This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
Next year, the Peace Corps will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. Peace Corps volunteers are Americans who teach and work on projects in developing countries.
明年，和平队（Peace Corps）将庆祝其成立50周年。和平队志愿者是一些为发展中国家提供教育和其他服务项目的美国人。
The United States created the Peace Corps during the cold war with the Soviet Union. Today, technology has changed how the volunteers do their work and stay connected with friends and family back home.
美国在与前苏联冷战时期创立了和平队，现在，科技已经改变了志愿者的工作方式，以及他们与家乡亲朋的联系手段。
In the early nineteen eighties, Gordy Mengel served in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Letters from home would take weeks, or months.
19世纪80年代初，戈迪·孟格尔（Cordy Mengel）服务于扎伊尔，就是现在的刚果民主共和国。要用上几周或几个月才能收到家里的来信。
As a result, he socialized more with people in the local community. He lost contact with friends and family back in the States.
这样一来，他更多参与当地社区人们的社交活动，失去了美国亲朋的联系。
Today, Gordy Mengel is a Peace Corps programming and training officer in Rwanda.
现在，孟格尔是卢旺达和平队的一名计划及训练主管。
GORDY MENGEL: "These days with the advent of the Internet and cell phone service and so forth, I still see volunteers having some of that experience. But again, when they go back to their homes, instead of turning out the kerosene light and going to bed, they can get on Skype or they give a quick call to Mom and Dad back at home. And that part of the experience, I guess, has changed."
孟格尔：“如今随着互联网和移动电话的出现，我仍然能看到志愿者还会经历我们过去的一些事情，但是，当他们回到住处，不再是吹灭煤油灯上床睡觉，而是上Skype或给家里的父母打电话。我想，这方面和以往不同了。”
(SOUND: Call on Skype)
（声音：Skype通话）
SONIA MORHANGE: "Hey!"
索尼娅·摩尔汉格（SONIA MORHANGE）：“嘿！”
FRIEND: "What’s going on? I’m connecting my webcam."
朋友：“最近怎么样？我正在连我的摄像头。”
SONIA MORHANGE: "Oh, awesome, I’ll get to see you as well."
摩尔汉格：“哦，太好了，我就要看到你了。”
FRIEND: "I look like a mess right now. I was gonna get ready, but ... "
朋友：“我看起来有点儿乱，我已经做准备了，但是……”
SONIA MORHANGE: "Did you just wake up?"
摩尔汉格：“你刚睡醒吗？”
FRIEND: "Can you see me?"
朋友：“你能看见我吗？”
SONIA MORHANGE: "Yeah, I can see you."
摩尔汉格：“可以。”
Sonia Morhange is one of about one hundred Peace Corps volunteers in Rwanda. She talks with a friend in California on Skype, an Internet calling service. She talks with her mother on the phone and e-mails her father.
摩尔汉格是卢旺达和平队100多个志愿者之一，她通过Skype与加利福尼亚州的朋友聊天，Skype是一种互联网电话服务。她给母亲打电话，给父亲发电子邮件。
SONIA MORHANGE: "I can’t imagine having been a Peace Corps volunteer in the seventies or the eighties or even the early nineties. I’m just so used to everyone having a cell phone that works internationally. I’m very, very lucky in the fact that where I live I have wireless Internet and that makes it a lot easier."
摩尔汉格：“我无法想象七八十年代甚至九十年代初的志愿者是怎么过的，我太习惯每个人都拥有一部国际漫游的手机。我非常幸运，我住的地方可以无线上网，很多事都因此方便得多。”
Peace Corps volunteers receive a living allowance and other benefits in return for twenty-seven months of training and service.
和平队志愿者会收到一笔生活补助和其他津贴作为27个月训练和服务的回报。
John Reddy is the country director in Rwanda. He says fairly easy access to the Internet means that volunteers can do more than just call home.
约翰·雷迪（John Reddy）是和平队驻卢旺达的领队，他称，对志愿者而言，网络提供的便捷远远超过往家里打个电话。
They can research subjects to help their communities. And, through the Peace Corps Partnership Program, they can get donations online for their projects.
他们可以做一些主题调查。而且，通过和平队合作伙伴计划（Peace Corps Partnership Program）在网上为他们的项目筹款。
But John Reddy admits he sometimes misses the old days, before the Internet and good phone service. He says volunteers had more independence.
但是雷迪承认，他有时怀念过去没有互联网和现代电话服务的日子。他称，那时候的志愿者更具有独立性。
JOHN REDDY: "It’s not always helpful to Peace Corps staff. If a volunteer is telling their family they’re having a bad day or a bad week, and then the family member calls Peace Corps Washington and Peace Corps Washington calls me and I have to find the volunteer and see what the problem was."
雷迪：“这对和平队成员不全是有益的，如果有一个志愿者告诉他的家人他们那天或者那周过的不好，那么他的家人就会给华盛顿总部打电话，华盛顿总部就会给我打电话，我就得找到这个志愿者了解情况。”