Three university students in Uganda have created WinSenga

Song Three university students in Uganda have created WinSenga
Artist 英语听力
Album VOA慢速英语：科技报道

Lyrics

[00:00.10] From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.31] this is the Technology Report.
[00:04.88] Three university students in Uganda
[00:08.83] have created a smartphone application
[00:11.63] that may help improve health care
[00:14.69] for pregnant women in rural areas.
[00:17.63] Joshua Okello and two other students
[00:21.81] at Makerere University in Kampal
[00:24.92] created the app in 2012.
[00:28.12] They call it WinSenga -
[00:31.03] "senga" is the local word
[00:33.63] uses to describe a female family member
[00:36.93] who helps a woman during pregnancy.
[00:40.09] The "Win" in the name
[00:42.17] comes from the Microsoft product Windows.
[00:45.23] Last year, the computer software company
[00:49.19] gave Mr Okello and his partners $50,000
[00:54.35] to continue development on the WinSenga app.
[00:58.25] A small microphone is placed inside a plastic horn.
[01:03.91] Mr Okello says midwives in the area
[01:07.66] have used similar devices for centuries
[01:11.28] to help women during childbirth.
[01:14.03] "It's a long cone-shaped device
[01:16.04] with a hole through it
[01:17.49] and a flat top.
[01:18.84] The midwife places it on the belly
[01:20.69] and listens in.
[01:22.74] Every midwife in this country has seen it,
[01:25.80] and that is what they are trained with," said Okello.
[01:27.70] The smartphone app records and examines
[01:31.86] the sound of the unborn baby's heartbeat.
[01:34.87] Mr Okello says, if the app suspects a problem,
[01:39.56] then it informs the midwife of different actions she might take.
[01:45.83] "Say you have a baby and
[01:47.60] we detect that the heartbeat is
[01:49.75] less than 120 beats per minute.
[01:52.07] That is a problem. So immediately,
[01:54.22] we pop up something that says ‘Please,
[01:56.13] we suggest that you could do A, B, C, D,'" explained Okello.
[01:58.77] Mr Okello says having a mobile device with this app
[02:03.63] could make it easier for health care workers
[02:06.64] to reach women in villages far away from cities.
[02:10.95] He says it will also be less costly
[02:14.96] than the machines that are now being used.
[02:18.13] "We are getting a solution that's cheaper,
[02:20.73] which means that more clinics are going to get it.
[02:23.03] If we could get Huawei
[02:24.03] or I don't know who to give us phones for free,
[02:26.84] we are looking at a solution that's less than $100," said Okello.
[02:29.80] Juliet Birungi is an obstetrician -
[02:33.85] a doctor who cares for pregnant women.
[02:37.30] She has tried WinSenga.
[02:40.00] She says hospitals could use the app
[02:43.66] to help medical workers follow the health of the baby,
[02:47.12] even when they are not there.
[02:50.09] "You have so many mothers in labor,
[02:52.24] and we do not have enough staff.
[02:53.55] You find that while the mother is
[02:55.91] laboring here, the other one is delivering,
[02:58.66] the other one is bleeding.
[03:00.61] So when you come,
[03:01.71] you are able to look at the recording," said Birungi.
[03:04.11] Doctor Birungi says
[03:05.96] having these up to date records of the baby's health condition,
[03:10.17] could make the difference between life and death.
[03:14.43] But she says the app is not a substitute
[03:18.48] for a trained medical worker.
[03:20.58] Mr Okello says the app could also be helpful
[03:25.24] in other developing countries
[03:27.99] with similar problems to Uganda.
[03:29.74] And he says, with further changes to the app,
[03:33.80] it could even be used at home
[03:36.31] by pregnant women in developed countries.
[03:39.55] Work on WinSenga continues.
[03:42.82] Mr Okello and his team are busy preparing
[03:46.72] for a major series of clinical testing this month.
[03:51.22] And that's the VOA Learning English Technology Report.
[03:55.62] I'm June Simms.

Pinyin

[00:00.10] From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.31] this is the Technology Report.
[00:04.88] Three university students in Uganda
[00:08.83] have created a smartphone application
[00:11.63] that may help improve health care
[00:14.69] for pregnant women in rural areas.
[00:17.63] Joshua Okello and two other students
[00:21.81] at Makerere University in Kampal
[00:24.92] created the app in 2012.
[00:28.12] They call it WinSenga
[00:31.03] " senga" is the local word
[00:33.63] uses to describe a female family member
[00:36.93] who helps a woman during pregnancy.
[00:40.09] The " Win" in the name
[00:42.17] comes from the Microsoft product Windows.
[00:45.23] Last year, the computer software company
[00:49.19] gave Mr Okello and his partners 50, 000
[00:54.35] to continue development on the WinSenga app.
[00:58.25] A small microphone is placed inside a plastic horn.
[01:03.91] Mr Okello says midwives in the area
[01:07.66] have used similar devices for centuries
[01:11.28] to help women during childbirth.
[01:14.03] " It' s a long coneshaped device
[01:16.04] with a hole through it
[01:17.49] and a flat top.
[01:18.84] The midwife places it on the belly
[01:20.69] and listens in.
[01:22.74] Every midwife in this country has seen it,
[01:25.80] and that is what they are trained with," said Okello.
[01:27.70] The smartphone app records and examines
[01:31.86] the sound of the unborn baby' s heartbeat.
[01:34.87] Mr Okello says, if the app suspects a problem,
[01:39.56] then it informs the midwife of different actions she might take.
[01:45.83] " Say you have a baby and
[01:47.60] we detect that the heartbeat is
[01:49.75] less than 120 beats per minute.
[01:52.07] That is a problem. So immediately,
[01:54.22] we pop up something that says ' Please,
[01:56.13] we suggest that you could do A, B, C, D,'" explained Okello.
[01:58.77] Mr Okello says having a mobile device with this app
[02:03.63] could make it easier for health care workers
[02:06.64] to reach women in villages far away from cities.
[02:10.95] He says it will also be less costly
[02:14.96] than the machines that are now being used.
[02:18.13] " We are getting a solution that' s cheaper,
[02:20.73] which means that more clinics are going to get it.
[02:23.03] If we could get Huawei
[02:24.03] or I don' t know who to give us phones for free,
[02:26.84] we are looking at a solution that' s less than 100," said Okello.
[02:29.80] Juliet Birungi is an obstetrician
[02:33.85] a doctor who cares for pregnant women.
[02:37.30] She has tried WinSenga.
[02:40.00] She says hospitals could use the app
[02:43.66] to help medical workers follow the health of the baby,
[02:47.12] even when they are not there.
[02:50.09] " You have so many mothers in labor,
[02:52.24] and we do not have enough staff.
[02:53.55] You find that while the mother is
[02:55.91] laboring here, the other one is delivering,
[02:58.66] the other one is bleeding.
[03:00.61] So when you come,
[03:01.71] you are able to look at the recording," said Birungi.
[03:04.11] Doctor Birungi says
[03:05.96] having these up to date records of the baby' s health condition,
[03:10.17] could make the difference between life and death.
[03:14.43] But she says the app is not a substitute
[03:18.48] for a trained medical worker.
[03:20.58] Mr Okello says the app could also be helpful
[03:25.24] in other developing countries
[03:27.99] with similar problems to Uganda.
[03:29.74] And he says, with further changes to the app,
[03:33.80] it could even be used at home
[03:36.31] by pregnant women in developed countries.
[03:39.55] Work on WinSenga continues.
[03:42.82] Mr Okello and his team are busy preparing
[03:46.72] for a major series of clinical testing this month.
[03:51.22] And that' s the VOA Learning English Technology Report.
[03:55.62] I' m June Simms.