On a busy day at the Fith Mith Clinic in a suburb ofGuédiawaye, just outside of Dakar, Mamy Diop hadjust given birth to her third child, only one year andthree months after the previous. She did not knowabout family planning before, but she does now. I justdecided to take birth spacing measures and will asksoon about which method I should use. Family Planningis an emerging and somewhat controversial topic in Senegal where more than 2,000 participantsmet in early December for the International Conference on Family Planning. Senegalese PresidentAbdoulaye Wade highlighted the dilemma his country faces. To survive, it is good to limit thenumber of children, but this should, again, be a decision made completely voluntarily. We are consequently believers, and we cannot impose contraceptive methods, methods which preventprocreation. But more and more, families are seeking contraception to space or limit births despitethe associated taboos in the country, which is more than 90 percent Muslim. Some people sayIslam is against family planning, but life is getting more and more difficult. Historically, the onlyacceptable application of family planning has been birth spacing for the health of the mother andthe child. But religious leaders increasingly are invoking the Quran's message of financialresponsibility. Islam has discussed this. If resources are limited and the family size is too large,there will be problems for the family. We are already living a situation of scarcity and we should talkopenly. We have many children here, but what kind of children do we have? Many Muslim scholarssay that, barring abortion, the faithful can use many types of birth control - but only if it is critical for the sake of the mother or the family's finances. If both are healthy, the consensus is thatparents should continue to reproduce. If not, families have many choices. This is the intrauterine device, this the cycle necklace, these are injectables, this is the feminine condom, the pills, thereare implants, plus the male condom. Mariama Baye is the head nurse and midwife at the Fith MithClinic. She says none of those methods cost more than $1 per month and demand is on the risedespite persistent social obstacles. With our efforts and discussions in the neighborhoods, womennow understand what birth spacing is and they want to come. When we say birth limitation, theydon't listen. So we say birth spacing. With birth spacing, I hope the final goal will be the limitation ofbirths. The clinic participates in an urban family planning project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and coordinated by Intrahealth, a private American organization that supports healthworkers throughout the world. Pape Gaye is the Intrahealth's CEO and a native of Senegal. We'veseen way too many people in the streets, way too many people who are not going to school, waytoo many poor people. You have the visible sign of poverty, which is part of refusing to controlpopulation. This is Nic Lum reported from VOA news, Dakar.

非洲塞内加尔首都达喀尔外围郊区的第五米特诊所又迎来了繁忙的一天。一位名叫马米的母亲也在这天生下了自己的第三个孩子，而她的第二个孩子才出生一年零三个月。马米以前不了解计划生育，但是现在她知道了。我已经决定采取生育间隔的措施了，接下来我会询问了解自己应该用什么样的方法来实现生育间隔。在塞内加尔，计划生育的话题刚出现没多久，就引起了不小的争议。12月初，有2000多名塞内加尔公民参加了有关计划生育的国际会议。会中，塞内加尔总统阿卜杜拉耶强调了其国所面临的困境。为了生存，限制生育是件好事，但是否限制生育又是个完全自愿的决定。我们是有信仰的，所以我们不能强迫大家采用避孕途径来阻止生育。虽然塞内加尔有相关禁止条令，越来越多的家庭通过避孕途径来限制生育。



一些人认为，虽然穆斯林反对计划生育，但是生活境况确实愈发艰难。从过往历史来看，唯一可接受的计划生育手段就是生育间隔。这种方式对母子的健康都好。但有一些宗教领袖援引古兰经里关于经济义务的话语。伊斯兰教已经讨论过这个话题。如果资源有限，而家庭成员很多，那就会有很多问题出现。我们已经生活拮据，应该开诚布公。我们已经有很多孩子了，但他们的生存境况如何呢？很多穆斯林学者认为，如果母亲身体素质不佳或者家庭经济拮据，那么穆斯林人也可以采用多种形式来控制生育。如果母亲健康且家庭有经济能力，那大家还是一致认同应该继续生育的。如若不然，穆斯林的家庭有很多选择。这个是用于子宫内部的避孕装置，这个是生理周期项链，这些是注射式避孕用品，这个是女性避孕套、避孕药丸，这些是植入式避孕器，还有男性避孕套。马里亚玛是该避孕所的护士长兼助产。她说这些避孕用品的成本，每个月不到1美元，所以尽管社会上一直有反对的声音，但这些避孕用品的需求量却始终在上升。在我们的努力和讨论下，如今，很多女性理解了生育间隔是什么，并想采用这种方式。我们要是说限制生育，他们是不会听的。所以我们说生育间隔。我希望，在生育间隔的帮助下，最终可以限制生育。如今该诊所加入了一个城市计划生育的项目中，该项目由比尔盖茨和梅琳达基金会赞助，由美国一家致力于为全球医护人员提供支持的私企Intrahealth承办。佩普是Intrahealth的CEO，塞内加尔人。在塞内加尔总能看到街上人头攒动，很多孩子上不了学，很多穷人处境艰难。贫穷触目可及，而其中有一部分原因就是人们不愿意控制人口。感谢收听尼克为您从达喀尔发回的报道。

词汇解释

1.give birth to 生孩子

例句:In the beginning, we thought that my wife wouldgive birth to twins, but more foetuses werediscovered.

最开始，我们只以为我妻子会生一对双胞胎，但是后来检查出有更多的胎儿。

2.for the sake of 为了

例句:She called on us merely for the sake of courtesy.

她来访只是为了礼貌。。

3.on the rise 处于上升趋势，上升，增加

例句:Diversity is on the rise – markedly so in some instances.

多样性在增加——某些具体例子中这种情况很明显。

4.family planning 计划生育

例句:Earlier this month, the Shanghai Population and Family Planning Committee held an educationcampaign, calling on parents and school administrators to speak with youngsters about sex.

本月早些时候，上海人口与计划生育委员会举办了一个教育宣传活动，呼吁家长和学校管理者们与青少年谈论性问题。