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Bringing Color to Life (and Tears to Eyes) With a Natural Dye

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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Experts Watch for Spread of Chikungunya, a Highly Painful Virus

September 13th, 2009 at 03:31am Under Development Report

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Correction attachedThis is the VOA Special English Development Report.

People get chikungunya fever when they are bitten by mosquitoes infected with the disease. For many years, the disease has been found in countries in Africa and Asia. The symptoms are increased body temperature, pain in muscles and joints and stomach sickness.

Hospital patients suffering from chikungunya in Ahmadabad, India, in 2006

The disease is not usually deadly. But the muscle and joint pain can last for weeks or months. There is no vaccine to prevent the disease and no special drug to treat it. Doctors advise taking medicines like aspirin or ibuprofen.

The name chikungunya means “that which bends up” in the Swahili language. People infected with the virus walk in a bent-over position because of the severe pain in the joints.

Malaysia reported more than one thousand one hundred cases of chikungunya so far this year. In Indonesia, about two hundred people in central Java became sick from the virus last month. And about one thousand people near Yeshwanthpur in India also showed signs of the disease in March.

But the disease also appeared in a cooler climate in two thousand seven, causing concern about its spread. Italy reported about two hundred cases during warm weather. The medical journal Eurosurveillance Weekly said it was the first time mosquitoes carried the virus inside Europe.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito can carry the chikungunya virus

Two kinds of mosquitoes carry chikungunya fever. One is called Aedes albopictus, or Asian tiger mosquito. It has been reported in many European countries including France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. It also lives in the southern United States. The other mosquito that can carry chikungunya, Aedes aegypti, also is present in the United States.

Ann Powers is an expert on viruses. She works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Fort Collins, Colorado. She said the disease spread is not directly connected to climate change. But she also said C.D.C. scientists are preparing for possible cases of chikungunya in the United States.

People around the world can prevent diseases spread by mosquitoes by removing standing water from their property. They should try to keep mosquitoes out of their homes. And they should wear clothing that covers the arms and legs when they are outside. DEET and other chemicals that work against insects can keep mosquitoes from biting.

And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Steve Ember.

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