A 'Volunteer Vacation' at a Habitat for Humanity Building Project

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2008-6-12

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson.

Today we play music by Gnarls Barkley ...

Answer a question about Flag Day ...

And report on a "volunteer vacation" at a Habitat for Humanity home building project.

(MUSIC)

Habitat for Humanity

HOST:

Volunteers from across the United States and other countries went to the Gulf Coast last month to rebuild communities destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in two thousand five.  One VOA employee was among them.  Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Habitat for Humanity is an international nonprofit group that invites people to build houses together with families in need.  It has built more than two hundred fifty thousand houses around the world since it began in nineteen seventy-six. 

Some Americans will fly an American flag outside their house on Saturday.  Still, many Americans will not even know it is Flag Day. They do not get a day off work.  They do not buy or receive anything.  And, as far as we know there are no big stores holding "Flag Day" sales.  

Flag Day observes the anniversary of the day America's first lawmakers approved the design of a new flag for a new nation.

The United States of America began as thirteen British colonies.  Each colony had its own flag.  But the colonists fought under a common flag during the Revolutionary War against Britain. It looked a lot like the American flag today. That flag had thirteen red and white stripes for the thirteen colonies.  It also had a square blue area in the upper left corner. Inside that area were the red cross and white lines of the British flag.

On July fourth, seventeen seventy-six, the American colonists declared their independence.  The United States of America was born.  The Continental Congress of the new nation approved a new flag on June fourteenth of the following year.  The thirteen red and white stripes remained.  Thirteen white stars replaced the British flag inside the blue area.  The thirteen stars represented, in the words of Congress, "a new constellation."

In eighteen eighteen, Congress approved a law that said a new star would be added to the flag for each new state that joined the union.  Today, there are fifty states, and fifty white stars in the blue area of the flag.

There is a famous story that a woman named Betsy Ross made the first American flag.  Betsy Ross was a sewing expert in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She was the official flag maker for the Pennsylvania navy. But, historians have not been able to confirm that she made the first American flag.

Gnarls Barkley

HOST:

Gnarls Barkley is the name of a group of two performers, Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green. In two thousand six, their song "Crazy" became one of the most popular songs of the year. Their new album, "The Odd Couple," is filled with energetic songs that tell about pain and conflict. Faith Lapidus has more.

(MUSIC: "Going On")

FAITH LAPIDUS:

That was the song "Going On." It is a good example of Gnarls Barkley's music, which combines soul and electronic sounds. Cee-Lo Green is a soul and hip-hop singer whose voice you hear on these songs. Danger Mouse, whose real name is Brian Burton, creates and produces the music. Both had musical careers before they joined together to form Gnarls Barkley.

Danger Mouse is best known for creating an unofficial album called "The Gray Album."  It combined music from the Beatles and the rapper Jay-Z. The album was illegal because Danger Mouse did not have permission to use some of the songs. But, it still became a huge success.

Gnarls Barkley's latest album, "The Odd Couple," was released in late March. Here is "Who's Gonna Save My Soul."

(MUSIC)

Gnarls Barkley's live performances are interesting to watch. They perform with many different musicians.  And, they often wear unusual clothing. For example, they performed in two thousand six at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California. Gnarls Barkley and other musicians dressed like characters from the movie "The Wizard of Oz."

We leave you with the song "Run."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson.  I hope you enjoyed our program today.

It was written by Shelley Gollust, Caty Weaver and Dana Demange, who also was the producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, testbig.com. 

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine in Special English.


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