Development Report

How to Do It: Making Paper by Hand Modern paper-making began in China about 2,000 years ago.  Transcript of radio broadcast. 03 February 2008 This is the VOA Special English Development Report. The earliest process of making paper was done almost five thousand years ago in Egypt and the Nile Valley. In those days, paper was made from strips of the papyrus plant. Modern paper-making began in China about two thousand years ago. This process produced paper from cloth, straw, wood or the bark of trees. The raw materials are struck over and over until they become loose. Then they are mixed with water. After the water has been removed, the flat, thin form remaining is permitted to dry. This becomes a sheet of paper. Large machines started to be used for making paper near the end of the sixteenth century. Today, paper-making is a big business. But it is still possible to make paper by hand, since the steps are the same as using big machines. You should choose paper with small amounts of printing. Old envelopes are good for this reason. Colored paper also can be used, as well as small amounts of newspaper. Small pieces of rags or cloth can be added. These should be cut into pieces about five centimeters by five centimeters. Everything is placed in a container, covered with water, and brought to a boil. It is mixed for about two hours with some common chemicals and then allowed to cool. Then it is left until most of the water dries up. The substance left, called pulp, can be stored until you are ready to make paper. When you are ready, the pulp is mixed with water again. Then the pulp is poured into a special box or mold. The mold is made of small squares of wire that hold the shape and thickness of the paper. To help dry the paper, the mold lets the water flow through the small wire squares. After several more drying steps, the paper is carefully lifted back from the mold. It is now strong enough to be touched. The paper is smoothed and pressed to remove trapped air. You can use a common electric iron used for pressing clothes. There are many other technologies for people making paper using small machines. You can order more information about making paper from EnterpriseWorks/VITA. The address of the group’s Web site is enterpriseworks.org. And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report. Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. Measuring Star Power as a Force for Activism Celebrities may face mixed reactions to their efforts. Just ask George Clooney. Transcript of radio broadcast: 10 February 2008 This is the VOA Special English Development Report. Some actors and rock stars use their star power for social activism. But how much power do they really have? Daniel Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School at Tufts University in Massachusetts. He says measuring the effects of celebrity activism can be difficult. He thinks perhaps the most successful example is Princess Diana's campaign against landmines in the nineteen nineties. Yet in the end, he says, it was her death in a car crash that brought more attention to her work and to the issue. Professor Drezner says celebrity activism can have influence. Star power can bring public attention, donations and pressure for action on important issues. It can also educate fans through stories in the entertainment media. But at the same time there are risks. Most people will grow tired of an issue, the professor says. And they might also grow tired of a celebrity who keeps talking about it, especially if they think governments are already taking action. Also, when star power is directed at one crisis, others could be forgotten. Some people or governments could feel that celebrities are misusing their fame and wealth to influence policy. They might think an entertainer should stick to entertaining. Actor George Clooney speaks to reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York Daniel Drezner says professional policy experts might feel deeper hostility. Facing competition, they begin to question their own influence. George Clooney, the Academy Award-winning actor, is no stranger to celebrity activism. For more than four years he has campaigned to end the conflict in Darfur, in western Sudan.  Now, he is a newly appointed United Nations messenger of peace. He just returned from a two-week trip to Darfur, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo with a U.N. peacekeeping official. They also went to India, a big provider of U.N. peacekeepers. Yet when George Clooney visited U.N. headquarters in New York, not everyone was excited to see him. Fans clearly were. But he was prevented from reporting on his trip at a meeting of countries that provide peacekeeping troops. Diplomats told news agencies it was because of objections from several countries, including Russia. But a U.N. spokeswoman said it was because of rules -- procedural reasons. She added that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations hoped to have him talk to the countries in the future. And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. Honoring 'Citizen Diplomats' A private group, the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy, recognizes six Americans for their work for cultural understanding. Transcript of radio broadcast: 17 February 2008 This is the VOA Special English Development Report. The United States Center for Citizen Diplomacy is a nonprofit group started in Iowa in two thousand six. It says every American has the right, and even the responsibility, to help shape foreign relations "one handshake at a time." Last week, in Washington, the center honored six Americans with its first National Awards for Citizen Diplomacy. A two-day conference also took place to urge more Americans to become citizen diplomats. National Awards for Citizen Diplomacy announced Nineteen-year-old Anjali Bhatia of New Jersey was the youngest winner. At sixteen, she started a group called Discover Worlds to build relations between the United States and Rwanda. The aim is to help orphans from the nineteen ninety-four genocide and young people affected by H.I.V. to stay in school. Discover Worlds has fifty-seven locally run student groups across the United States. And there are hopes for partnerships in India soon. Anjali Bhatia says that by the end of this year, Discover Worlds hopes to be supporting about two hundred fifty Rwandan orphans. Its members also write letters to the children. Another award winner, Tarik Daoud, is a business leader in Michigan who has led international delegations. He was recognized for his work for cross-cultural understanding through groups like the International Visitors Council of Detroit. Khris Nedam is an elementary school teacher in Michigan who has also taught in France, Turkey and Afghanistan. She started a group with her sixth grade students called Kids4AfghanKids which works to rebuild schools in Afghanistan. Greg Mortenson of Montana is co-founder of the Central Asia Institute and Pennies for Peace, and co-author of the book "Three Cups of Tea." The center says he has raised money to build sixty-four schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Jillian Poole of Virginia started the Fund for Arts and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe in nineteen ninety-one. Her work has helped arts and cultural groups deal with a free-market economy after years of depending on government support. And Donna Tabor volunteers in Granada, Nicaragua, for Building New Hope, a community development group based in Pennsylvania. It supports a small cooperative of coffee farmers in northern Nicaragua. It also operates two schools and a lending library. And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. A Business Plan for Social Change TechnoServe is a 40-year-old group that has helped create or improve more than 2,000 businesses in the developing world. Transcript of radio broadcast: 24 February 2008 This is the VOA Special English Development Report. Starting a business is never easy. But an organization like TechnoServe can make it easier. A businessman in the American state of Connecticut, Ed Bullard, launched this nonprofit group forty years ago. The name comes from the idea of technology in the service of mankind. TechnoServe looks for business solutions to rural poverty. Or, as it says on its Web site, "social change has a business plan." The group has helped create or improve more than two thousand businesses in about thirty countries. Luba Vangelova works for TechnoServe in Washington, D.C. She tells us the group has an estimated budget this year of about forty-five million dollars. She says much of that will support business training and development programs in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.  In parts of Central America, for example, TechnoServe is helping coffee producers become competitive in new and growing markets. In rural India the group is assisting farmers with crop production. And in Mozambique, TechnoServe is helping develop the travel and tourism industry. Some finalists of the 2007 Believe Begin Become competition in Tanzania One way it identifies promising entrepreneurs is through a business plan competition called Believe Begin Become. This is an intensive program that provides technical training and expert advice. Winners receive money to bring their business plans to reality. TechnoServe has held nine national competitions in Central America since two thousand two. Five competitions have been held in Africa, including one in Tanzania last year. SPEAKER: "B.B.B. has been a breakthrough for me. Finally I am going to own my own business. And I am going to employ people." A TechnoServe channel on YouTube describes Believe Begin Become and some of the winning business plans. Luba Vangelova says TechnoServe also supports entrepreneurship programs for teenagers and young adults. Charity Navigator, an independent group that rates American charities, has given TechnoServe its highest rating. And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. A link to TechnoServe can be found at voaspecialenglish.com, along with transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports.