August 21st, 2010 at 07:04am
Under Development Report
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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.
Dye can bring a little color to life. Most clothing is colored with dyes. Modern, manufactured dyes can be costly. Natural dyes from plant and animal products have been used since ancient times. So this week, we describe a natural way to dye wool.
The advice comes from information written by Jenny Dean of the Intermediate Technology Development Group in Britain. This anti-poverty group is now called Practical Action.
There are several methods to put dye onto material. The vat method, for example, can be used to dye wool with onionskins. For this example, use one hundred grams of natural wool. The wool must be clean. Leave it overnight in water and liquid soap. Then wash it with clean water that is a little warm. Gently squeeze out the extra water.
A solution called a mordant is used in the dying process. A mordant helps fix the dye to the material. Traditionally, mordants were found in nature. Wood ash is one example. But chemical mordants such as alum are popular today. Alum is sold in many stores. It is often mixed with cream of tartar, a fine powder commonly used in cooking.
Mix eight grams of alum with seven grams of cream of tartar in a small amount of hot water. Add the solution to a metal pan of cool water. Next, add the wool and place the mixture over heat. Slowly bring the liquid to eighty-two degrees Celsius. Heat the mixture for forty-five minutes. After it cools, remove the wool and wash it.
To prepare the dye solution, cover thirty grams of onionskins with water. Use only the dry, brown outer skins. Boil the liquid until the onionskins lose their color, about forty-five minutes,. Remove the skins after the dye cools.
Now it is time to dye the wool. Place the wool into the dye and heat the mixture. Bring it to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat to eighty-two degrees. Now heat the dye for about forty-five minutes or until the wool is the desired color. Keep in mind that wet wool looks darker than it is.
Once the dye cools, remove the wool and wash it. Now the wool is orange or yellow. Or at least it should be.
Internet users can get the full details at practicalaction.org. Again, the address is practicalaction dot org. And enter the word “dye,” d-y-e, in the search box. We will post a link to the site at voaspecialenglish.com.
And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. I’m Steve Ember.
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August 3rd, 2010 at 07:46am
Under Development Report
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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.
The health care industry needs more nurses. All areas of the world face a nursing shortage. But the shortage is most severe in developing countries. Many of their nurses leave. They move to more developed nations for better pay, better working conditions and better chances for career development.
A World Bank report earlier this year called attention to the problem. For example, nearly two thousand nurses left the Caribbean between two thousand two and two thousand six.
Caribbean nations currently have about one nurse for every one thousand people. The ratio of nurses to population is about ten times higher in the United States and countries in the European Union.
Currently, more than twenty-one thousand nurses who trained in the Caribbean are working in the United States, Canada and Britain.
Gaetan Lafortune is with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. He says the nursing shortage also affects industrialized countries.
GAETAN LAFORTUNE: “There are concerns in most O.E.C.D. countries that the number of nurses is too small to respond to the demand. And what is more worrying is that their concerns are sort of growing.”
Mr. Lafortune says a large number of nurses are expected to retire within the next ten years. At the same time, the health care needs of aging populations are expected to grow, intensifying the shortage of nurses.
GAETAN LAFORTUNE: “In the U.S., for instance, some researchers have projected that there may be a shortage of close to a million nurses by two thousand twenty.”
The United States is one of thirty-one countries in the O.E.C.D. Gaetan Lafortune says in recent years many of the countries increased their efforts to hire foreign nurses.
GAETAN LAFORTUNE: “But this has raised concern that O.E.C.D. countries were mainly exporting their shortage problem to countries that may have an even greater need for these nurses.”
In May, the World Health Assembly approved a global code of practice on the international recruitment of health workers. The assembly is made up of countries in the World Health Organization. The code advises against actively recruiting health workers from developing countries that face severe shortages.
The world also faces a shortage of nursing trainers. As a result, nursing schools are forced to turn away qualified students.
And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by June Simms. You can find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. What are your thoughts about the nursing shortage and what should be done about it? Share your comments on our website or on Facebook at VOA Learning English. I’m Bob Gotkin.
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