美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Madaya Mom' Tells The Story Of A Mother Of 5 Living In A Syrian Town Under Seige

'Madaya Mom' Tells The Story Of A Mother Of 5 Living In A Syrian Town Under Seige

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0006:00repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. SCOTT SIMON, HOST: 

Madaya's a small Syrian town located between Damascus and the border with Lebanon that has been held by rebels and under siege since July of 2015. In January of this year, Rym Momtaz, a producer for ABC News, was able to get in touch with a mother of five children in Madaya. ABC News has joined with Marvel² Comics to try to tell the story of a woman who was in a place that reporters can't reach in a truly vivid and graphic³ way. They have produced a nonfiction graphic book, a true life digital comic called "Madaya Mom." Rym Momtaz joins us now and also Dalibor Talajic, the Marvel Comics artist who has drawn⁴ "Madaya Mom." Let me thank both of you for being with us.

DALIBOR TALAJIC: Thank you for having us.

RYM MOMTAZ: Thank you for having us.

SIMON: Rym Momtaz, let me begin with you. How did you and how do you communicate with the woman you call Madaya Mom?

MOMTAZ: We communicate through secure messaging apps over the phones, over the internet really. So the way we went about finding her was to go through a wide network of sources that we've cultivated over the years of covering the war in Syria. We had to work for a few weeks, I have to say, to identify the right person and then to get in touch with her and to gain her trust in order for her to feel comfortable enough to engage in this conversation with us because she felt and her family felt that it might put her in danger.

SIMON: Which is why you keep her identity, her actual name, a secret.

MOMTAZ: Yes, exactly. We can't reveal her identity because she worries that revealing her identity might put a target on her back.

SIMON: Dalibor, what are some of the stories you've illustrated⁵ that stay with you that you think are most important for us to know?

TALAJIC: The most striking parts is for me the most intimate ones as she - for instance, she decides to even though they are - they're all starving, she decides to stop eating herself because this little amounts of supplies and food that she has, she distributes it to her children and of course husband. And she herself just stopped eating. And it's not like a dramatic decision. It's, like, a logical thing to do. These are the moments that stick with me most.

SIMON: Yeah. On the one hand, it's a very - and I use this word deliberately⁶ - it's a very heroic action. On the other hand, it's also what a mother does, isn't it?

TALAJIC: Well, yes. Even though this is a story about a particular mother, she's an every mother anywhere. I don't believe that any other mother should - would do differently.

SIMON: Help us understand what Madaya Mom has had to do to survive and keep her family going.

MOMTAZ: The first thing she's really had to do is to keep calm and go on because she really is the rock of the family. She has this extremely strong character. She's very spirited, and she has refused to allow the circumstances that they are in - i.e. besieged⁷ by their own government supported by militant⁸ groups - she's refused to let that affect her children too much. So she tries to keep their daily life as normal as possible. She really is sort of the center of that family. She's also extremely courageous⁹ and understands that her eloquence¹⁰ and her ability to communicate with the outside world is an opportunity. It's what she can do to explain to the world what is happening to them, and she hopes to bring about change.

SIMON: Dalibor, you grew up during what we now euphemistically call the wars in the former Yugoslavia. Does the story of Madaya bring back certain memories for you?

TALAJIC: Yes, it does. What I could relate to is this civilian¹¹ point of view during the war because somebody else is fighting, and regardless of your actions, bombs are falling around, snipers are shooting around, and you just survive. It's just very boring, very pointless, very hopeless aspect of war. One of the fragments in the "Madaya Mom" story that rang so many bells with me was her disappointment in the U.N. because they couldn't come to agreement what to do with the siege and everything. And she was - she was really enraged¹². Like, why doesn't anyone care? And that made me remember, like, during the war, as the war started, as it was about to break out, we were all thinking like, no, this is not going to happen. I mean, it's 20th century. And as the time goes by, people start dying, cities start being destroyed, and you realize that, you know, it really doesn't matter. Nobody cares.

SIMON: Rym, how are Madaya Mom and her family getting by?

MOMTAZ: You know, they found a kind of new normal, I guess. It doesn't mean that they don't constantly every day ask when is this going to stop, when is the siege going to end, when are we going to be free again? They spend their days waiting, and there doesn't seem to be much hope on the horizon. She asks constantly, you know, what do you think is going to happen? Do you have any news about this? And I have to tell her, well, you know, we - we're hearing what you're hearing, that there are talks and people are trying to solve the situation.

SIMON: Rym Momtaz is a producer for ABC News. Dalibor Talajic is an artist from Marvel Comics. Together they have created "Madaya Mom." Thank you very much for being with us.

TALAJIC: Thank you for having us.

MOMTAZ: Thank you for having us.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

3 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

6 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

7 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

8 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

9 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

10 eloquence   

n.雄辩；口才，修辞

参考例句：

• I am afraid my eloquence did not avail against the facts.恐怕我的雄辩也无补于事实了。
• The people were charmed by his eloquence.人们被他的口才迷住了。

11 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

12 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。