美国国家公共电台 NPR Haiti Marks 10-Year Anniversary Of Devastating 2010 Earthquak

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

The two largest earthquakes that shook Puerto Rico were estimated to be a magnitude 6.4 and 5.9. Ten years ago today in Haiti, it was a magnitude 7. That earthquake a decade ago killed more than 100,000 people. Hundreds of thousands more were injured. And much of that capital was ruined. The shaking lasted less than a minute. And the reconstruction¹ has dragged on for years. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports.

CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE²: Nearly 10 years ago, when Louis Saint Claudelle (ph) and his family arrived here 10 miles north of Port-au-Prince, it felt like he landed on the moon. This region known as Corail-Cesselesse was rocky and desolate³.

LOUIS SAINT CLAUDELLE: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: "Things were not good for us back then, but this was the best solution at the time for us," says Saint Claudelle. His family had been living in a squalid tent camp until they were bussed out here.

SAINT CLAUDELLE: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: "Who would have ever thought we'd be here so long?" he chuckles⁵. Saint Claudelle has a wide smile and easy manner. I met him 10 years ago. He told me back then he was worried he wouldn't be able to support his family so far from the capital, so far from everything.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE #1: (Singing in non-English language).

KAHN: Today, Corail has churches, stores and schools. Together with the neighboring Canaan slum, it is home to a quarter of a million earthquake refugees. There are no sewers⁶, no running water and few paved roads. The latrines built a decade ago for a few thousand people haven't been emptied in years. Saint Claudelle's family still lives in the one-room shelter built by aid groups to last no more than five years.

MARIE: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: "Look at the shelter. If you were to hit it with something, it would just break," says Saint Claudelle's wife, Marie. Reconstruction throughout Haiti didn't materialize the way many had hoped. Governments around the world donated $10 billion for recovery and reconstruction. Private charities donated $3 billion more.

PRESIDENT JOVENEL MOISE: (Speaking French).

KAHN: Haiti's current president, Jovenel Moise, says, "I don't see the results of those billions." Moise spoke⁴ to NPR in his temporary office on the grounds of the still-not-rebuilt National Palace.

MOISE: (Through interpreter) Where are the villages to house 30,000 families? Where are the grand roads around the Port-au-Prince to decongest the city? We have no schools. Where all the professional schools to train us?

KAHN: Moise lays blame on many - past governments, the country's tiny yet powerful elite⁷ and an interim⁸ recovery commission co-chaired by former President Bill Clinton that was supposed to oversee⁹ major development projects. It was disbanded in 2011 before much of the billions pledged was spent.

Critics say Moise, who has never held political office before, has done little to help since coming to power in 2017. He's accused of embezzling¹⁰ funds from a Venezuela-backed aid program. He denies any wrongdoing. But his opponents are demanding his resignation and have paralyzed the country in recent months with demonstrations¹¹.

MOISE: (Through interpreter) Dialogue will be the solution. And I choose for that to be among Haitians.

KAHN: But the president hasn't been in dialogue with the opposition¹² in quite some time. The Parliament hasn't approved a prime minister or a budget for the last three years. And a state-of-the-art general hospital, funded by foreigners, sits unfinished.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE #2: (Singing in non-English language).

KAHN: Every morning, 150 employees of this call center in downtown Port-au-Prince try to lift their spirits with prayer as they start their workday. Their office is in one of the most dangerous areas of the capital. But their boss, 42-year-old Duquense Fednard (ph), gives them a daily pep talk.

(APPLAUSE)

KAHN: It's easy to find problems. The hard part is to find the solutions, he tells his workers. Fednard, like many of Haiti's diaspora, rushed home to help after the quake. He says it hasn't been easy doing business here. But his company is profitable and growing thanks to his motivated workforce¹³.

DUQUENSE FEDNARD: We are really fighters - resilient - who really wants to fight the system to change the situation one way or another.

KAHN: Fednard is a frenetic and friendly presence. He preaches his gospel ethical¹⁴ entrepreneurship to anyone who will listen and says Haiti's road to recovery is through well-paid jobs like these, not through handouts¹⁵. Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Port-au-Prince.

1 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 chuckles   

轻声地笑( chuckle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Father always chuckles when he reads the funny papers. 父亲在读幽默报纸时总是低声发笑。
• [Chuckles] You thought he was being poisoned by hemlock? 你觉得他中的会是芹叶钩吻毒吗？

6 sewers   

n.阴沟，污水管，下水道( sewer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sewers discharge out at sea. 下水道的污水排入海里。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Another municipal waste problem is street runoff into storm sewers. 有关都市废水的另外一个问题是进入雨水沟的街道雨水。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

7 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

8 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

9 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

10 embezzling   

v.贪污，盗用（公款）( embezzle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Accordingly, object embezzling waste to be carried temporarily the schedule of administration. 因此，反对贪污浪费就提上了临时中央政府的议事日程。 来自互联网
• Some were sentenced for taking bribes, others executed for embezzling funds. 有的因受贿而被判刑，有的因侵吞公款而被判处死刑。 来自互联网

11 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

14 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

15 handouts   

救济品( handout的名词复数 )； 施舍物； 印刷品； 讲义

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts. 士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Even after losing his job, he was too proud to accept handouts. 甚至在失去工作后，他仍然很骄傲，不愿接受施舍。