【听力原文】My topic today is how to address the problem of hunger and starvation, which still exists in many parts of the world. To end hunger starts with people’s own productivity. A dangerous and patronizing cliche we often hear is: give a man a fish and feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for life. People living with chronic hunger have generations of wisdom about ’fishing’ — the problem is the barbed wire around the lake. The hunger project announced recently by the United Nations cut through the barbed wire, addressing the underlying social conditions that systematically deny hungry people the opportunity they need to end their own hunger. When we invest in a hunger project, we are investing in people’s productivity and giving people a chance to translate their hard work into improved well-being. We are ensuring that people get the opportunities which are rightfully theirs. Too often hungry people are isolated, marginalized and exploited. Mobilizing communities and building local organizations is critically important — both to sustain the work we do and to get more out of our precious resources and efforts. When people come together to work, a kind of social capital is created that can compensate for the lack of financial capital in rural areas. In Africa, a unique feature of the hunger project’s work is to organize villages to work cooperatively on community land to produce food for food banks. This fosters collective responsibility and action for a better future for all. Another example is in some Asian countries, such as India and Bangladesh, where hunger project volunteer animators have catalyzed the creation of over 1,100 local organizations throughout the country. With nearly 50% ran by women, these local groups create savings programs and invest in individual and collective income generating enterprises, including sowing, tailoring and weaving projects, bakeries and small businesses, fish and poultry farming, bee keeping and plant nurseries. The impact of these enterprises is enormous. As women have become economically empowered, the decision-making roles have increased. As family incomes have often tripled, parents are sending more children — both girls and boys — to school.
