这里是美国之音慢速英语发展报告。
Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, as the old saying goes. But some women are finding a lot to like about colorful beads from Uganda made of recycled paper. The beads are sold by a nonprofit organization in the United States called BeadforLife.
有句俗话说得好，钻石是女人最好的朋友。但有些女人被来自乌干达的使用再生纸制成的珠子深深吸引。这些珠子是由美国一家名为BeadforLife的非盈利性组织销售的。
BeadforLife began as a chance meeting between three American women on a trip to Uganda and a local jewelry maker. Millie Grace Akena was rolling paper beads near her home. She worked at a rock quarry. She made paper beads as a hobby. But there was no real market for them in her country.
BeadforLife起源于在乌干达旅行的三位美国妇女与当地一位珠子制作者的偶遇。米利·格雷斯·阿凯纳（Millie Grace Akena）正在她家卷制纸珠，她在一家采石场工作，业余爱好就是制作纸珠，但这种纸珠在当地并没有市场。
Torkin Wakefield says she, her daughter Devin Hibbard and Ginny Jordan brought some of the beads back to the United States.
托尔金·韦克菲尔德（Torkin Wakefield）表示，她，她的女儿德雯·希巴德(Devin Hibbard)，以及金妮·约旦（Ginny Jordan）带了一些珠子回到美国。
TORKIN WAKEFIELD: "Immediately people started admiring the beads. 'Oh, I like this. Where did you get this? It's so pretty.'"
韦克菲尔德：“很快人们喜欢上了这种珠子。‘噢，我喜欢这种珠子。你从哪买到它的？它真漂亮！’”
The three Americans launched BeadforLife in two thousand four. Nearly seven hundred women have taken part.
这三名美国人于2004年发起了BeadforLife非盈利性组织，有将近700名妇女加入。
The group says its beaders earn an average of more than two thousand dollars a year in the program. This is five times what they earned before. Torkin Wakefield says the women spend up to eighteen months in the program.
该组织表示该项目的珠子销售者平均每年盈利2000美元，这是她们之前赚取的5倍。托尔金·韦克菲尔德表示妇女们花费在这个项目上的时间长达18个月。
TORKIN WAKEFIELD: "During that time she can make regular income and she has a savings account and she begins to study and plan for launching a business, which is her business and which will sustain her once she graduates from BeadforLife. And the program includes a microfinance grant, money that she has actually made by selling us beads that she gets at one time, so that she can make a big enough step into a business that is going to be sustainable."
韦克菲尔德：“在这期间，她开始有固定收入并开设了储蓄账户。她开始研究和规划开展她的业务。当她从BeadforLife项目结业后，这项业务将维持她的生计。同时该项目包括一个小额补助金，这个一次性补助的钱实际是她销售珠子的盈利。这样她在开展可持续发展的业务上就能迈出了重要的一步。”
The beads are sold across Uganda and at the BeadforLife headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. They are also sold online and at jewelry shows called bead parties.
这些珠子在乌干达和BeadforLife总部科罗拉多州博尔德市销售。它们还在网上和一个名为bead parties的珠宝展上销售。
TORKIN WAKEFIELD: "Because they have meaning, because these are gifts that help people, folks in America and beyond, when they buy our beads they feel a sense of generosity. They feel a direct connection, like they can really participate in eradicating poverty."
韦克菲尔德：“因为这些礼物具有帮助美国和美国之外的人们的特殊意义，当人们购买我们的珠子时，他们有一种慷慨施与的感觉，他们会感觉就像自己亲身参与了消除贫困。”
Acrylic plastic is used to harden the paper. The jewelry costs between five and thirty dollars. BeadforLife reported sales in its last budget year of more than three and a half million dollars. It says for every ten dollar necklace sold, the beader gets two dollars and forty-three cents in money or materials.
这些珠子使用丙烯酸类塑料硬化后，价值5至30美元。 BeadforLife报告称上个财务年度其销售额超过350万美元，每销售10美元的（由珠子制成）项链，珠子销售者将获得2美元43分的现金或物资奖励。
It says more than ninety percent of earnings are reinvested in community development projects in Uganda. Torkin Wakefield estimates that BeadforLife has helped more than eight thousand people this way.
报告称超过90%的盈利将在投资于乌干达社区发展项目。韦克菲尔德估计BeadforLife通过这种方式帮助了超过8000人。
So what about Millie Grace Akena, the jewelry maker? Mrs. Wakefield says she has gone on to organize a small group of women who work with her, and they sell their beads to a religious group.
那么，那个珠子制作者米利·格雷斯·阿凯纳近况如何？韦克菲尔德太太说，阿凯纳组织了一小群妇女为她工作，并将她们的珠子销售给了一个宗教团体。