The script of this programme 本節目文字稿

Beth: When you came to me for the first time

I felt love,

and my heart

began to open like a flower…

Wang Fei: 大家好，歡迎收聽《都市掠影》節目，我是王飛。您剛才聽到的是 Beth Noble 自寫、自讀的詩歌。Beth is a self-taught poet. 自學成才的詩人。她的詩歌優雅、清新。在倫敦四月的一個下午，她邀請了很多朋友參加她的詩歌朗誦會。但是，這個朗誦會的目的是為非洲的貧困婦女籌集善款。她為這次募捐行為命名為 "Pennies for Poems" – 聽我詩歌、捐你零錢。她覺得她的詩歌與慈善之間有什么共同之處呢？她為什么這么做呢？我們一起聽一下。

Beth: (Reading her poem)

Waiting for Spring

You tantalise me with a couple of

dewy, blue-skied, bright-eyed mornings.

The smiling daffodils,

peeking through the cold earth,

reminding me that life still exists

amidst the grey and the struggle…

Beth: A lot of the poetry I’ve written kind of is about our shared humanity and our experience of being human, and the emotional life. And often charities are very… very much about that – empowering people to follow their dreams. I’m very interested in international development and women’s issues, and being a mum myself and a self-taught poet and artist, working with the MicroLoan Foundation is wonderful for me because it’s a chance to share my creativity and also do something great to help other women in Africa to fulfil their dreams.

Wang Fei: Beth 說她的詩歌主要寫 shared humanity 共通的人性 and our experience of being human 和人性的經歷。And often charities are very much about empowering people to follow their dreams. 而慈善也常常是帶給人們追尋夢想的動力。所以她愿意用她的詩歌作為一種慈善手段，和 Microloan Foundation 這個慈善組織合作，to help women in Africa to fulfil their dreams, 幫助非洲貧困婦女實現她們的夢想。那這次活動的目的實現了嗎？Has she reached her aim in this event?

Beth: Well, our aim was ￡250 which I think we have managed to raise. So that’s brilliant. As I said, it’s part of a bigger fundraising effort called the Pennies For Life, which is to raise four million pennies, which is about ￡40,000. So it’s just a small contribution to that.

Wang Fei: Her aim was 250 pounds. 她的目標是250英鎊，and she has managed to raise. 她已經實現了這個目標。But this event is only a small contribution to a bigger fundraising effort Pennies for Life which is to raise four million pennies, 400萬枚便士。One pence 是英國最小的硬幣單位。1英鎊等于100 便士。four million pennies 也就是4萬英鎊。他們想把這400萬枚硬幣連成世界上最長的硬幣線。The longest line of pennies in the world! 我們請 MicroLoan Foundation 的 CEO Peter Ryan 來解釋一下。聽的時候請注意一個單詞 Sellotape 也就是 sticky tape是透明膠帶的意思。

Peter: Yeah, the idea behind the longest line of pennies is taking the smallest coin which exists in the UK – which is a penny, which is a coin which most people don’t value at all – and getting as many people as possible to collect pennies. So over two days we are going to lay the longest line of pennies in the world, which is… comprises over four million pennies, which we are going to stick on to Sellotape. And to achieve it, we need a thousand people who are totally mad, who are prepared to work from six until six, and probably six until nine every night sticking these pennies, which we’re going to do at one of the local schools in London.

Wang Fei: 原來 Peter 發現很多人對一便士的硬幣并不在意。 Most people don't value one-pence coins at all. 所以他們收集這些硬幣，然后 stick them on to Sellotape and make it the longest line of pennies. 把它們粘在透明膠帶上，做成世界上最長的硬幣線。這可要花費很多的人力來完成這項壯舉！聽完今天的節目，你是不是也覺得在進行慈善募捐的時候，也需要很多的 creativity, 創意！好的，在節目的最后，我們再次聆聽 Beth 優美的詩歌，她的詩集的名字叫 Evolution: A Creative Journey to Inner Peace 我們下次節目再會！

Beth: (Reading her poem)

Waiting for Spring

You tantalise me with a couple of

dewy, blue-skied, bright-eyed mornings.

The smiling daffodils,

peeking through the cold earth,

reminding me that life still exists

amidst the grey and the struggle…

I start preparing the soil for planting,

and dream again of

sun kissing my bed sheets

and drenching my skin

while I lazily stretch out,

reading a book and

sipping a cup of fresh tea…