全球会客厅：扶贫路上的中外志愿者

10月17日是联合国设立的“国际消除贫困日”，以引起全世界人民对贫困问题的重视，推动各国采取具体的行动消除贫困。从2014年开始，这一天也被国务院设立为中国的“扶贫日”。

正如习近平总书记所说，消除贫困是人类的共同使命。在今年的扶贫日即将到来之际，10月12日，中央广播电视总台中国国际电视台（CGTN）的“全球会客厅”网络直播节目邀请了来自美国、德国、卢森堡和中国的几位扶贫志愿者，分享了他们在各自的领域内助力减贫的故事和所见所思。CGTN虚拟主播熊猫小墨也首次在节目中亮相。

October 17 marks the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, which reminds us that even in a world of unprecedented development of technology, economic growth and financial resources, millions of people still live in extreme poverty.

The day has also been marked as China's National Poverty Relief Day since 2014, and as China works towards its goal of completely eradicating absolute poverty by the end of 2020, many changes have taken place in remote rural areas.

"The Chat Room" brought together a group of experts and volunteers who have been working in poverty relief across the world to share their stories. CGTN's virtual reality mascot, giant panda Xiaomo, made its first appearance in the studio as well.

为了消除贫困，他们做了什么？

What can be done to eradicate poverty?

来自美国的罗伯特•拉肯（Robert Larkin）是华中农业大学的园艺学教授。过去几年，他一直在湖北省从事农业扶贫项目，带领自己的学生帮助贫困山区的农民遴选和推广适合当地种植的高附加值农产品，比如葡萄柚、梨等，用科学的种植方法帮助当地农民增产增收。

华中农业大学教授罗伯特•拉肯（Robert Larkin）在节目中介绍自己的农业扶贫项目

尼科•汉森(Nico Hansen)是来自卢森堡的一名退休警察，而现在，他的身份是广西壮族自治区的一名扶贫“洋助理”。几年前，去广西旅游的他，看到当地政府正在向农民推广种植百香果，他对此很感兴趣，于是决定留下来，加入当地的扶贫工作中。

他介绍说，百香果让当地农民的收入大幅增加了，短短两三年的时间，原本贫穷落后的小山村发生了翻天覆地的变化，新修了水泥路，拆掉了老旧的危房，建了新房子，通了自来水和电，村民们的生活水平提高了，幸福感也增强了，今年还打算开始种植一种黄色的优质西瓜，进一步提高收入。

来自德国的夏爱克（Eckehard Scharfschwerdt）是一名医生，他在云南的一个贫困山村扎根了15年，在治病救人的同时也帮助培训当地的医生。他说，他见证了这个地方过去15年发生的巨大变化，不仅当地的医院从一无所有到各种医疗设备齐全，铁路、公路等各项基础设施也不断完善，让人印象深刻。

来自德国的夏爱克（Eckehard Scharfschwerdt）医生在节目里讲述自己的扶贫经历

当这些外国友人在为中国的扶贫事业发光发热时，中国的志愿者也在为世界其它国家减少贫困贡献自己的力量。

过去两年，中国女孩陆昕清一直在内罗毕担任非洲绿色革命联盟（Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa，简称AGRA）中非合作项目的负责人。该组织致力于推动非洲农业体系的转型，帮助提高非洲国家粮食产量和农民收入。陆昕清是该组织中的唯一的中国人，她的工作是把中国在农业领域的先进经验、政策和技术介绍到非洲国家，帮助当地提高粮食产量，解决饥饿这一难题。

另一名中国青年刘宜孟翰已经在肯尼亚呆了13年，现在是一个公益组织的联合创始人。2014年，还在上大二的孟翰到肯尼亚的一所学校支教，发现当地的教学条件极其落后，教室只有七八平米，而且没有照明设施，于是他决定筹集资金改造这所学校。最终，他和朋友们从国内募集了8万元，对这所学校进行了改造，大大改善了那里的教学环境。

为了降低当地学生的辍学率，他又和学校合作，为学生们提供免费的早餐和午餐。他介绍说，他的下一步计划是在非洲建立免费的职业培训中心，帮助当地的年轻人获得职业技能，让他们可以去当地的中国公司工作，从而获得稳定的收入。

Robert Larkin is a professor at Huazhong Agriculture University. He has been working with a poverty alleviation program through agriculture and has witnessed changes in local villages after farmers there shifted from growing traditional crops to grapefruit.

Nico Hansen is a retired police officer from Luxembourg and his story with China started with a tour to a village in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 2015.

According to Hansen, the local government was seeking to persuade farmers to shift to passion fruit at the time, and he wanted to help.

He started working on poverty alleviation there in 2018. Over the two years, villagers have seen new paved roads and moved to new houses. Electricity and water are no longer a problem for them, so they are considering planting yellow watermelon, a fruit which can create a greater margin of profit.

German doctor Eckehard Scharfschwerdt has got a Chinese name – Xia Aike, and he has been working in China for 15 years. Starting in 2016, after a visit to a village in Yunnan Province, he joined the poverty alleviation program in the local area by working with hospitals in saving lives and training doctors.

As foreign volunteers work in China, so are Chinese people contributing to other countries.

Lu Xinqing, after working for two years in Nairobi in poverty eradication, is pursuing her master's degree in France majoring in the environment and agricultural policy. 

Liu Yimenghan, co-founder of a Chinese NGO "Dream Building Service Alliance," has been working in Kenya for 13 years. He now focuses on a feeding program in schools aimed at providing improved educational opportunities for children in Africa.

来自美国、德国、卢森堡和中国的扶贫志愿者参加“全球会客厅”直播节目

扶贫工作的关键是什么？

The key to poverty eradication

对于扶贫工作的关键所在，有人说是“扶贫先扶智”，也有人说“要想富，先修路”，而这几位长期从事扶贫工作的志愿者，也表达了他们的看法。

拉肯教授认为教育很重要，他在华中农业大学所做的项目致力于帮助贫困地区农民科学地种植农作物，从而提高他们的收入。他认为在这方面还需要很多努力。

夏爱克医生表示认同，他说，扶贫首先要改变人们的想法，因而教育和培训很重要。

汉森则强调了畅通的道路对落后山区的重要性，他认为基础设施是发展的基础。

陆昕清补充说，合作也很重要，这其中既包括政府和私营单位的合作，也包括不同国家之间的国际合作。

刘宜孟翰说，中国发起的一带一路倡议正是推动基础设施建设和国际合作的典范，但是在落实一带一路的过程中，授人以鱼不如授人以渔。

Hansen believes that infrastructure is the most important part in eradicating poverty from a certain area. He cited his own experience as an example: while streets were built into the villages, electricity, houses and education were lagging. The village has now completely changed.

Dr. Xia emphasized the changes happening deep in the hearts of people. "You cannot change a person from outside. Changes must come from inside," he said, which also emphasizing education and training.

Liu echoed Xia's opinions, citing an ancient Chinese proverb: "Teach someone fishing instead of giving him fish."

For Lu, who has been working with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), cooperation is of great significance in today's world. She pointed out that there are two layers of cooperation of equal importance – between public and private sectors in a specific nation, and cooperation globally.

 CGTN主持人邹韵与GGTN熊猫小墨在“全球会客厅”北京演播室

扶贫一直在路上

A vision

今年以来，由于新冠肺炎疫情，大家的工作都受到了不同程度的影响。然而，提到未来的计划，嘉宾们都憧憬满满。

居住在云南的夏爱克医生说，他希望可以帮助当地人民提高健康的生活意识。他说，随着人们生活水平的提高，他发现肥胖等健康问题变得很普遍，他希望帮助人们养成健康的生活习惯，比如注意饮食均衡、经常健身等。

同时，他也希望可以为当地培训更多的医生。“作为一名医生，我可以救100个人；但是作为一名老师，我却可以教出100名医生，”他自豪地说。

汉森正计划着帮助当地发展生态旅游。他说，他所在的村庄原本就风景秀美，现在加上各种生态水果和蔬菜种植，对城市居民来说会具有很大的吸引力。

刘宜孟翰在非洲改造的学校大多数都因为疫情暂时关闭了，而他正在回顾整理此前的工作，希望等疫情结束之后把这些成功的模式推广到更大的范围。

陆昕清目前正在法国读研，她计划着毕业后再回到非洲，用她所学的粮食安全方面的知识继续为非洲的农业发展贡献自己的力量。

The guests talked about how their work has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected their work to different degrees, with projects delayed or canceled.

However, speaking of their expectation about their work in the future, they all have a clear vision.

Dr. Xia said he hopes that he could help residents in the villages where he worked in Yunnan to improve their awareness of healthy living. He said that as the economic situation improves, many other problems, such as obesity, have also arrived in many areas of China. Forming a good habit in life is important, like eating healthy and doing exercise.

Though his routine travel in China was impacted by the pandemic, he is still looking forward to providing more medical training for the local people.

"As a doctor, I can save 100 lives, but as a teacher, I can train 100 doctors," said Dr. Xia.

For Hansen, he is expecting to help the local government boost eco-tourism, aside from the fruit growing. He added that the location in the village is beautiful and attractive, and with eco-fruits and vegetables, he believes the area could appeal to urban residents as well.

Liu's NGO has been providing breakfast and lunch for school children in six African countries. Now, the schools are closed due to the pandemic, and he has been going through the work in previous years, in the hope of expanding the NGO to an international level, which can do more.

After pursuing her master's degree, Lu Xinqing is planning to return to Africa and devote what she has learned regarding food security. Lu said she wants to devote herself to agriculture and climate change there.

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