Irene Okoth and her five children have been living on 50 cents a day. That is what she earns recycling garbage from the nearby dump. But now, her family will be getting some help from an aid group called Concern Worldwide International, through its "urban livelihoods" program. And Okoth will not have to travel to a bank or an aid center to get it.
The money will be put directly into her hands through a mobile telephone system called M-PESA, introduced in Kenya in 2007. Okoth says it doesn't matter that she does not even own a phone. I will go to the M-PESA person. I will give her the SIM card to put for me in their phone. The secret PIN I will put it in myself and then I will remove the money. Through the M-PESA money transfer system, subscribers deposit cash through registered agents and notify recipients by text message to collect their money at any one of hundreds of convenient locations. In a place like Korogocho, one of Nairobi's informal settlements known for its grinding poverty and crime, M-PESA is also the safest option.
Emily Macharia, who started up a shop in Korogocho through funding from Concern Worldwide, says people are more vulnerable to theft if an aid agency representative delivers money to them directly. Everybody will know that, that woman, she has gone there, she is going to give her money. You see? The environment we are living in, it is not good for us to expose ourselves. It is good for having M-PESA with us. Convenience is also a reason the program works well. Amina Abdulla is one of Concern Worldwide's program managers. It takes less than 15 minutes for us to move the money from our account to the beneficiary's account, less than 15 minutes. In terms of them being able to withdraw. there is a huge network of M-PESA agents, particularly in the slum. Every 10 steps you take, there is an M-PESA agent, so in terms of accessing their money,it's pretty easy.
Now Irene Okoth is one of M-PESA's newest customers. She received her payment, the local equivalent of about $20 (US), and has immediate plans for the money.As for now, I have arrears on my rent. For the first cash transfer, I will take 1,000 [shillings] and start the fish business," Okoth said. "I'll give 500 [shillings] and give it to the landlord, [and] will take the remaining 500 [shillings] and do the budget for my house. Okoth says her first experience with M-PESA has dispelled the doubts she had about using mobile phone technology.
重点解析1.live on v ph. 以……为生，以……为收入来源例句:The proportion of Americans living on welfare rose.
靠福利生活的美国人的比例上升了。2.grinding poverty n ph. 极度贫困例句:The relatively glitzy world of Kabul contrasts starkly with the grinding poverty of the rural areas.
喀布尔这个相对浮华的城市与民不聊生的贫困的农村地区形成了鲜明的对比。3.be vulnerable to... v ph 易受……的攻击/侵害例句:The man who left the naked woman at the side of the road on Natal Day was eventually picked up by the police---but only because the woman, too vulnerable to do anything else, called for help.
那些被警察收留的糟遇劫持，赤身裸体躺在路边的妓女也都是在走投无路的情况下才选择报警。4.in terms of... prep ph. 就……而言，依据例句:Why do we have to define professionalism in terms of basic supply and demand?
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