behavior.
LORI THICKE: "It is true that people do not think of translation. It is absolutely not on the radar, but it is so critical if you think about it, for people to get information, whether it is how to take their medication, whether it is where to find supplies in a crisis situation."
Muthoni Gichohi and her team recently opened a health information center in a Maasai community. She learned that young Maasai cannot say certain things in the presence of elders. Also, men are usually the ones who speak at public gatherings, so people might not accept a message given by a woman.
And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Faith Lapidus.
