VOA慢速英語:一個討要鉛筆的小孩激勵了一個人建立了206所學校

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

美國之音英語教學，這里是教育報道。

Adam Braun established the organization Pencils of Promise in 2008. Its goal is to make sure all children have a chance for education. Six years later, the non-profit group is building a new school somewhere every 90 hours. It has helped more than 22,000 children in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Adam Braun于2008年建立了許諾鉛筆組織。目的是確保每個孩子都有接受教育的機會。6年后，這個非營利組織每90小時就能在某地建一所新學校。幫助了超過兩萬兩千名來自非洲，亞洲和拉丁美洲的孩子們。

It all started when Adam Braun was a college student. He was visiting India when a boy stopped him on the street, the boy asked for money. Mr. Braun asked the boy what he would want, if he could have anything in the world.

這個組織在Adam Braun還是一名大學生的時候就開始了。那時他在印度，一個小男孩在街上叫住他，向他乞討。Braun先生問男孩，如果他可以擁有世界上任何東西，他想要什么。

“I thought the answer was going to be 'a house' or 'a car' or 'a boat'. His answer was 'a pencil'. So I gave him my pencil and he just lit up with joy. I realized he never had been to school before, and that was the reality for 57 million children around the world," Braun said.

我自認為他會說，我想要一棟房子，或者一輛車或者一艘船，出乎意料的是他的答案是一支鉛筆。因此我把我的鉛筆送給了他，他面露喜色。Braun說到，我意識到他從來沒有去過學校，不幸的是全世界有5億7千萬的孩子跟他一樣。

Adam Braun started working in finance after he graduated from college. But he never forgot the boy and the problem he represented.

Adam Braun畢業(yè)后從事金融方面的工作，但他從來沒有忘記那個男孩和他代表的問題。

"We live in a world in which every single child can have access to quality education, because we have everything necessary already. We have the capability of educating every child. So I became immensely committed to helping create that world," Braun said

Braun說：“我們生活的這個世界，每個孩子都有權(quán)力接受優(yōu)質(zhì)教育，因為我們已經(jīng)具備所有必要條件，我們有能力教育每個孩子。所以我開始致力于幫助建立那樣一個世界。”

Mr. Braun raised money for his project by using social media. He paid for building the first Pencils of Promise school, in Laos, five years ago. Since then, his group has helped pay for more than 200 schools in rural areas of Laos, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Ghana.

Braun先生通過社會媒體為他的組織籌集資金。5年前，他出資在老撾建立了第一所許諾鉛筆學校。從那時起，他的團隊幫助出資在老撾、尼加拉瓜、危地馬拉和加納建立了超過200所學校。

He says, his organization works closely with the local education agencies. He says the officials organize the main program of studies. But he says his group provides additional learning materials about health and water and waste systems. Pencils of Promise also works closely with communities.

他說，他的組織與當?shù)亟逃龣C構(gòu)合作緊密，有關(guān)官員組織學習的主要課程。他的組織提供有關(guān)健康、水和廢物處理這些額外的學習材料。許諾鉛筆組織還和社區(qū)密切合作。

Leslie Engle Young is another Pencils of Promise employee. She says local people are willing to combine efforts and resources for children's education.

Leslie Engle Young是該組織的另一名工作人員。她表示當?shù)厝罕姺浅芬鉃楹⒆觽兊慕逃峁椭唾Y源。

"We started saying 'OK, how can we get your 20 percent? What part of the labor can you do? What materials do you have that you can contribute to the project?' And through this really organic conversation, we start building a true partnership with these people," Young said.

Young表示，我們一開始便問，‘好的，我們?nèi)绾文艿玫侥銈兊?0%?你能做什么工作?你能向我們的項目提供什么資源?’通過這些系統(tǒng)對話，我們開始和這些人建立真正的伙伴關(guān)系。

Such support helped Adam Braun decide to expand his organization's work beyond the elementary school level. Pencils of Promise developed financial plans to help students continue on to secondary school and teacher training.

這類支持促使布勞恩決定將該組織的工作擴大到小學層次之外。許諾鉛筆組織制訂了財務(wù)方案幫助學生們繼續(xù)接受中學教育和教師培訓。

"We are really rigorous about making sure that the programs are not just beautiful photos and videos of kids, but that we're actually seeing incredible results in the classroom. And if we're not seeing results, then we need to change our programs. That's why our kids in Pencils of Promise schools progress from one grade to the next at two times the national average," Braun said.

Braun說：“我們認真確保該項目不僅僅是有關(guān)孩子們的漂亮照片和視頻，我們在課堂上看到了令人難以置信的成績。如果我們看不到這些成績，我們就必須改變我們的項目。這就是為什么許諾鉛筆學校升級考試比例是全國平均水平的兩倍。”