欧美人文风情第89篇:"索马里的圣人" - Hawa Abdi医生

 My mother was dreaming that I would be a great person. 那时我的母亲梦想我会变成一位很伟大的人。

She became pregnant¹ with her seventh child when I was eleven years old. 她在我十一岁时怀上她的第七个小孩。

As her stomach swelled², she felt weakness and pain, but she said, 随着她的肚子越来越大，她感到虚弱而且痛苦，但她说：

"No problem, Hawa. Everything will be okay. Whether it comes to us through violence, disease³ or even childbirth, “没问题的，Hawa。一切都会好转的。不论它(死亡)是透过暴力、疾病或甚至分娩迎向我们，

that is not the end of our story. You have to get up and help someone who needs you." 那都不是我们故事的结局。你必须要坚强起来并帮助那些需要你的人。”

I became a doctor because I wanted to save others from feeling the pain after my mother died. 我成为一位医生，因为在我母亲过世后我想要拯救其他人免于病痛。

The Somalia I grew up in was so much different than today. 我成长过程中的索马里和今天大不相同。

Mogadishu was the best place in all Africa. Mogadishu(索马里第一大城)曾是整个非洲最棒的地方。

In the rural⁴ area, children had fresh milk, fresh meat, fresh air. Life was very beautiful, very simple and very peaceful. 在乡村地区，孩子们有新鲜牛奶、新鲜的肉、新鲜空气。生活非常美好、非常简单也非常平静。

It started to go bad in 1988. 一切从1988年开始恶化。

When the government collapsed⁵, more and more people came to us to escape the fighting. 当政府崩解后，越来越多的人来找我们以逃离斗争。

The Somali people have tradition of hospitality⁶. 索马里人有好客的传统。

When a traveler comes to you, you have to give him the best of what you have. 当旅人投靠你，你必须要给他你拥有的最好的东西。

It seems only natural that the problems we could solve, like giving someone a place to stay and the feeling of safety should be solved. 我们可以解决的问题应该要被解决，像是提供某人住宿的地方以及安全感，这似乎就是自然而然的。

When space became full, families began to sleep under the trees. 当空间人满为患时，家家户户开始睡在树下。

After more than twenty years, it became ninety thousand people. These people have become my family. 在二十多年后，变成了九万人。这些人变成我的家人。

Here we are all Somali. If you won't identity⁷ with your ground, you cannot stay. 在这里我们全都是索马里人。如果你不认同你的土地，你就不能留下来。

In time, my children become doctors, and now, we work together. 最后，我的孩子们都成了医师，而现在，我们一同工作。

Each crisis⁸ we face gives way to the next as a new group takes control of our area. 当一个新的组织控制我们这地区时，我们所面对的每个危机都会被下一次的危机取代。

Sometimes these children, with their guns, they told me, "You are an old woman. You cannot be in charge." 有时候这些孩子，拿着他们的枪，他们告诉我：“你是个老女人。你不能掌权。”

I said, "And you are a strong young man, what have you done for these people?" 我说：“而你是个强壮的年轻人，你为这些人们做过些什么？”

Whether for fighting or the famine⁹, we have lost as many as fifty people per day. 不论是斗争或是饥荒，我们每天失去多达五十人。

But we get up. We go on. And we help someone who needs us. 但我们振作起来。我们走下去。我们帮助某些需要我们的人。

Today our one-room clinic is a four hundred beds' hospital. 今天我们那只有一间房的诊所成了有四百张床的医院。

I live for the hope that peace will come; that my children and my grandchildren will someday know the Somalia I loved. 我活着是抱持着和平终会到来的希望；我的孩子和我的孙子们终有一天会了解我深爱的索马里。

Until that time, they can build on what I have started. 到那时之前，他们可以在我着手建立的成果上发展。

I'm Dr. Hawa Abdi. This is my Vital Voice. Now, raise yours. 我是Hawa Abdi医生。这是我的Vital Voice。现在，发起你的(言论)吧。

 

1 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

2 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

3 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

4 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 hospitality   

n.好客，殷勤；adj.（气候等）宜人，适宜

参考例句：

• He welcomed you to enjoy his hospitality.他欢迎你去做客。
• Thank you for your kind hospitality.谢谢你的盛情款待。

7 identity   

n.身份，本体，特征；同一(性)，一致

参考例句：

• He never revealed his identity.他从未暴露过自己的身份。
• He showed his identity card and went in.他把工作证亮了一下就进去了。

8 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

9 famine   

n.饥荒；严重的缺乏

参考例句：

• We're collecting for the famine victims.我们正在为遭受饥荒的灾民募款。
• Famine stared us in the face.饥荒迫在眉睫。