Title:
Archi's Acres Guides Returning Veterans Toward
Business Success
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
See text below
Text:
For American soldiers, the move from the military to
civilian life is not always easy. Military veterans
have a thirty-five percent unemployment rate. This
is more than three times the national average. And
an estimated one hundred thousand veterans are
homeless. The federal government and private
organizations offer programs to help veterans. One
private program is called Archi's Acres. It is on a
two hectare farm in southern California.Marine
Sergeant Colin Archipley returned to the United
States after serving three tours of duty in Iraq. He
and his wife, Karen, bought a farm in southern
California. They produce organic, hydroponic crops.
They grow their tomatoes, lettuce and basil in pure
water instead of in soil. Karen Archipley says her
husband wanted to share the peace he found on his
farm with other veterans. So the Archipleys worked
with the local Veterans Administration office. They
wanted to help returning troops translate their
leadership skills to private business. Archi's Acres
is helping combat veterans become agricultural
business owners. Colin Archipley is expanding his
program to teach business skills. And he plans to
include active troops who are ending their service.
He notes that many veterans suffer from post
traumatic stress disorder. This is made worse when
they cannot find jobs and become homeless. He
believes that the rate of PTSD would drop if
soldiers could spend their last few months in the
military learning skills so they could get jobs. In
his new six-week program, Colin Archipley will teach
agricultural skills from planting to harvest. Karen
Archipley will teach marketing. Educators from the
Small Business Administration are also involved.
They will teach classes on how to operate a
business. Colin Archipley does not expect veterans
completing the program will have any problems
finding work. He hopes to expand his program to
serve veterans on the East Coast. He is also
planning to make his six-week course available
online so anyone in the military, anywhere, can take
the classes.For VOA Special English I'm Alex
Villarreal. You can find scripts, podcasts and MP3s
on our website, voaspecialenglish.com. And you can
follow us on Facebook, Twitter and iTunes at VOA
Learning English.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
To post a comment:
• Click "Comment using..." in
the window below
• Click your favorite service: Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail
• Login to the service
• Click "Add a comment..."
• Post your comment in the window
Students: Please post a
comment stating what you found interesting about this video. You are
welcome to include links to your English study blogs and any
other materials you think might be useful for learning
English.
Teachers: Please post your
thoughts about this video. You are welcome to include links to
your sites, blogs, and any other materials you think might
be useful for learning English.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
